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.
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
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.
The dealbreaker about plex for me was having to use their auth servers and having to route traffic through them.
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You create logins on your server which is authenticated through them. I don’t think it routes traffic, just sends login tokens.
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This is problematic because if Plex suffers an outage (which has happened before) users are suddenly unable to sign in. Even if your media server is running fine, through no fault of your own your content becomes inaccessible.
Jellyfin does not have this issue because authentication is handled locally.
However, Plex has too many nice features so I’ll be staying with them for the time being. Credits/intro skipping and Plexamp are a godsend, and the UI is in my opinion way better than what Jellyfin has.
No. Just use Jellyfin
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.
- Open in browser.
Done. Doesn’t seem like that many hoops.
OK great. Now to that on your Roku, Apple TV, Nvidia Shield, smart phone, etc. There aren’t clients for every platform and the ones that do exist frankly are just not even close to as polished looking as Plex is.
Fortunately Roku doesn’t exist in my country. Jellyfin has apps for AndroidTV, AppleTV and smartphones. It really only lacks an app for consoles
Because Plex provides you with the user interface to access your own content. Atleast that’s how I like to think about it
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Agreed. But jellyfin is a lot less polished and harder to use for the layman
So you built your own software to access your own stuff?
Jellyfin is just great and easy to configure
Absolutely not. Plex gets shittier with every update. Their Android app is abaolute dogshit and as been for years. The amount of useless scope creep on their software is insane, and I have a feeling that pretty soon the entire software will be paywalled.
Most benefits require both the server user and the end user to have Plex Pass.
Personally I prefer Emby or even Jellyfin over Plex.
That’s not true. Only the server needs to have Plexpass to offer downloads and whatnot to regular user.
Does skip intro not require everyone to have pass? Yes it does, https://support.plex.tv/articles/skip-content/
Also app installs requiring either a 1time unlock per user or the end user to have plex pass? Yes it does
That’s not “most” benefits. The most sought after benefits do not require plexpass.
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.
If you download to your tablet, yes