The integrated answer to the self-hosting trade-off.
Most people choose between a polished server that paywalls the essentials, a free one they assemble themselves, and a great local player that is not a server at all. Quven is built to give you all three at once.
The trade-off today
Three common ways to run your own media — each asking you to give something up.
The polished, paywalled server
Beautiful native apps — but the features that matter most, like reaching your library from outside and sometimes hardware transcoding, sit behind a subscription, and the core stays closed.
The free, do-it-yourself server
Free and open, but you assemble and maintain everything yourself, the clients are uneven across devices, and there is no zero-config way out to the internet.
The excellent local player
Superb local playback on one box — but it is a player, not a server: no built-in multi-user sync, no remote access, and multi-device means manual setup.
Where Quven lands
Free for home use, polished on every screen, and one product from server to player.
Free for home use
The complete local experience is free for home use. Paid tiers only add cloud features that carry a real running cost — never the core.
Native playback on every screen
The native clients carry full-fidelity playback and hardware decoding; the web client stays polished for devices where a browser is the right path.
One integrated platform
Account, profiles and servers are designed as one system, so your personal state follows you — while your media stays on your own hardware.
Reachable on your terms
Self-hosted remote with your own network setup is free. The zero-config managed relay is the only remote feature that is paid.
No DRM, no lock-in
No per-seat fees, no device limits, no DRM — your library and your account stay yours.
Side by side
How the approaches compare on the things that decide it.
| Capability | Quven | Closed servers | Open servers | Local players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free for home use | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Native-first premium playback | Yes | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Free self-hosted remote (your own network) | Yes | Limited | Yes | No |
| Zero-config managed remote relay | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Multi-user with synced watch state | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Hardware transcoding without a paywall | Yes | Limited | Yes | No |
| Integrated account, profiles & servers | Yes | Yes | Limited | No |
| No DRM, no per-seat fees | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes |
Bring your library home.
Free for home use and yours to run on your own hardware. Install it in minutes.