TylerV76 84 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 ...But some ideas from why others chose Emby would be helpful... This is what you asked for. You were probably looking for a lovefest for Emby and Im sure many are willing to give it to you. I for one choose to be honest in saying neither is a complete product. I have given multiple factual reasons behind my opinion that not one person has disputed. Not sure why you are having a hard time understanding that and trying to steer a conversation away from what you asked for. As for adding their app to an app store and its revenue, you clearly missed what was said. Plex has deals to be preinstalled on countless devices. You understand what that does right? That is advertising. Advertising that brings new users to their software. Advertising that gets people signing up for subscriptions. Subscriptions that bring in revenue, and its working and has been for quite some time. This isnt complicated. How many people who bought a nas, smart device or streaming device have heard of Plex? Probably millions? How many people did Emby reach using the same partnerships? Is Emby sponsored on any device actually? Theres your “business” strategy and success summed up as basic as I can make it for ya. You clearly have a case of fanboyism and theres no reasoning with that so you do you and Ill continue accepting the fact that Plex just does some things better and Emby does others better. You wont change my mind and you clearly dont want to change yours so this has gone about as far as it can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14910 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 That contradicts the statement that “emby is under our control”. “You believe 25 is enough”, not “the users feel 25 is enough”. There is no contradiction there. You have complete control and options for more than 25 if that is what you need. I never said everything was free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One2Go 98 Posted August 9, 2019 Author Share Posted August 9, 2019 As for adding their app to an app store and its revenue, you clearly missed what was said. Plex has deals to be preinstalled on countless devices. You understand what that does right? That is advertising. Advertising that brings new users to their software. Advertising that gets people signing up for subscriptions. Subscriptions that bring in revenue, and its working and has been for quite some time. This isnt complicated. How many people who bought a nas, smart device or streaming device have heard of Plex? Probably millions? Finally you get around to admit that Plex's future is in the subscription model which is why myself and others have stopped being active in the Plex world because that is not what we want. Also once you buy a lifetime pass that revenue will not be in the next years income. While Plex tries to reach as many hardware devices as they can while they are not addressing the problems with existing devices, their forum is full of complaints of this. In two of the major decision factors, control over your device by the admin not the software vendor and support for existing services and devices Plex is not the choice for many. Since I have used both for almost a decade now and keep Plex around for legacy users no Emby fanboy here just reality that Emby suits many because of their commitment to local streaming. Tell me how does Plex play back full BluRays including menus to my home theater? Please don't offer the solution of muxing or converting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 There is no contradiction there. You have complete control and options for more than 25 if that is what you need. I never said everything was free. And as youve seen yourself, that limitation is one thing that people dont understand the reasoning behind and causes them to question switching to Emby. Yes its enough but people dont know that when looking into switching to Emby. This question has been asked on here multiple times and it takes 4 or 5 members to explain it until the user understands. This is a limitation your competition doesnt have so its a bit confusing why its there in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14910 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 And as youve seen yourself, that limitation is one thing that people dont understand the reasoning behind and causes them to question switching to Emby. Yes its enough but people dont know that when looking into switching to Emby. This question has been asked on here multiple times and it takes 4 or 5 members to explain it until the user understands. This is a limitation your competition doesnt have so its a bit confusing why its there in the first place. Okay, but what does that have to do with your statement about us contradicting ourselves? I was simply responding to your assertion of that. We do our best to make the limits clear and understand it still isn't perfect. However, it is the best solution we have at this point in time. The competition does impose limits but it does so by simply denying access to large installations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilgamesh_48 943 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 Is Emby better than Plex? Or is Plex better than Emby? Or are the both equally bad? Or are they both equally good? The answer is ultimately meaningless because they are sufficiently different that the answer to the questions must be specific to each individual's needs and usage case. They both approach media streaming solutions from different directions and the fill the streaming needs of people quite differently. I used Plex for many years and rejected Emby (Media Browser) because of its primitiveness. However recently I have pretty much switched to Emby because it fits my needs better and the Emby people are MUCH more approachable. (They actually listen to and interact with their users.) As a user I do not care and do not believe it matters if the approaches and profit models are different. Rather what matters to me is does the product work well and are the products stable and reliable and do the users have a say to some extent in the process of development and that is the difference that should be examined and even debated. For me Plex abandoned its user base a few years ago and aimed their development toward filling the need of profit with an almost total disregard of user's wants and needs. Emby continues to develop toward the wants and needs of the users even, sometimes, implementing user suggestions over what the Emby developers originally wanted. This disparity in development direction has caused the Plex software system to bloat and add many unneeded/features or addons, like Tidal, that serve to increase profits without really adding to what the majority of users want or need. Emby is not totally immune to that trend but, so far, I have seen little that bloats the software without adding to the general user experience. My dog even likes it more when I use Emby because there is generally less cursing and yelling at the TV because something is not working correctly when I use Emby than when I use Plex. A phrase my mother liked to use was "pretty is as pretty does" and sometimes Plex looks "pretty" but does not do "pretty" while most of the time Emby does "pretty" quite well. In the end each user must make the choice and I believe that for most Emby is the better choice but not for most of the reasons debated in this thread but rather simply because Emby works better in most environments. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 Okay, but what does that have to do with your statement about us contradicting ourselves? I was simply responding to your assertion of that. Its wrong to say users have complete control of their server when there are limitations such as device limits. Complete means complete, not with limitations. Like I said though, the limits are not a big deal, once you understand how they work. I run quite a few devices and never had an issue. The biggest problem it causes is for potential users. Can I know why the limits are in place though? Is it simply a revenue situation or is there a usage situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy2Play 8281 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 (edited) Its wrong to say users have complete control of their server when there are limitations such as device limits. Complete means complete, not with limitations. Like I said though, the limits are not a big deal, once you understand how they work. I run quite a few devices and never had an issue. The biggest problem it causes is for potential users. Can I know why the limits are in place though? Is it simply a revenue situation or is there a usage situation? Well the limitation is technically the client/apps and or features they choose to use. Building specific device apps/clients take time and resources. You can use a browser and uses as many as you like. But limitations apply such as Live TV or Hardware Acceleration or specific plugins requiring Premiere. Edited August 9, 2019 by Happy2Play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Well the limitation is technically the client/apps and or features they choose to use. Building specific device apps/clients take time and resources. You can use a browser and uses as many as you like. But limitations apply such as Live TV or Hardware Acceleration or specific plugins requiring Premiere. So its simply a revenue thing, to compensate developers? Theres nothing wrong with that but if thats it can someone finally just say thats what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37057 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 If it weren't for the device limit then we'd probably have to go with something more like the competitor model of having all users on all servers purchase unlocks or have premiere. One premiere purchase for an unlimited number of users is not a model that would allow us to sustain long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 If it weren't for the device limit then we'd probably have to go with something more like the competitor model of having all users on all servers purchase unlocks or have premiere. One premiere purchase for an unlimited number of users is not a model that would allow us to sustain long term. Ok, Im asking why does me having unlimited devices vs 25 matter? Is there something on your side that causes more strain the more devices I use? What is the limit for? What purpose does it actually serve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rakstr 0 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 If it weren't for the device limit then we'd probably have to go with something more like the competitor model of having all users on all servers purchase unlocks or have premiere. One premiere purchase for an unlimited number of users is not a model that would allow us to sustain long term. Emby does have an opportunity to snag a number of new subscribers IMO. If you spend 10 minutes on the PLEX forums you'll see that they've not only made a CF of their guide data but basic DVR 101 features like watching a program being recorded on delay hasn't worked in more than a year. It's a mess and many are suggesting a switch to EMBY. Also, as mentioned herein, many users have had it with the DEVs and lack of support across the board. I REALLY believe a 2 week free trial of Premiere could be enough to secure most of the PLEX LiverTV/DVR users. It's really in that bad of shape right now. EMBY should really try to capitalize on the turmoil over at PLEX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAlGaInTl 279 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 (edited) Ok, Im asking why does me having unlimited devices vs 25 matter? Is there something on your side that causes more strain the more devices I use? What is the limit for? What purpose does it actually serve? It's just a different pricing model. With Plex, the server is free, but users pay to access the server through app purchases or more popularly, with Plex Pass. By contrast the Emby license is with the server rather than the individual users. I bought a lifetime license. I share that with my family, a total of 8 accounts, but not everyone is very active. 15 devices was enough to me, but I upgraded to 45 before they changed the license. I did this to support the project (thanks devs). Now that's been increased to 25. I'm quite sure that would cover my family, most of whom just connect via a couple of TVs in each home. So now lets break down the financials. For my server the Emby team got $120. Plus another $99 for the 45 device increase, but we'll put that aside for now. That's it. As many people can connect to my server as my license limit will allow. They don't have to purchase anything. They do not have to have an Emby account. The Emby team sees no money from them. To get the same level of support with Plex, each user would buy a license. Okay... so maybe some users wouldn't need to do that, but they would at least have to purchase the app. Plus, they would not get to take advantage of the full system. So to compare Apples to Apples (sort of), lets say all users purchased apps for a couple of devices. That would total : Emby - $120 Plex - $120 + $70 (apps) = $190 - That number gets bigger if there are multiple users in those households. The more users that are added... the more that would have to pay to access the server. So that's why Emby has a limit. They have to do something for revenue since they aren't getting paid either lifetime or monthly fees from a large group of users like Plex is. They only get revenue from those running the server. Personally, I like this pricing model better. It's seamless to my users who I just tell to go get the app and give them the URL for my server. Edited August 10, 2019 by BAlGaInTl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 (edited) It's just a different pricing model. With Plex, the server is free, but users pay to access the server through app purchases or more popularly, with Plex Pass. By contrast the Emby license is with the server rather than the individual users. I bought a lifetime license. I share that with my family, a total of 8 accounts, but not everyone is very active. 15 devices was enough to me, but I upgraded to 45 before they changed the license. I did this to support the project (thanks devs). Now that's been increased to 25. I'm quite sure that would cover my family, most of whom just connect via a couple of TVs in each home. So now lets break down the financials. For my server the Emby team got $120. Plus another $99 for the 45 device increase, but we'll put that aside for now. That's it. As many people can connect to my server as my license limit will allow. They don't have to purchase anything. They do not have to have an Emby account. The Emby team sees no money from them. To get the same level of support with Plex, each user would buy a license. Okay... so maybe some users wouldn't need to do that, but they would at least have to purchase the app. Plus, they would not get to take advantage of the full system. So to compare Apples to Apples (sort of), lets say all users purchased apps for a couple of devices. That would total : Emby - $120 Plex - $120 + $70 (apps) = $190 - That number gets bigger if there are multiple users in those households. The more users that are added... the more that would have to pay to access the server. So that's why Emby has a limit. They have to do something for revenue since they aren't getting paid either lifetime or monthly fees from a large group of users like Plex is. They only get revenue from those running the server. Personally, I like this pricing model better. It's seamless to my users who I just tell to go get the app and give them the URL for my server. Plex home members get access to all the apps for free. Maximum of 15 members per home share. So no, its definitely not cheaper and to Plex users looking to switch its a bit concerning to have a device limit. https://support.plex.tv/articles/203815766-what-is-plex-home/ Edited August 10, 2019 by TylerV76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkassassin07 423 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Plex home members get access to all the apps for free. Maximum of 15 members per home share. So no, its definitely not cheaper and to Plex users looking to switch its a bit concerning to have a device limit. https://support.plex.tv/articles/203815766-what-is-plex-home/ Ok, so (looking at current prices) With emby you can pay 120$ to allow 25 clients to connect to your server without limitation and no monthly cost. Then chose to expand that at will for a monthly fee (which very very few people actually have a need for). With plex, you can pay 120$ to allow 15 users access without limitation, and then each user past that must buy their own app/subscription. (at least as far as I understand it) The main difference I notice is 'clients' vs 'users'. Plex lets you have 15 actual people get the benefits on as many clients as each individual uses (even if that totals up to be more than 15 clients/devices). Emby on the other hand, limits the number of clients/devices. You could have 25 people connected from a single client each, or you could have one person with 25 devices connected, but you can't exceed 25 actual clients/devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAlGaInTl 279 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Plex home members get access to all the apps for free. Maximum of 15 members per home share. So no, its definitely not cheaper and to Plex users looking to switch its a bit concerning to have a device limit. https://support.plex.tv/articles/203815766-what-is-plex-home/ I wasn't aware of the "home" feature. That must have been added after I left Plex. I do wish that Emby would make the "devices" more transparent. Not everything counts against the limit, and you never know how many you have used or what they are. Improvements to that have been talked about, but so far, not much has been done towards that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 I do wish that Emby would make the "devices" more transparent. Not everything counts against the limit, and you never know how many you have used or what they are. Improvements to that have been talked about, but so far, not much has been done towards that. Agreed. There are plenty of threads on places like reddit discussing this and in many of them people decide not to try Emby for this very reason. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrianwi 237 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 I think most people would agree that there needs to be better control and visibility of the client devices accessing the emby server, but since the premiere limit was increased from 15 to 25 I've never even seen any warning messages suggesting I am close to the limit. It would be nice if this was all much more transparent, but I don't think it should be a deal breaker for anyone considering emby. You have far more control with emby than Plex will allow these days, as most of the clients won't even connect to a server without being logged into a plex.tv account. This is criminal for anyone only wanting to use a media server on their local network, and along with a dubious privacy policy should be deal breaker for anyone thinking of using Plex. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14910 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 Ok, Im asking why does me having unlimited devices vs 25 matter? Is there something on your side that causes more strain the more devices I use? What is the limit for? What purpose does it actually serve? I thought we had explained this but it is purely to protect our investment and ensure our ability to continue to develop and support the platform. Without some sort of limit you could simply share your key on the internet and everyone could get Emby Premiere for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 I thought we had explained this but it is purely to protect our investment and ensure our ability to continue to develop and support the platform. Without some sort of limit you could simply share your key on the internet and everyone could get Emby Premiere for free. So wouldnt it make more sense to limit user shares instead of this weird, confusing device limit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37057 Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 So wouldnt it make more sense to limit user shares instead of this weird, confusing device limit? We've chosen to make cloud accounts optional so there is no direct comparison. We would have to do a complete reversal on that and require Emby Connect sign in to all of our apps in order to allow us to track that sort of thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerV76 84 Posted August 11, 2019 Share Posted August 11, 2019 We've chosen to make cloud accounts optional so there is no direct comparison. We would have to do a complete reversal on that and require Emby Connect sign in to all of our apps in order to allow us to track that sort of thing. Gotcha, that makes sense. Thanks Luke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corte122 0 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Tried emby for a couple months . I just want to say keep up the great work. To be honest I own both Plex an emby , can't go wrong with either one , competition is always good ! Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37057 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Tried emby for a couple months . I just want to say keep up the great work. To be honest I own both Plex an emby , can't go wrong with either one , competition is always good ! Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk Hi, welcome and thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jxb1234 9 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 (edited) I tried emby a few years ago but the gui was far too 'busy' and hard to navigate. I'm back now on a 1 month subscription over xmas to test it out again as a long term plex user with lifetime plex pass. For me, plex didn't work for several of my use cases. These are: Xbox one playback locks up completely after 15 mins for movie playback. Xbox one tv guide is not available as a 'normal' guide making it impossible to find a tv program to watch. Xbox one tv playback locks up after a few minutes and cannot recover. The plex embedded player stutters and buffers on a raspberry pi 3 making unusable. There is no gapless music playback on the plex web player. Theres a 3 sec gap between tracks - useless for audio tracks designed to flow into each other. Plex sync (movie download) is totally broken on android. Just doesn't work and if you do get stuff to download, it won't play offline. Plex devs never reply on the forums so no one knows if issues are being addressed. I have open issues that's 3 years old and no been fixed. Plex added tidal and won't let me remove it. Plex added all sorts of junk that I don't want link old movies, news channels, random streams etc that can't be removed, cluttering my gui. I want MY media and only my media, not sponsored crap forced on me. Plex doesnt support google home integration and doesnt appear to be working on it. I'll be testing each of these with emby as part of my evaluation to see if emby is what I need and I can delete plex. Emby doesn't have lyrics. Not a deal breaker. Emby doesn't look as polished as plex but I have seen massive improvement over time on this. Emby doesnt find all album and artist artwork like plex. Plex has 100% album/artist art for my music library. Embybis about 80%. Emby doesnt show if an artist is on tour. If use this feature quite a bit in plex. Emby on xbox one seems to work ok for movies and tv playback and the guide works too. Emby download works 'ok'. Ui could be clearer about converting and downloading progress. Emby really doesn't like it when I disable wifi. It locks up on android. I've not played with this yet and will open support thread when I have time. So far, emby seems better overall. It works albeit with quirks which is at least a step forward from the issues I'm having with plex. Edited December 30, 2019 by jxb1234 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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