I want to unlock the ability to view content on my mobile device. I can do that with a one-time purchase (payed with google opinion rewards) or with a subscription. I want to unlock the ability for my entire family though, across multiple devices. Do I have to pay the “one-time payment” for every device? If so, the plex subscription might be worth it. Is there any other major benefit to having a plex subscription?
Normally people are using https://jellyfin.org/ although i have never used it so I’m not sure if it offers the same functionality but it’s worth a try.
Jellyfin has more functionality but is a lot more technical to set up. I didn’t think it was worth the effort since I already have a Plex server running, but I could see going through that if I didn’t.
Been running Plex with a lifetime pass for around a decade. Worth it for me for sure.
I’ve run both, and I found both required about the same level of technical understanding for an in house setup.
I started with Plex as it worked nicer with my remote, then moved to Jellyfin when I picked up an Android TV. It was the hardware transcoding (without having to pay) that sealed the deal for me.
I haven't used Plex but Jellyfin is as easy as throwing this in Docker:
--- version: "2.1" services: jellyfin: image: lscr.io/linuxserver/jellyfin:latest container_name: jellyfin environment: - PUID=1000 - PGID=1000 - TZ=Etc/UTC - JELLYFIN_PublishedServerUrl=192.168.0.5 #optional volumes: - /path/to/library:/config - /path/to/tvseries:/data/tvshows - /path/to/movies:/data/movies ports: - 8096:8096 - 8920:8920 #optional - 7359:7359/udp #optional - 1900:1900/udp #optional restart: unless-stopped(from linuxserver.io)
If you like Ansible and docker, check out saltbox. It’s a great project and if they don’t have what you need, it’s in community. They also use authelia sso. I’ve contributed to their community repo.
It’s really easy to set up if you use Docker.
I want to use Jellyfin, but the clients just aren’t up to par with Plex and last I checked Jellyfin won’t transcode downloaded media.
Jellyfin does hardware transcoding.
Last I checked, if you wanted to download media to a mobile device to watch later, you could only do that at full quality. Has that changed?
Ah I see, I have misunderstood. I checked and you are correct that it is not possible to download anything but the original file.
If you use Linux Mint, its a one click install from the software manager GUI and the config happens in a web browser. I use a VPN to connect and play videos from it on my phone. I like it and have it set up everywhere I can.
The only thing I can think of when people say jellyfin is more technical. Is there you have to set up port forwarding and some kind of DNS for your server for remote access.
Yes and you’ll need to handle security and authentication yourself. Plex is way better in this regard even if it means the very occasional issue when their servers are down.
My main bone to pick with Plex is that I believe that free and open source software should be gratis (free as in beer). You’re right about the authentication though. I have mine set up with a simple user name and password over http. I rely on the VPN to limit access to the network through a forwarded port. I don’t really like the idea of authentication being done on someone else’s machine for privacy reasons, which is why I choose jellyfin that runs on my local machine. I’m not currently sharing it, and if I did I would change some of my security practices.
If you really need public remote access and you can set up jellyfin, it’s not much more difficult to set up authelia or LDAP with a reverse proxy and valid certs. I use tailscale and just leave simple auth with jellyfin since it’s only myself and family accessing. I used to run Plex for the offloading of authentication to them but I’m with ya, FOSS should be free.
It’s weakness is client side apps. Most are web apps and not native. It’s getting better but in comparison plex has native apps on almost everything.
I’m a lifetime plex pass user since 2016
I personally dislike the Plex apps, but yeah its native support is unmatched. The official Jellyfin app for Android gets the job done but isn’t native. However, Findroid seems like the future to me on Android and I use the Kodi plugin on my TV (which is amazing).
Even as a lifetime plex pass subscriber, I have ditched it completely in favor of Jellyfin.
This. I use game consoles as my base so I can stream and play games from one place.
Jellyfin for xbox is using the controls to move a cursor around
However Swiftfin and Findroid are making slow but steady progress for mobile devices.
Jellyfin is just great and easy to configure
Yeah I used to use Plex, Jellyfin all the way now.
Literally everything that makes plex better is pay walled. Support FOSS.
I used to have one. Then I asked myself why I was paying someone else to access my own stuff.
you’re not wrong… but you gotta give credit where credit is due. Plex does a good job of having a client on every platform. Telling family and friends “search for plex on your devices app store” is a whole hell of a lot easier than having them jump thru all the hoops that it takes for jellyfin to work.
This is the main reason I will continue to use Plex over jellyfin
- Open in browser.
Done. Doesn’t seem like that many hoops.
Not a good option, at least on desktop it doesn’t direct play hevc
Because Plex provides you with the user interface to access your own content. Atleast that’s how I like to think about it
Jellyfin is the way
Jellyfin is a great alternative if you’re okay with webports.
Plex is definitely worth plex pass though. Many features and it works well on any device.
Eh, plex has been super buggy on my FireTV Cube. For some reason it always jumps back like 6 episodes in a show or just picks a random season when we resume playing the next day.
I totally agree, Plex is good but hardly worth that price given the issues and bugs.
I’d buy it if it were a lower price or worked better!
I bought the lifetime pass when it went on sale a few years ago. I have used the hell out of it and loved plexamp before that feature was available to non Plex pass users. If I had to buy it now, I might just go with an open source alternative like jellyfin.
What sealed the deal for me was skip intro. Incredible feature I don’t believe any other option has.
Wait for lifetime memberships to go on sale if you can. There are a few sales a year. Usually on Black Friday.
Jellyfin has a skip intro plugin that is easy to install and works great from my experience.
No. Just use Jellyfin
If you pay the one time fee or the subscription fee, the system unlocks all the paid features for all of the users on your account. Under your account you can have multiple users, each with their own viewing history (and restrictions, iirc). So if your users log into Plex on their devices using your account username and password - abbadon420 and Hunter1 - and then select their user profile, they will all have access to the features.
The one time fee unlocks forever (the lifetime of Plex, of course) and the subscription unlocks the features for the term of the subscription and then you revert back.
Also make sure to set up 2fa on your login
Also setup a pin on your main account so people can’t get into it and cause mayhem (whether intentional or accidental).
I feel like it is, but, be on the lookout for a sale and get the lifetime option when there’s a sale.
Do you know if there’s any frequency to the sale? Like, once per year? Once per quarter? Every major holiday? Or you haven’t a clue?
I don’t really pay attention having bought the lifetime pass years ago, but I do see mentions of it being on sale at least a couple times per year. You may wait for black friday in November if you’re interested but don’t mind waiting.
I’m not sure. I remember I was waiting for it to go on sale when I needed it, and it happened pretty quickly. But I don’t know if it happens at any set intervals.
It goes on sale a couple times a year. If you check Slickdeals, you can find the last few times it was on sale. It is always on sale during Black Friday though.
Plex subscription is crap, this is coming from someone who had one. I’d recommend using something else like emby or jellyfin
I bought it when it was a one time payment. It’s been worth it but I don’t think I would do it if it was a monthly fee.
They have monthly, annual and lifetime subscribtions. I’m gonna wait for the sale to buy a lifetime subscription.
I used to have a Plex Pass, but I dont think it’s worth it anymore. I have remote access via Tailscale, which I use for a number of other services as well.
Can you access to all the Plex content and the UI from remote using tailscale?
Yes. Tailscale is an implementation of the Wireguard VPN. As far as Plex knows my phone is local, no need for remote.
Pay anyone but google, amazon and meta. Fuck these companies.
I dig the hardware transcoding, the hdr-sdr tone mapping and the tablet App.
If you use Plex free and never found the limitations to be a burden, you have your answer.
All in all I personally find that a one time unlimited subscription is a great deal that is rarely seen nowadays