Documentation

Run Quven from install to playback.

Install the server, connect your devices, and stream your library the way you set it up. Everything below reflects what is available now, and marks what is still to come.

Overview

Quven is a self-hosted media server for your movies, TV shows and documentaries. You install it on a machine you own, point it at your folders, sign in with a free Quven Account, and stream to desktop, web, and native mobile apps on your devices, at home and, if you want, from anywhere. Your media files stay on your hardware.

Self-hosted Your media lives on your hardware. Quven doesn't host your files.
Native-first Premium native apps lead; a polished web client is the universal fallback.
Free for home Playing your own library costs nothing, forever.
Household profiles Unlimited profiles on every tier, with personal state synced to Quven Account.

Install the server

Download the installer for your platform from quven.tv/download. Everything is included, so there's nothing else to install.

Windows .msi Windows 10 and 11. One-click installer with automatic updates.
macOS .pkg For macOS 13 and later on Intel (x64) or Apple silicon (ARM64). Signed and notarized by Apple.
Linux AppImage Server-only x64 and ARM64 AppImages available, ARM64 verified on a Raspberry Pi 4. Desktop client planned post-v1.
  1. Install and launch. The server starts automatically in the background.
  2. Sign in or register. Quven clients start from Quven Account at accounts.quven.tv .
  3. Link the server. On first run, attach the server to your account; that account becomes the owner.
  4. Add a library. Point Quven at your media folders and run a scan (below).
  5. Pick a profile. Create household profiles, optionally add PINs, then choose who is watching.

Connect your devices

Sign in first, then pick a local server the app found on your network, or a remote server already linked to your account. The native apps give you the best playback; the web client is there for quick access and guest machines.

Native desktop app

Windows and macOS today, with signed and notarized macOS packages for Intel and Apple silicon. Linux v1 is server-only, with its desktop client planned post-v1. Full direct play, hardware decoding, untouched HD audio and advanced subtitles.

Web client

Opens in any modern browser once you've signed in to your Quven Account. It's the fallback for a guest's machine, or for quick access with nothing installed, with a cinematic UI and playback over HLS.

Native Android app

Kotlin and Jetpack Compose client, live on Google Play. One listing covers phone, tablet and Android TV: adaptive touch layouts in the hand, remote-first focus and TV shell navigation on the television. The same build is verified on Fire TV, whose Amazon Appstore listing follows.

Exclusive iPhone and iPad app

A native Apple app written in SwiftUI, with proper iPad layouts, pointer-aware controls, keyboard shortcuts, widgets, PiP and AirPlay handoff. It's live on the App Store for iOS and iPadOS 17 and later; Apple TV (tvOS) follows after launch.

On a different subnet or VPN? Enter the server address manually instead of relying on automatic discovery. The iPhone and iPad app is on the App Store; the Android app is on Google Play for phone, tablet and Android TV; Fire TV and Apple TV (tvOS) follow, and web Smart-TV wrappers after them.

Libraries & scanning

Add a folder, pick a type, and let Quven match it against four catalogues. Scans are always started by you.

Add a library

In server settings, create a library of type Movies, TV Shows or Documentaries and point it at a folder on the server machine. Run a scan; progress shows live and a cancelled scan can be resumed.

Matching & metadata

Each file is matched from its name against TMDb, TVDB, OMDb and AniDB. Optional AI disambiguation resolves tricky cases. If a match is wrong, open the item and Fix match to pick the right title. Each catalogue gets its own tab, and every result names the catalogue that answered.

Naming that scans cleanly
  • Avatar (2009).mkv: include the year
  • Breaking Bad/Season 1/S01E01.mkv: episodes by season
  • Inception/Inception.2010.2160p.mkv + Inception.2010.1080p.mkv: variants of one title

Multiple files per title. 4K + 1080p, different audio languages, theatrical and extended cuts all live under one entry. <b>Alternate editions</b> names what differs between them and plays the one you choose.

Playback

Quven plays the original file untouched whenever the client can handle it, and transcodes only when it must.

Direct play

Streams the source as it is over the network, with the lowest latency and no transcoding. Used when the client supports the video, audio, container and subtitles natively, which the desktop apps do for far more formats than browsers.

Hardware transcoding

When direct play isn't possible, the server transcodes on the fly, using your GPU where available (NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, Apple). HDR sources are tone-mapped to SDR for clients that need it.

  • Subtitles. Embedded text and image tracks plus sidecar files next to your media, and a track generated from the dialogue when the file has none.
  • HD audio. The original audio is served untouched to the native players; phone and tablet clients focus on format, subtitle and HDR coverage.
  • HDR tone-mapping. HDR10 sources are mapped to SDR with GPU acceleration where supported.
  • Resume. Picks up where you left off, per user, including the next episode of a show.

Account & plans

Quven Account is the single identity for desktop, web, and native mobile clients. One account covers the household, its profiles and every server linked to it.

Free

Playing your own library, forever: native clients, hardware transcoding, matching, multi-file variants, unlimited profiles and do-it-yourself remote access.

Pro

Everything in Free, plus the hosted premium web client and zero-config managed relay for access from anywhere.

Max

Everything in Pro, plus the subtitle cue editor and on-demand AI subtitle translation from a text, image or audio source; later, HDHomeRun/EPG live TV with scheduled recordings and supported theme presets.

Founders. Live availability, the global cap and benefit dates are confirmed on the plans page. Founder accounts have the promised €69 Lifetime Max price through 31 December 2026. See the plans for the full breakdown.

Remote access

There are two ways to reach your server from outside your home: one you run, one we run.

Do-it-yourself · Free

Open a port, use a reverse proxy, or a tunnel like Tailscale. Quven never charges you to reach your own server, and that stays free.

Managed relay · Pro

Sign in with your account and the client dials your server through Quven's relay, with no port-forwarding and no DNS, and it works behind strict NAT. A fair-use bandwidth allowance applies.

Integration API · Free

Point Homepage, Grafana or a script at your server with a read-only key it can never write with. <a href="/api/integration/v1/">Reference and OpenAPI document</a>.

Supported formats

Native clients direct-play a wide range; browsers receive a transcoded stream when they can't decode the source.

Containers

MKV, MP4, WebM and more, served as they are to native clients, and remuxed or transcoded to HLS for browsers.

Video

H.264, HEVC, AV1, VP9 direct-play on native clients. Browsers get H.264 (or HEVC where supported) via transcode. VVC sources play through transcode.

Audio

AAC, AC3, EAC3, DTS, TrueHD and FLAC on native clients, served untouched; browsers fall back to stereo/AAC when they can't decode a track.

Subtitles

SRT, ASS and VTT text tracks, plus sidecar files stored beside the media, including .idx and .sub pairs. DVD, VobSub and PGS image tracks are burned in when needed or recognized into text. Advanced ASS styling is preserved on native clients.

Streaming DRM (Widevine, PlayReady, FairPlay) is out of scope. Quven serves your own files.

Privacy & diagnostics

Local-first by design. Diagnostics are disclosed, scrubbed and default-on with an opt-out.

  • Account required. First login and periodic token refresh need the internet; offline grace is about seven days.
  • Scrubbed. If enabled, crash and playback reports have file paths, addresses and emails removed before sending.
  • Media stays local. Your files and library folders stay on your server; profile data such as watchlists, ratings, reviews and resume points sync through Quven Account.

Languages

The apps and localized metadata ship in three languages today.

EnglishItalianoFrançais

Troubleshooting & FAQ

The quick answers to the things that come up most.

Setup & libraries

A scan didn't find my files, or matched the wrong title.

Start with the names. Put the year in, as in "Avatar (2009).mkv", and for episodes use "Show Name S01E01.mkv" or season folders. Then check that the account the server runs as can actually read the folder. If one item matched the wrong title, open its detail page and use Fix match to pick the right result from the search. Scans only run when you start them, so after renaming anything, run the scan again.

I have the same movie in 4K and 1080p. Will I get two entries?

No. Several files for the same title, whether that's 4K and 1080p, different audio languages, or a theatrical and an extended cut, all sit under one library entry. Alternate editions on the title's menu names each version by what actually differs between them (length, resolution, dynamic range, audio layout, video codec) and plays the one you pick.

Does Quven keep scanning my folders in the background?

No. Nothing touches your disks unless you ask. When you've added files, start a scan yourself; you'll see the progress live, and if you cancel one it can pick up where it left off.

Can a dashboard or a script read my server?

Yes. Issue an integration key from Settings, on the desktop or in the browser, and send it with each request. The key can only read: no route that changes anything accepts one, and a key can't issue another key. What it reports is the server, the libraries with their counts, and the sessions in progress. It never reports which folders your libraries live in or who is watching, and that's on purpose. The integration guide covers the endpoints and both ways of sending the key.

Playback

My browser can't play a file. Is something broken?

No. A browser can't decode every container and codec, so when it can't play the file directly the server transcodes it on the fly into an HLS stream the browser understands. The native desktop apps drive a desktop-class output chain with the HD audio untouched, and the Android and iPhone/iPad apps concentrate on broad codec and subtitle playback on a phone or tablet.

What's the difference between direct play and transcoding?

Direct play sends the original file untouched, which gives you the lowest latency and costs the server no extra CPU. It happens whenever the client can handle the video, the audio, the container and the subtitles as they are, and the native apps can handle far more than a browser. When the client can't, the server transcodes with FFmpeg and uses hardware acceleration where it has some.

A film has no subtitles at all. Can Quven make one?

Yes. Ask for a subtitle in the player and the server transcribes the dialogue itself, then saves the result as an ordinary track that will be there next time too. The audio never leaves your machine, and the recognition runs on your own processor or GPU. Asking for one comes with Pro; once a track exists, every plan and every profile can play it. An administrator installs the speech model once, when asked; it's close to half a gigabyte, so it's only downloaded the first time somebody needs it.

Playback buffers when I watch from outside my home.

Away from home, the ceiling is your home upload speed. Lower the quality in the player settings, or watch in the native app, which can play the file directly where a browser would need a transcode. The managed relay (Pro) takes the network setup off your hands, but it can't give you more bandwidth than your connection has.

Accounts, plans & privacy

Do I need an account to use Quven?

Yes. Every client, on desktop, web and mobile, starts from a Quven Account. Sign in or register first, then pick a server the app found on your network, connect to a remote server linked to the account, or finish setting up a new one.

Is Quven really free?

Yes. Playing your library is free for home use, forever: the native clients, hardware transcoding, library matching, several files per title, unlimited profiles, and remote access you set up yourself. Pro adds the managed services and a pair of desktop tools, and Max adds the subtitle work that runs on our hardware. You'll find that floor on the plans page, and it isn't going to move.

What do Pro, Max and Lifetime cost?

Pro and Max follow this published path: through 6 October 2026: Pro €2.99 a month or €29.99 a year, Max €5.99 a month or €59.99 a year; from 7 October 2026 through 15 November 2026: Pro €3.49 a month or €34.99 a year, Max €6.99 a month or €69.99 a year; from 16 November 2026 through 31 December 2026: Pro €3.99 a month or €39.99 a year, Max €7.99 a month or €79.99 a year; from 1 January 2027: Pro €4.99 a month or €49.99 a year, Max €9.99 a month or €99.99 a year. Lifetime gives you Max with one payment: €99 through 6 October 2026, then €129 through 15 November 2026, then €149 through 31 December 2026, then €199 through 30 June 2027. Its next price after 30 June 2027 has not been announced. In the United States, the same figures are charged in dollars. Every Founder seat is taken, so the €69 Founder price is closed to new accounts; the hundred that hold it still do. Purchases open on 21 September 2026. Newsletter discounts apply only to full annual or Lifetime prices and cannot be combined with the Founder price.

What does Quven collect about me?

Quven Account keeps your identity, your linked servers, and the profile data it needs to sync watchlists, ratings, reviews and resume points. Your media files and library folders stay on your server. Diagnostics are on by default, for stability and security, with the disclosure up front and an opt-out in settings, and crash and playback reports have file paths, addresses and emails stripped before they go anywhere.

Platforms & roadmap

Are there mobile and TV apps?

The Windows and macOS desktop clients, the hosted Pro web client, the native iPhone and iPad app and the native Android app for phone, tablet and Android TV are available today. macOS ships signed and notarized for Intel and Apple silicon, while Linux v1 is server-only for x64 and ARM64, as an AppImage or a signed Docker image, with ARM64 verified on a Raspberry Pi 4; its desktop client is planned after v1. One Google Play listing covers all three Android form factors. The same ten-foot build is verified on Fire TV and reaches the Amazon Appstore later; the Apple TV app follows after launch, with Smart TV wrappers after it.

Can I move my library from another media server?

Yes. The folder layout works the same way, so point Quven at the media folders you already have and it scans and matches them. If the old server is Plex or Jellyfin, Quven can also import your history straight from it: it finds the database, shows you what it's about to bring over, then transfers watched state and playlists. Titles are matched by catalogue identity, so a library you've since reorganised still lines up. The old server is only read, never changed, which means you can import while it's still running.

What about music?

Music arrived in 1.2.0, and it's free on every plan. On Desktop you point Quven at your album folders: tags come first, with folder names filling in what a file leaves out, and covers and lyrics can come from the files or their sidecars. What happens between tracks? Playback is continuous, though a browser that needs to re-encode can add audible padding. Desktop listening over your own VPN or reverse proxy stays free, even away from home; hosted Web and the managed relay require Pro.

Still stuck?

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