Plex Doubles Lifetime Subscription Price

[jake0077 4]

I used to use Plex back in 2016 for about a year and a half before it suddenly stopped working for me. I uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times with no success and decided to switch to Emby.

I didn't mind Plex when it worked but when I switched to Emby, I found I preferred Emby.

Just read this morning, Plex has doubled it's lifetime subscription price and remote streaming will no longer be free.

This now makes Emby a much preferred alternative to Plex.

I just hope Emby doesn't follow suit and raise their prices or change functionality.

Even if it does, I'm pretty loyal to Emby and would probably still subscribe.

[Luke 42077]

Quote

and remote streaming will no longer be free.

HI, are you sure about this part?

[SamES 1056]

52 minutes ago, Luke said:

HI, are you sure about this part?

https://www.plex.tv/blog/important-2025-plex-updates/

[jake0077 4]

I guess I wasn't exactly right.

The above post says it all.

[yocker 1247]

Bloat, ads, data harvesting, requiring accounts and insane prices.
Following in the steps of Microsoft Windows i see.

I will admit Plex aside from those things is pretty good but.. Just no..
Next they will make a Plex 2 forcing old users to buy that by putting the new app on TVs and not have it work with Plex 1, having none technical people not know how to install the old one.

Emby crew: Be awesome and mess with Plex by putting a discount on Emby for a while when Plex raises their price!

 

[MistD 32]

Unfortunately, Plex (with all its issues) is still leading in the self-hosted media world. 
People that were committed to Plex bought a lifetime pass already or will buy one until the price increases at the end of April. 

I hate that I have to do it (for the reasons we all dislike Plex) but I'm thinking seriously to go back to Plex ... at least for one simple reason: MUSIC.
There simply isn't any viable alternative for self-hosting music out there ... if you care about your quality of life.

1. Emby
- no music app
- the official app feels like a web wrapper with bad offline support
- music implementation lacks some love and attention.
- there seems to be a lacking desire for pouring some heavy attention into the music side ("good enough" approach).

2. Jellyfin
- pretty basic UI/UX
- bad clients with bad music apps support
- music implementation lacks (ex: no smart playlists etc.)
- buggy here and there

3. Navidrome
- Basic, half-baked UI/UX, the bare minimum with an ancient old-school feel, lacks a lot of UI / UX functionality (some pretty important).
- no official clients
- pretty bad clients in the "subsonic" ecosystem

4. Any other music server out there
- a continuous beta test launched into the public. Users are simply beta testers having a bad experience.

5. ALL of the above
- there simply isn't any work done and/or desire into integrating these self-hosted solutions with dedicated music hardware / streamers like Wiim, Audiolab, Headless with a raspberry Pi etc.
- Plex and the luxury "dude" named Roon, are the only ones being picked up by these hardware manufacturers for support.

So, I'm at the point of just paying for a "corporate" product or just give up self-hosting for good.

While dealing with music and the desire to remote stream it outside my own network, lately I started to see the benefits of Plex proposition (correct me if I'm wrong):

- their centralized / managed authentication (while I dislike it from a "pure" self-hosted perspective), provides some security benefits (like DDOS protection)
- their relay service provides a solution for CGNAT or for those who want to keep their firewall "airtight" without any open ports.
- all the encryption and certifications are dealt with by them.

Otherwise:
- pay for a domain name
- deal with SSL certifications, renewals all that stuff
- deal with CGNAT, DNS/DDNS, reverse proxies, tunneling, VPN (and all that messing around with it, enabling it on the client etc.)
- deal with the idea that your network is "exposed" and pay a HUGE attention to security because of it.
- you might not be a network security expert and you have to learn a lot of stuff, spending a lot of time researching while still being uncertain if you do the things properly.
- like it or not, there is an added "burden" on you that might become stressful if you don't necessarily enjoy "playing" homelab ... but just want to consume your own media outside your home.

What I dislike about Plex:
- Their enshitification with their own streaming service / crappy content and not being a product only focused on self-hosting my own media.
- The privacy regarding data collection (although I have to trust them on some claims regarding personal media, the same way I have to trust Emby for example).

I just wished for another alternative, at least comparable if not better for music consumption.
Movies are way "easier" (mostly consumed in-network) and alternatives do exists.

PS: Not being a "hardcore" Plex fan, not at all, far from it . I barely used it for a short time (a month or two) while testing it.

Edited March 21, 2025 by MistD

[adminExitium 355]

Personally, I think the only reason Plex has such a good Music experience is because of Elan (their CTO & Co-Founder) treating it as his personal pet project. He seems to reply in almost every thread related to music and almost nothing else apart from that. Wonder how long it will last though ....

[athinaok 25]

I'm using Symfonium to stream my music from Emby, and I highly recommend it for both Android and Apple users. With its sleek, user-friendly interface and seamless integration with Emby, Symfonium offers an exceptional music experience that’s both intuitive and reliable. Whether you're commuting or relaxing at home, you can enjoy high-quality audio and effortless navigation—making it the perfect choice for true music enthusiasts. Give Symfonium a try and take your Emby music experience to the next level! For more details and to download the app, visit https://symfonium.app.

[seanbuff 1313]

10 hours ago, athinaok said:

I highly recommend it for both Android and Apple users.

Apple users... are you sure about that?

[athinaok 25]

Symfonium is only for android sorry ;)

[MrRosey 0]

On 3/20/2025 at 3:18 PM, jake0077 said:

I used to use Plex back in 2016 for about a year and a half before it suddenly stopped working for me. I uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times with no success and decided to switch to Emby.

I didn't mind Plex when it worked but when I switched to Emby, I found I preferred Emby.

Just read this morning, Plex has doubled it's lifetime subscription price and remote streaming will no longer be free.

This now makes Emby a much preferred alternative to Plex.

I just hope Emby doesn't follow suit and raise their prices or change functionality.

Even if it does, I'm pretty loyal to Emby and would probably still subscribe.

Totally with ya. I'm a longtime plex guy but payin yrly. Can't hardly afford eggs much less plex @ that hike !!! Do u know if I can start emby @ monthly then jump to yrly if I like? My kind of trial system. 

 

On 3/20/2025 at 3:18 PM, jake0077 said:

I used to use Plex back in 2016 for about a year and a half before it suddenly stopped working for me. I uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times with no success and decided to switch to Emby.

I didn't mind Plex when it worked but when I switched to Emby, I found I preferred Emby.

Just read this morning, Plex has doubled it's lifetime subscription price and remote streaming will no longer be free.

This now makes Emby a much preferred alternative to Plex.

I just hope Emby doesn't follow suit and raise their prices or change functionality.

Even if it does, I'm pretty loyal to Emby and would probably still subscribe.

 

[MrRosey 0]

On 3/21/2025 at 4:45 AM, MistD said:

Unfortunately, Plex (with all its issues) is still leading in the self-hosted media world. 
People that were committed to Plex bought a lifetime pass already or will buy one until the price increases at the end of April. 

I hate that I have to do it (for the reasons we all dislike Plex) but I'm thinking seriously to go back to Plex ... at least for one simple reason: MUSIC.
There simply isn't any viable alternative for self-hosting music out there ... if you care about your quality of life.

1. Emby
- no music app
- the official app feels like a web wrapper with bad offline support
- music implementation lacks some love and attention.
- there seems to be a lacking desire for pouring some heavy attention into the music side ("good enough" approach).

2. Jellyfin
- pretty basic UI/UX
- bad clients with bad music apps support
- music implementation lacks (ex: no smart playlists etc.)
- buggy here and there

3. Navidrome
- Basic, half-baked UI/UX, the bare minimum with an ancient old-school feel, lacks a lot of UI / UX functionality (some pretty important).
- no official clients
- pretty bad clients in the "subsonic" ecosystem

4. Any other music server out there
- a continuous beta test launched into the public. Users are simply beta testers having a bad experience.

5. ALL of the above
- there simply isn't any work done and/or desire into integrating these self-hosted solutions with dedicated music hardware / streamers like Wiim, Audiolab, Headless with a raspberry Pi etc.
- Plex and the luxury "dude" named Roon, are the only ones being picked up by these hardware manufacturers for support.

So, I'm at the point of just paying for a "corporate" product or just give up self-hosting for good.

While dealing with music and the desire to remote stream it outside my own network, lately I started to see the benefits of Plex proposition (correct me if I'm wrong):

- their centralized / managed authentication (while I dislike it from a "pure" self-hosted perspective), provides some security benefits (like DDOS protection)
- their relay service provides a solution for CGNAT or for those who want to keep their firewall "airtight" without any open ports.
- all the encryption and certifications are dealt with by them.

Otherwise:
- pay for a domain name
- deal with SSL certifications, renewals all that stuff
- deal with CGNAT, DNS/DDNS, reverse proxies, tunneling, VPN (and all that messing around with it, enabling it on the client etc.)
- deal with the idea that your network is "exposed" and pay a HUGE attention to security because of it.
- you might not be a network security expert and you have to learn a lot of stuff, spending a lot of time researching while still being uncertain if you do the things properly.
- like it or not, there is an added "burden" on you that might become stressful if you don't necessarily enjoy "playing" homelab ... but just want to consume your own media outside your home.

What I dislike about Plex:
- Their enshitification with their own streaming service / crappy content and not being a product only focused on self-hosting my own media.
- The privacy regarding data collection (although I have to trust them on some claims regarding personal media, the same way I have to trust Emby for example).

I just wished for another alternative, at least comparable if not better for music consumption.
Movies are way "easier" (mostly consumed in-network) and alternatives do exists.

PS: Not being a "hardcore" Plex fan, not at all, far from it . I barely used it for a short time (a month or two) while testing it.

Wow, that's a mouthful.

But you obviously sound like you're from the music crowd and I am an old guy. I'm we're interested in grandkids pix. n videos and family stuff. I'm looking at flipping theI'm working on being the next bionic. Old dude had knee replacement 23 and hip replacement 2325I had foot surgery recovering right now. bird to Plex and their outrageous price hike. I've had plex for quite a while pay by the year, but I can hardly afford eggs these days. I updated my plex about a year and a half ago and lost my access to my media server. Synology Nas. 

 

I'm working on being the next bionic. Old dude had knee replacement 23 and hip replacement 23, 25 had foot surgery recovering right now. Got nothing but time right now. So i'm going to look at hooking up my nas again. Probably gonna go with emby. Lifetime looks affordable unless somebody can talk me into jellyfish, seen lotta good things said about it. What say you ???

[MrRosey 0]

On 3/20/2025 at 3:18 PM, jake0077 said:

I used to use Plex back in 2016 for about a year and a half before it suddenly stopped working for me. I uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times with no success and decided to switch to Emby.

I didn't mind Plex when it worked but when I switched to Emby, I found I preferred Emby.

Just read this morning, Plex has doubled it's lifetime subscription price and remote streaming will no longer be free.

This now makes Emby a much preferred alternative to Plex.

I just hope Emby doesn't follow suit and raise their prices or change functionality.

Even if it does, I'm pretty loyal to Emby and would probably still subscribe.

Do you know if I were to subscribe to a monthly deal with emby ,Would I then be able to upgrade to a lifetime subscription if I liked it????   @ebr

[ebr 16169]

1 hour ago, MrRosey said:

Do you know if I were to subscribe to a monthly deal with emby ,Would I then be able to upgrade to a lifetime subscription if I liked it????   @ebr

Hi.  Yes, you can upgrade at any time.  However, the monthly isn't a pre-payment plan for an upgrade.

How do I Upgrade my Emby Premiere Membership?

[MistD 32]

1 hour ago, MrRosey said:

What say you ???

Yeah, I'm mostly pissed off about the music situation.

For movies / tv shows I think Emby will serve you very well.
You pay for the Emby Premiere and it comes with first-party apps that are perfectly ok for movies.

Jellyfin is a free and open-source alternative but it lacks good quality clients.
So, with Jellyfin, if you are on Apple camp, you will have to pay for the Infuse client (99$ lifetime) to have a good experience.
I don't know the Android side of things on Jellyfin though ...

I also like Emby's UI somewhat better, it feels more "polished" and having an "ecosystem" of first-party clients it's huge, it improves the user experience a lot. 
So, for your case ... go Emby ! You will get a nice, commercial all-in-one package and you don't have to tinker too much.

Edited March 23, 2025 by MistD

[Luke 42077]

Please create feature request topics for the music development that you’d like to see. Thanks!

[Kcircuit 6]

On 23/03/2025 at 04:34, athinaok said:

I'm using Symfonium to stream my music from Emby, and I highly recommend it for both Android and Apple users. With its sleek, user-friendly interface and seamless integration with Emby, Symfonium offers an exceptional music experience that’s both intuitive and reliable. Whether you're commuting or relaxing at home, you can enjoy high-quality audio and effortless navigation—making it the perfect choice for true music enthusiasts. Give Symfonium a try and take your Emby music experience to the next level! For more details and to download the app, visit https://symfonium.app.

This, such a good app for consuming music from emby and many other providers.

 

[beckfield 173]

I worked closely with a Plex developer a few years ago. That work resulted in some pretty significant improvements (namely, the elimination of the "Plex Dance" for music libraries).  I was pressing for better treatment of classical music, especially a "Composer" view (which Emby now has in beta builds).  Plex has yet to show any indication of matching that support.  For my money, Emby is currently the better music experience.  Plex's one major advantage over Emby in music is their smart playlists.  Full disclosure: I don't use Emby or Plex on any mobile device.  My environment is my Linux desktop, which is the server, and an Android TV device.