---
title: "Syncplay Alternative in Your Browser | sync.video"
description: "Sync local video files with friends in a browser: no player to install or server to run. Compared with Syncplay, Jellyfin SyncPlay and Plex Watch Together."
url: https://sync.video/syncplay-alternative
---

1. [Home](https://sync.video/)
2. [Sync player](https://sync.video/sync-player)
3. Syncplay alternative

Free · runs in your browser

# A Syncplay alternative that runs in the browser

Everyone opens their own copy of the file in a web page and joins a room by code: the same idea as Syncplay, with phones, tablets and TVs included and nothing to install.

Syncplay keeps desktop media players in step while each person plays a local copy of the same file; this page does the same job in a web browser, so nobody installs a player or points it at a server, and phones and tablets can join. Open your copy of the file, enter the room code from whoever is hosting, and play, pause and seeks are shared.

Syncplay is excellent if your group already lives in mpv or VLC on a computer, and Jellyfin’s or Plex’s group playback is the natural choice when everyone streams from the same media server. The comparison below is meant to help you pick, not to talk any of them down.

This is the [sync player](https://sync.video/sync-player), opening on the join screen because that’s what most people here have: a code from a friend. For a long-distance film night from start to finish, see [hosting a watch party](https://sync.video/watch-party).

How devices agree on time: a guest pings the host, the host stamps its clock, and from the four timestamps the guest works out the clock difference and the trip time. Many pings, keeping the fastest, make it precise.

## How to join a room with your own copy

1. ### Open your copy of the video
Drop your file onto **Open your copy of the video**, or choose it from your files. It stays on your device; nothing is uploaded.
2. ### Enter the code
Type the six-character **Room code** your host gave you and press **Join room**, or open the link they sent. No code yet? **Start your own room instead** makes you the host.
3. ### Check the file badge
Next to your device under **Devices**, **Same file** means your copy matches the host’s. **Different file** means it doesn’t, and the two of you would be watching different moments.
4. ### Watch
Playback follows the host. If the room lets everyone control, Space or K plays and pauses for the whole room, and ← and → skip 5 seconds.

## Syncplay, Jellyfin, Plex and this page compared

__Group watching of video you already have, compared (checked November 2026)__
| Syncplay                   | Jellyfin SyncPlay                                                    | Plex Watch Together                        | sync.video                                                                           |                                             |
| -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| What you install           | Syncplay plus a supported player (mpv, VLC, MPC-HC, IINA and others) | A Jellyfin client; someone runs the server | Plex apps; someone runs the server                                                   | Nothing: a modern browser                   |
| Where the video comes from | A local copy on each computer                                        | Streamed from the shared server            | Streamed from the host’s server                                                      | A local copy on each device                 |
| Server needed              | Public Syncplay servers, or your own                                 | The Jellyfin server everyone uses          | The host’s Plex server                                                               | Only our small relay to introduce devices   |
| Phones and tablets         | Desktop players only                                                 | Depends on the Jellyfin app                | Dropped from Plex’s redesigned mobile and TV apps in 2025; check Plex’s current apps | Yes, in the browser                         |
| Chat                       | Built-in text chat                                                   | In some clients                            | Yes                                                                                  | None; use your own call or chat             |
| Best for                   | Groups who use desktop players                                       | Households and friends on one server       | Existing Plex libraries                                                              | Mixed devices, no setup, files shared ahead |

Details of other products change; the cells above were checked against each project’s own pages or reliable reporting in November 2026, and the sources are listed in this page’s source code comments. If a cell is out of date, write to us through the contact page and we’ll correct it.

## When a server-based option is the better fit

If your group already shares a Jellyfin or Plex library, group playback there avoids the step that trips most people up here: getting identical files onto every device. The server streams the same file to everyone, so there’s nothing to copy and no chance of a mismatched cut. The cost is that the server has to stream to every viewer at once, which needs upload bandwidth at the server’s end.

This page is the better fit when there is no shared server, when people are on phones or a TV-connected laptop rather than a desktop player, or when the files are large and the internet between you is slow: each device plays from its own storage, so the connection only carries control messages.

## How it keeps players together

Syncplay works by comparing the positions the players report and pausing or seeking anyone who drifts too far, which is plenty for watching a film. This page goes further, because it’s also used for video walls where screens sit side by side: each device measures the difference between its clock and the host’s many times a second, keeps the quickest measurements, and then gently speeds up or slows down its playback by a fraction of a per cent to stay on the shared timeline, seeking only when it is more than about 300 ms out.

### What travels, and what doesn’t

* Your video never leaves your device, and nobody streams to anybody.
* A small relay on our hosting introduces the devices; after that they usually talk directly. On networks that block direct links, the relay passes the messages on instead.
* A fingerprint of your file (size, length and a hash of three small slices) is compared with the host’s, so you get the **Same file** or **Different file** badge.

## Moving a Syncplay group over

* Keep sharing files the way you already do; the same copies work here.
* The host opens the file, presses **Start a room**, chooses **Who controls playback**, and sends the link from **Copy link**.
* Use a voice call or your usual chat alongside: there’s no built-in chat.
* If someone hears the film late through Bluetooth headphones, they can move the **Output delay** slider on their own device without affecting anyone else.

## Questions from Syncplay, Jellyfin and Plex users

### Do I need to install anything or run a server?

No. Open the page in a modern browser on each device. A small relay on our side introduces the devices in a room; there is nothing for you to host, configure or open in your router.

### Can I use files that are on my Jellyfin or Plex server?

Only as files. Download the same file to each device first (where your server allows downloads), then open it here. This page doesn’t connect to Jellyfin or Plex.

### Does it support subtitles?

Subtitles that are burned into the picture show as normal, but separate subtitle files and subtitle tracks inside the file aren’t displayed by the player. If you have a subtitle file whose timing is off for another player, [subtitle sync](https://sync.video/subtitle-sync) can fix it.

### What happens if our files are slightly different?

Each device compares its fingerprint with the host’s. **Same length, other file** usually means the same edit compressed differently, which often lines up fine; **Different file** usually means a different version, so playback would show different scenes at the same time.

### Is there a chat?

No. Most groups already have a call or chat they prefer, so the room carries only playback messages. Keep that call open alongside.

### Can phones and Macs join the same room as Windows computers?

Yes. Anything with a modern browser can join: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android, up to 50 devices per room.

## More in sync player

* [ Play a video in sync on several devices A room code, a shared clock and every screen playing the same frame at the same moment. ](https://sync.video/sync-player)
* [ Host a watch party with your own files Friends in different homes, one film, the same moment on every screen. ](https://sync.video/watch-party)
* [ Host a movie night on Discord Go Live, Watch Together, or a full-quality copy on every screen with Discord for voice. ](https://sync.video/discord-watch-party)
* [ Make a video wall from phones, tablets or TVs One picture split over a grid of screens, with gaps for bezels and every tile in step. ](https://sync.video/video-wall)
* [ Sync audio and video online Drop one video to fix its delay, or several files to line them up by their sound. ](https://sync.video/)