How to add plugins without Bukkit on a Minecraft 1.9.4 server?

So recently I decided to make a server with a friend. I made the server successfully (I hosted it for free) but when it came to adding plugins... Well I couldn't find anything! So I don't know how to make my vanilla server into a bukkit server for free. I was wondering how to add plugins in a vanilla server, or if I could add bukkit for free, that would also work.

I am using a Mac book pro 2010 build.

Solution 1:

You cannot add plugins if your server is vanilla for example the minecraft_server_1.9.X.jar found on minecraft.net. You need bukkit or a more recent artifact - as bukkit was somehow closed when Microsoft bought Mojang - it's named Spigot.

It's it fully compatible with bukkit plugins as it is developped using Bukkit. I personally use Spigot 1.9 for my server and can run multiple plugins like WorldEdit, Timber, AuthMe ...

link to Spigot 1.9.4