Self-hosting Emby the easy way
Yulei ChenEmby is a media server that organizes your movies, TV shows, music, and photos and streams them to any device. Emby Premiere is a nice subscription, but the core server is free and runs great on your own hardware. The catch: you need somewhere to run it, and most cloud options get pricey once you factor in disk space for your library.
Sliplane is a managed container platform that makes self-hosting painless. With one-click deployment, you can get Emby up and running in minutes: no server setup, no reverse proxy config, no infrastructure to maintain.
Prerequisites
Before deploying, ensure you have a Sliplane account (free trial available).
Quick start
Sliplane provides one-click deployment with presets.
Deploy Emby >- Click the deploy button above
- Select a project
- Select a server. If you just signed up you get a 48-hour free trial server
- Click Deploy!
About the preset
The one-click deploy above uses Sliplane's Emby preset, based on the well-maintained linuxserver/emby image. The preset is built for a clean, stable default setup:
lscr.io/linuxserver/embyimage with a specific version tag for stability- Healthcheck pointed at the web UI on port
8096 - Three persistent volumes:
/configfor Emby's settings and metadata,/tvshowsfor your shows, and/moviesfor your films PUID=1000andPGID=1000so file permissions match the Sliplane runtime userTZset so scheduled tasks and timestamps use the right timezone (change it to your region)
You can always check Docker Hub for a newer stable tag and bump the image in your service settings.
Next steps
Once Emby is running on Sliplane, access it using the domain Sliplane provided (e.g. emby-xxxx.sliplane.app).
First run setup
Emby ships without a default account. On your first visit, Emby walks you through a setup wizard where you:
- Pick a display language
- Create your first admin user with a username and password
- Point Emby at your media libraries (Movies, TV Shows, Music)
- Configure metadata providers and image sources
Finish the wizard and you're in. Take a moment to enable HTTPS-only access and set a strong admin password under Dashboard > Users.
Adding your media
The preset mounts three empty volumes. You can get media into them in a few ways:
- Upload files via an SSH tunnel service (see our guide on how to upload and download files from a Docker volume)
- Sync from cloud storage using a sidecar service
- Mount additional volumes and add more library folders in Emby's dashboard
Point Emby's libraries at /movies and /tvshows (or any new path you create) in Dashboard > Libraries > Add Media Library.
Timezone
The preset defaults to Europe/Madrid. If you're somewhere else, change the TZ env variable to a valid tz database name, for example America/New_York or Asia/Tokyo, and redeploy.
Premiere features
Most of Emby's core functionality (library management, streaming to the web UI, metadata scraping) is free. Features like mobile sync, cover art packs, DVR, and parental controls require an Emby Premiere subscription. You can add your Premiere key under Dashboard > Emby Premiere after signing up.
Logging
By default, Docker container logs go to STDOUT, which works well with Sliplane's built-in log viewer. Emby also writes rotating logs to /config/logs inside the container, so you can inspect playback and scan history from the dashboard under Dashboard > Logs. For a refresher on Docker logging, check out our post on how to use Docker logs.
Cost comparison
Of course you can also self-host Emby with other cloud providers. Here is a pricing comparison for the most common ones:
| Provider | vCPU Cores | RAM | Disk | Estimated Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sliplane | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | €9 | charge per server |
| Render | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB | ~$35–$45 | VM Small |
| Fly.io | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | ~$20–$25 | VM + volume |
| Railway | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | ~$15–$66 | Usage-based |
FAQ
Can I transcode 4K on Sliplane?
Heavy transcoding (especially 4K HEVC) is CPU-intensive and benefits from hardware acceleration, which Sliplane servers don't expose. For best results, keep your source files close to what your clients can play natively (direct play) or pre-transcode your library. For lighter 1080p streams a 2 vCPU server handles a few concurrent clients comfortably.
How do I add more storage for my library?
You can attach additional Sliplane volumes to your service and mount them at new paths (e.g. /music, /photos). Then add them as extra libraries in Emby's dashboard. See our guide on Docker volumes for a deeper look at how volumes work.
How do I update Emby?
Change the image tag in your service settings and redeploy. Check Docker Hub for the latest stable version. The linuxserver image pulls in Emby updates on each release, so bumping the tag is usually all you need.
Are there alternatives to Emby?
Yes. Jellyfin is a fully open-source fork with no premium tier. Plex is the most polished commercial option with a large client ecosystem. Navidrome is a great choice if you only care about music. For a wider look at self-hostable tools, check out our post on 5 open source tools I self-host to save money.
Is my library private?
Yes. Everything you upload lives on your Sliplane volumes and streams through your own domain. There's no third-party scanning, no ads, and no telemetry beyond what Emby itself phones home (which you can disable in the dashboard).
