Paying for software is never fun, I understand. I hate to surrender my hard -earned money to companies. But I feel that so many have this moral high land that paying for software is a terrible.
Earlier this year, Plex changed his model to require a subscription for external access to your media files, and the self -host community was in a stir. Paying for good software is not bad; It is something that we have to expect to do and be happy if we don’t have to pay.
Paying for Plex Pass keeps the platform alive
Did you ever come that your favorite open source software was no longer updated? Or maybe you hadn’t used it for a long time, but only needed to need it again and to discover that it has been abandoned? That story is all too real when it comes to the open-source community.
Part of the problem with free open source software is often that the people who develop the software do it for fun in their spare time. This means that no income is generated, and when their time rises, the lifespan of the software expects that too.
Sometimes the community will pick up the torch and continue to develop the software, other times it will be left to be in every state in which it was.
Although Plex may have started its roots in the Open Source community, as a fork of XMBC in 2008, the focus has certainly shifted over the years. Now? Most of the best Plex functions are “locked” behind Plex Pass. The thing is, Plex Pass keeps the platform alive.
Take Jellyfin for example. The Jellyfin Xbox app went for five years without updates because there was no developer who wanted to work on it. Jellyfin has no real income flows and there is no professional team of developers who work on the software all day every day.
Plex, on the other hand, has a whole series of employees who keep the platform alive-that people pay people monthly, annually or once for the software.
The fact that Plex charges its customers to use the product is part of the reason that it remains so up -to -date for the latest operating systems. Plex simply has the means for it because they have the money to pay developers.
Do you want professional functions? That costs money
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
Plex and Jellyfin share many similarities. Both are media streaming platforms that can be installed on your own hardware to view your own media. However, Plex offers easier to use functions and a more polished and professional feeling, while Jellyfin feels like open source software.
Plex is extremely easy to set, while Jellyfin is a bit more complicated. As one of the resident homelab experts here at how-to geek, Jellyfin was absolutely more complicated for me to get started with external access than Plex was.
I still got Jellyfin and went, but the required reverse proxies, domain names and much more configure. Plex simply needs an account and open port (which can even do it via UPNP).
The fact is that Plex can develop and build up professional functions in its apps while Jellyfin is struggling. Play offline is something that the official Jellyfin apps simply do not offer – this function is native in Plex.
Some functions simply take more man-hours than the free open source community is willing to devote themselves to building without any form of wages. It is a sad reality, but it is really reality. Professional functions often require paid developers, and Plex has that, thanks to plex pass subscribers.
The free version of Plex is just the test
Justin Duino/How-To Geek
Although Plex himself is not the free version of his software as a ‘test’, in itself, I would venture to say that this is exactly what it is.
When you use Plex for free, you have a number of functions within reach without paying a cent. To start with, you can stream your media within your local network to any number of devices without limits. Plex can even transcode using the processor of your computer.
You can make playlists, have several libraries and even stream music outside your local network via the Plexamp app. Really, the only two (most important) functions that are not available are hardware transcoding (using a graphic card to transcode) and external representation of your film files.
With the free version of Plex you can easily test the software on your home network. Upgrade to Plex Pass not change How Plex works; It just gives you a few functions that are not in the free version. Really, I see Plex an unlimited test with a paid upgrade path if you need the extra functions.
Paying for software does not make it bad
When I wrote about the use of screenpted for my NVR Home (Network Video Recorder), there was a clear opposition against the fact that the NVR functionality was a paid position. Plex itself has a “bad reputation” in the Homelab community because it charges his software. Why? Why does paying for software make it bad immediately.
I think good software is worth paying for. Plex recently made some controversial changes in the layout of the function, so that the remote playing behind a payment wall was locked. Although I get the frustration behind the change, it is also logical – Peplex must finally earn money to stay in business.
The fact that Plex offers a $ 1.99 subscription per month for external access means that you can pay a Very minimal reimbursement To stream remotely. There is also an option for $ 20 a year, which saves you two months of payments.
If you really don’t want to support Plex’s development, I understand. That is why there are services such as Jellyfin. EMBY, another platform for media streaming, also has a paid layer with services such as offline downloads, hardware transcode and access to the apps.
At the end of the day, developers must be paid and they cannot be paid without customers who pay for the service. If everyone only used the free elements of Plex and nobody paid, it would probably be difficult to cover the salaries of the developers. Without those developers, Plex could be very quickly as Jellyfin, with some apps not being updated for more than half a decade.
Plex -Pass is not the problem – it’s the whole point
Patrick Campanale/How-To Geek
I know that the recent changes in Plex have fueled the community quite a bit, but Plex has to convert customers for free to paid customers, so I understand why they made the changes.
Plex could have left Plex Pass as the only upgrade path when they locked the external streaming behind the Paywall, but they didn’t. Offering the cheaper plan as an option for those who only want streaming remotely and no other Plex pass functions (essentially returning the same functionality that Plex had before the upgrade) was a great move in my opinion.
For $ 2 per month (or $ 20 per year) you can stream your media remotely. If you don’t want to pay for that, there are other free services, such as Jellyfin, which can be used instead. However, if you want to stay at Plex because of the ease of use, always updated apps and all his other fun functions, then it’s time to pay.
I hate to pay just as much for subscriptions as the next person. That is why I have a lifelong Plex pass, I don’t have to worry about subscription costs or change prices over time. At the moment, for $ 250, you can score all paid functions of Plex for life – including upcoming functions that they add, or even functions that they move behind the Paywall. You will be safe.
At the moment I use Plex more than any other service in my house. I prefer to look at my Plex server at physical media because it is so much more convenient.
Of course, if you don’t want to pay for Plex Pass, or even use plex, there are other options that are available. Jellyfin would be the next nearest competitor that I would recommend if you want all the functions of Plex Pass for free.
Jellyfin gives you free external access (which you have to configure yourself), downloads (but not with the clients of the First-Party) and transcoding of hardware. Emby would be another great alternative to Plex, but things like downloads and the first-party apps are locked behind a payment wall similar to Plex.
