Plex Balloons Lifetime Pass Price An Extra $500

There are a lot of streaming options these days, as you know. If you’re one of the outsiders who has stared at a friend’s menu screen of Netflix, Disney+, Tubi and others and noticed something called Plex, let me tell you a tale.

On the surface, Plex sells itself as an all-in-one streaming option that bundles services together, but everyone knows it’s really for playing ripped Blu-Rays, DVDs and other files. That was the option that made people flock to it in the first place and if Plex were ever to drop it, whether because they arrogantly felt they didn’t need it or because the FCC finally realized what the app is for, no one would use Plex anymore.

If you want to stream video files from your computer to your TV, Plex will let you do that for free, and easily. But if you for some reason want to stream those files remotely from your phone on the bus, or from a motel a thousand miles away, they charge a monthly fee for that ability. You can also buy a “lifetime” pass if you remotely stream all the time. It’s this we’re here to talk about because the bigger Plex has grown, and the more corporate it has become, the more it’s resented the existence of that lifetime pass.

They’ve been regularly raising the price of the pass over the last few years, not because they need the money but to slow its adoption. Apparently its current tag of $250 was not enough of a deterrent. Plex just announced this morning that effective July 1, a lifetime pass will cost $750. The E-mail they sent to all their users outright admits they want to destroy the pass’s appeal. “We’ve considered eliminating the Lifetime Plex Pass in the past, given that recurring subscriptions help us sustain long-term development, but we know it’s still a valuable option for many in our community. So instead of retiring it, we’re keeping it available at a price that reflects the real, ongoing value of the software we’re committed to building and maintaining for years to come.” That’s about as flowery as they can polish it. The real statement that reflects how they feel probably would have had a few obscenities on it.

First off, this is how I learn Plex had a lifetime pass to begin with. Since I don’t use Plex remotely or ever have any reason to, I’ve never looked into any of their subscription plans. Apparently five years ago I could have bought one for $100. I don’t have $250 to give them right now, I won’t have $250 to give them next month, and I definitely won’t have $750 to give them in two months. I don’t even need what they sell, but what if they someday wall off local streaming as well? If they’ll do THIS, they could do THAT.

There’s a free alternative called Jellyfin, but…there’s a reason Plex is dominant even though Jellyfin costs nothing. Jellyfin DOESN’T WORK. I tried it and it misidentified many of my files, and refused to play most of them. Plex just works right out of the box. So if Plex someday charges for every single thing it does, and the lifetime pass is $17,000, and all other alternatives suck, what then?

I guess I would have to go back to plugging a hard drive into the USB port on my TV. Which is what I used to do before someone told me Plex existed. It’s a hassle and I’d rather not do it again, but progress tends to move backward these days.