I was just forwarded this someone in my household who watches our server. That’s it folks. I’ve been a hold out for a long time, but this is honestly it.
They want me to pay to stream content that I bought from my hardware transcoded also on my hardware.
I’ll say it. As of today, I say Plex is dead. Luckily I’ve been setting up Jellyfin, I guess it’s time to make it production ready.
Edit I have a Plex Pass. More comments saying “Just buy a plex pass” are seriously not getting it. I have a Plex Pass and my users are still getting this.
I have a Plex Pass and my users are still getting this.
To be crystal clear to anyone getting this email: if the server admin has a Plex Pass, users need to do nothing to continue as normal. The streaming pass is only for users who aren’t connecting to a server that has a Plex Pass.
What I find shitty about this is that it’s being indiscriminately sent to every Plex account. There’s bound to be lots of people who don’t understand what this means who will be tricked into buying a streaming pass they don’t need at all. I’ve been getting messages from my users all day asking wtf is going on, and I’m getting tired of trying to convince them to just ignore the email.
That’s where my head was. If anything, it threw all of my users into a panic, thinking that they had to suddenly start paying. I had a couple immediately uninstall the apps. I don’t blame them, the way it was worded it was pretty much pushing them that they had to. Plex undid years worth of trust right there with them.
What gets me is that they didn’t message plex pass holders about this first. I would have gladly let my users know that they need to do nothing. Instead I’m fielding all kinds of panicked messages.
Same. Their wording was obviously meant to push them into just buying the membership. They chose language that sounded like you have to buy it ~or talk to your server admin~.
It should have been “Talk with your server owner, <> to see if you need to purchase a subscription or not”. Language like that would be very clear - but they chose not to do that.
Or even better. <>, which is ran by <> already has a plex pass subscription, you can continue watching without a subscription! Gee, how nice that would have been.
WAIT
WHAT?
I was reading your comment and the just came in the inbox. Lol I don’t even use plex at this point.
I guess if they know that the user only connects to one server that has a plex pass then they can filter down the email, the thing that keeps me from trying to move to jellyfin yet is that most of my users use multiple servers as a lot of my friends host plex so we cross share to get more coverage
I asked around a bit, but so far none of my users have recieved an email. Other people with their own server (and a plex pass) also haven’t gotten any complains. But I pretty much only have two types of users, own server + plex pass or no pass but almost certainly only connected to my server (mostly family).
It seems the e-mails were quite selectivly send out only to people that were actually affected by the change.
Who do you think it should be sent to? Only server owners?
Given Plex’s users, I think it’s appropriate to notify everyone with a Plex account for changes like that. No issue there.
What I take issue with is that email. It’s at best lazy and at worst manipulative. It’s worded like “if you stream media you need to buy this new pass”. Ok, clear. This free app I use now costs money.
But then they slap on “alternatively, if you connect to a server with a Plex Pass don’t worry about it”. But that’s not something the majority of consume-only users are going to understand. I have about 15 regular users and the only one who knew what that meant was the one who runs their own Plex server.
“Yes they are your files on your hardware in your home using your internet bandwitdh. But uh… fuck you.”
Been using Jellyfin since plex started to annoy me for using it without an account.
Came here to type this and forgot, and thought this was my comment :D
My god people.
If you setup Wireguard to use Jellyfin remotely, that would also get around Plex’s fees for remote streaming.
Am i reading this wrong?
If you use Jellyfin you no longer need plex. You can both host it on your own domain or do the vpn method.
If you really want to keep using plex then the vpn method will bypass the new restriction but i recommend not staying with software that limits what you can do with it when alternatives exist.
“Alternatives” https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/issues/5415
They can just adjust their pricing like that without a warning before hand? Who do they think they are?
Sad to see Plex becoming another target of enshittification.
enjoy intro pricing on a Remote Watch Pass
why would someone enjoy paying for what was free?!
Right? Absolutely ludicrous. I can’t get over how they can be so arrogant to think they deserve money for that. It’s core functionality that existed before they forked off of emby. They didn’t even write that code. Then they have no infrastructure for it, because it transcodes and streams from my server over my network. Any infrastructure they have in that process is nothing I wanted (looking at the auth that for some reason needs to phone home).
No, this is too far, I’m officially leaving Plex.
And Jellyfin shall welcome you with open sourcey arms.
add some wireguard leases so that you can share access to it with your friends, and presto :)
What do you mean for wireguard? Can’t they just access it directly?
I mean if you want to open up your network to the outside, sure. but a VPN would be a bit more safer, right?
Ah okay, yes I have another thread open elsewhere talking about that exact thing.
Guess how you would get around Plex’s remote streaming fees. Guess what service would be appropriate for tricking two devices into thinking they’re on the same local network.
Incorrect.
They are not charging for local streaming on your network. They are just charging for remote streaming, something that wasn’t part of emby, does use their servers and network bandwidth, and chews up a huge amount of development time.
For comparison, do let us all know which media server youre jumping to that supports secure and seamless remote streaming across a wide variety of devices and ecosystems
Just buy a lifetime Plex Pass and pay for the software you use. If you had years ago this wouldn’t be a problem and you literally would not notice that money being gone at this point.
$150 to perpetually operate a media server with free software updates is a ridiculous deal.
Define remote streaming, because they all support it unless there’s some term I don’t know about. Jellyfin allows me to remote stream out of the box - just like Plex used to.
The only thing I can think of that you’re referring to is the proxied streaming thing, which I don’t care about anyway. Jellyfin connects directly to my new server
Streaming outside your local network. And no jellyfin does not.
It most definitely does.
Jellyfin doesnt give a shit about where the server is in the slightest.
Alright then stop bitching about Plex and go use jellyfin if it’s so easy.
I do.
And I wasn’t bitching about Plex. This was my first comment in this thread.
That said, I’m also a lifetime Plex Pass subscriber, since waaaayyyyy back. And I’ll add that this is clearly a shitty money grab, and Plex deserves the complaints.
Uh it absolutely does. Bare minimum to do it is the exact same effort as plex. Forward a port.
Lol, if you expose a Jellyfin server to the open internet you deserve what happens to your devices.
You know what’s a bigger deal? Zero bucks (but please donate to jellyfin as it’s only fair) when you already have your server from which Plex streams your content from and add Wireguard for remote access.
Lmao.
It’s so unfair that plex charges an incredibly small amount of money for development…
also donate to jellyfin development it’s only fair.
Yeah the difference is voluntary. If i can choose to donate $50 to help development on an open source project, or be forced to pay $150 to support some fucking corporate enshittification, youre damn sure id rather donate. But the point is no one has to if they don’t want to or can’t afford it.
I paid $150 like 8 years ago for rock solid media server software with continual updates and client applications continuously updated for virtually every platform available.
You have to be insanely entitled and whiny to think that’s corporate enshittification or a bad value. Get some perspective.
Yeah my perspective is that an open source app that never charges you is better than one than literally fits the definitikn of enshittification by charging more money while decreasing functionality.
They announced this ahead of time. I got the email. They gave everyone a heads up with enough time to buy a lifetime Plex pass at the previous rate.
I see, thanks for clarifying.
without a warning
This was announced weeks ago.
In case people aren’t clear on what’s happening, here is a graphic that illustrates what’s happening.
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I got no such warning, but then again I already have had a plex pass for more than 10 years. It’s the best $100 I ever spent.
How is it insecure?
.
and what the hell do they think they deserve my money for anyway? What feature have they brought server owners over the last… 2 or 3 years? Seriously what have they done for us? Last thing I remember is credit skip - which was years ago now.
Wait they’re charging people for the privilege of using one’s hardware and bandwidth to share to friends??
Correct! Having users connect to your server and your hardware is now a cloud service according to them.
.
It’s literally just pointing them to my IP. It’s a bit of networking. How many manual connections have I set up? Most of them. I have DNS. I opened up 32400. That’s also all I had to do to get streaming to work with Jellyfin. Literally the only difference in getting Jellyfin “remote streaming” up and running is giving my users their username, password, and (DNS or IP) address.
That’s literally all plex is doing. It’s a dynamic DNS service, that tells your users how to connect to you for you. DynDNS or any dynamic DNS service can do that for you for like, 2 dollars a year, if not for free - or you can pay for a static IP. If someone can run a plex server, then they have enough networking knowledge to be able to set up dynamic dns.
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Plex works even without DDNS and port forwarding. What you are talking about is otherwise not possible for people with restrictive firewalls or with CGNAT.
I agree with you that if you expose the service through the internet, then yes, it’s just a DDNS remapping and their costs are tiny, but if you don’t it does go through their infra.
It does, and I concede that, but they do nag you constantly about it. And honestly, if that was the case then I’d say they could charge on that if they were clear why they had to all of a sudden after 10 years, but then I would say it should just be a charge to use their relay network, and have it be easily opt-out able. Maybe a guide on how to set it up yourself
Only if the server owner does not have a Plex pass.
Who even runs a plex server without a plex pass?
I do. What does the pass even add?
It enables the “skip intro” and “skip credits” features and allows downloading from remote libraries. Probably some other stuff, too.
deleted by creator
Yeah if I didn’t buy lifetime pass for like $50 years and years ago I’d be done with Plex probably.
I’m all for switching to FOSS alternatives but this is like complaining that video game companies charge you for playing games on your own computer. Maybe they’re just struggling financially.
the people giving their bandwidth away for free now want money to pay their bills?
To clarify, I disagree with needing an account (sharing my email) with Plex in the first place, and personally would not purchase what is essentially a CDN or VPN depending on how plex distributes your content to your end users. However, from these comments it seems like this was a free service they offered and now want money for it, because it is not profitable. Enshittification? Sure, but not unexpected. Apparently this doesn’t affect you if you stream locally either.
This does complicate things though since now users have to consider paying a subscription for network security or begin distributing OpenVPN configurations to people. In some cases it won’t be possible, like on your TV.
I’ll share my secret: configure your VPN so only select traffic is sent down it and if you’re on iOS, AirPlay it to the television if it supports it. Or you can connect a raspberry pi up to it.
That’s essentially my point of view. Plex enshittified. I was angry at how they handled the enshittification, throwing my users into a flurry, but I’m also not surprised that they’re doing it.
All I know is I’ve been told over and over and over that Plex is better than Jellyfin because of reasons, so this latest move won’t have me changing my mind!
I’m not gonna deny that there are definitely lots of Plex fanboys, but there are also definitely a number of issues that legitimately makes it hard to switch.
For example right now, I can cast from Plex to my Chromecast. In Jellyfin, the cast menu just shows “Play on my device”. Afaik the only alternate app that also supports Chromecast is streamyfin, which seems to be in beta because the cast menu shows icons for my Chromecasts but no name and won’t let me select them.
They sent the same message out months ago, and sent it again recently to all users. Nothing has changed since the first email. Plex pass owners that run a server are fine and can still stream to their users.
I guess lots of people missed or didn’t get the first message/outrage on fediverse the first time it happened.
Took me a bit to realise people are still talking about the same thing and that this isn’t new.
I’ll move over to jellyfin once the features ease of use and security parity is there. Or if Plex becomes a security issue by being hosted in the states. Until then I’m going to keep milking my Plex pass lifetime account from 10 years ago.
I’ve been trying it out for a few months. Parity is there. This is what finally convinced me it was time to leave. I’m a plex pass lifetime member, but I don’t like features that have been free for years suddenly requiring a monthly subscription. It’s time.
I can agree with you that I love free software. But I’ve always been aware that it’s not. I’ll be pissed if they paywall new things behind a new subscription even for lifetime members though.
I was really close to setting aside time to mess with jellyfin but a lot of people on the fediverse have been raising alarms about security issues if you are sharing with others over the web. I can’t comprehend what they are but it’s put that project on pause since everyone is happy with the Plex server right now.
Honestly what I’ve seen is that most of the security stuff is fairly overhyped. If you do even the bare minimum, like put it behind a reverse proxy, you’re going to more than likely be fine
You state that you have a plex pass and are a server owner. In that case you shouldn’t be affected, yet you’re saying you are… what?
Just because I’m not affected doesn’t mean it’s not enshittification, and removing functionality that was free for over a decade.
Oh yea but I mean this change isn’t recent (well, it is but it was announced some time ago), so I focused on the part where you said that even plex pass didn’t work
I’m focusing on your edit
