Plex's best deal is tripling in price unless you act fast
Overview & Key Takeaways
The best streaming service is changing how it gives out lifetime passes.
The biggest streaming services are great for TV. Right now, Netflix is where I can find Pop Culture Jeopardy! and Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. Hulu has all of the sitcoms. Disney Plus has Maul. I would love to say I use Peacock to watch whatever prestige TV it has to offer, but honestly, it’s for the mental-health safety net that is The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Paramount Plus seems to only exist for Dutton Ranch and the Tyler Sheridanverse now that Star Trek is basically over.
The best streaming service for movies? Maybe Shudder, maybe Criterion Channel, Pluto TV, or Tubi if I only have 20 minutes but require Cinema. But if I am being completely honest, my answer for go-to movie watching is a Plex server loaded up with collected physical media over the last 20 years.
A glimpse at heaven
Image: Plex via Polygon
What is Plex? Basically, a way to turn your movie collection into your own private Netflix. Users run the software on a computer or storage device in their homes and point it toward ripped Blu-rays and DVDs. Plex automatically organizes everything with posters, episode guides, and streaming-like menus. Based on your paid tier, you can watch your library on almost any device — TVs, phones, tablets, game consoles, browsers — whether you’re at home or away. The real appeal for movie collectors is that it lets you build a personal streaming service out of discs you already own, including massive Blu-ray libraries, and even share access with friends or family so they can stream your collection remotely like it’s their own subscription platform.
It rules! Obviously, the price is now going up — but only for those on the fence of going Full Plex Brain.
Beginning July 1, Plex will make a dramatic change to its famously one-and-done Lifetime Plex Pass: The price will jump from $249.99 to $749.99. The company says it seriously considered killing the lifetime option entirely in favor of recurring subscriptions, which are easier to sustain long-term, but ultimately decided to keep it around at a price that “reflects the real, ongoing value” of the software. The good news is that existing Lifetime subscribers won’t lose anything, and monthly and annual Plex Pass pricing will stay the same. But anyone who’s been thinking about buying in has until July 1 to lock in the current price before the increase hits.
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In a note to prospective subscribers looking to make the jump, Plex insists the move isn’t a cash grab, but about funding the future of the app. The company says the higher price will help support a roadmap focused on quality-of-life upgrades and long-requested features, including better download management, playlist editing on mobile, restored music and photo library support in apps, NFO metadata support, improved transcoding, audio enhancements like dialogue boosting, and expanded server management tools across phones and TVs.
In other words: Plex still wants to be the everything app for people who obsessively curate their own media libraries — it’s just going to cost a lot more to buy in for life.
It’s worth noting that Plex’s tiers go all the way down to Free For All, where the cost is really about how much you’re willing to spend on Blu-ray discs. Who does that? People who like to own things and can’t stand that Ron Howard’s Cocoon is never streaming anywhere.
