Berth vs Plex for audiobooks
Updated October 27, 2026
Plex is a polished general-purpose media server for films, series and music. Audiobooks work in it with some setup and usually a third-party player. Berth is the opposite: an open-source server that does only audiobooks, with its own app.
Short answer
- Keep Plex if it already serves your films and music and audiobooks are an occasional extra.
- Choose Berth if audiobooks are the main thing: chapters, per-book speed, sleep timer and progress that survives the app being closed, with family members connected by QR code and no Plex accounts.
Side by side
| Berth | Plex | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Audiobooks | General media server |
| Library source | Database; books uploaded via the web admin | Scans media folders |
| Where files live | Local disk or any S3-compatible storage | Local or mounted file system |
| Audio delivery | From storage or a CDN via signed links, or via the server | Through the server |
| Listener sign-in | QR code, no password | Plex account |
| Mobile apps | Own Android and iOS app (not in stores yet) | Plex apps and third-party audiobook players |
| Server license | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary |
Based on public documentation and issue trackers as of October 2026. Berth reached its first server release in October 2026 and its app is not in the stores yet.
No third-party accounts
Every Plex user signs in with a Plex account. Berth has no accounts outside your server: listeners are created in your web admin and their phones connect by scanning a QR code, so children and grandparents never need an e-mail or a password.
Made for listening to books
- Position saved on the phone every few seconds and synced; a server position replaces the local one only if it is newer.
- Playback speed remembered per book, sleep timer to the end of a chapter, a short rewind when you resume.
- Offline downloads that are checksum-verified, resumable and in the right order.
- Android Auto and CarPlay, lock screen and Bluetooth controls.
- Age ratings from 0+ to 18+: a child listener sees only books for their age.
What Plex does that Berth does not
- Films, series, music and photos — Berth is only for audiobooks.
- Apps for TVs and many other devices, and a mature, commercial product.
Questions
Is Berth free?
The server is open source under Apache-2.0 and free to run. There is no subscription and no account with us.
Can I move my library to Berth automatically?
Not yet. Books are added by uploading them in the web admin: drag a folder or files and Berth reads tags, chapters and covers. An Audiobookshelf importer is on the roadmap for after the first version.