Plex, the self-serve streaming service that has been powering up millennial nerd home libraries for what seems like ages, announced upcoming price changes for later next month in an astonishingly bashful fashion. The company laid out its plans in a remorseful blog post about what would soon befall longtime users. Plex is increasing the price of everything, including now charging for what will soon be its former best free feature: remote playback.
“This price increase will ensure that we can keep investing dedicated resources in developing new features, while supporting and growing your favorites,” swears Plex. Beginning April 29, the monthly Plex pass will increase from $5 to $7, while the annual cost will be set to $70/year. Lifetime subscriptions are also going up in price to more than double, from $120 to $250. If you want that lifetime Plex subscription, you had better buy now. Plex is letting new users lock into that fee before the deadline.
The company laid out a roadmap to show that all this change is for growth. Plex plans to bring more parent-focused content through the pipeline as part of its cooperation with Common Sense Media. (I’m sure Plex noticed most millennial parents’ libraries turning into living shrines dedicated to Disney, PBS, and Nickelodeon’s cast of characters.) Plex also plans to introduce a new app for desktop and mobile users, and it’s working on an open API that pulls in more metadata about what you’re watching.
But while the new stuff sounds nice I can’t escape the sting of losing free remote playback. Plex doesn’t even mention the upcoming changes to remote playback until it gets through all this—about two complete scrolls through the webpage on a computer monitor. Soon if you’re not at home and want to play your Plex library and don’t already pay for a subscription you’ll have to pay for remote playback. You’ll also have to pay if you want features like the ability to skip an intro song or the ending credits. This is perhaps the most significant blow to a community that’s relied on Plex’s software because streaming is already so expensive. If you want to watch you library away from home you’ll have to pay. It also affects anyone you share your home library with. They will have to pay if they are not Plex Pass subscribers themselves. Plex will offer a Remote Watch Pass tier for $2/month or $20/year.
Apparently Plex isn’t immune to the price increases happening industry-wide. The company cites the need for “more resources” to make these changes. Other streaming services have also raised subscription prices, which is only easier to swallow because there’s a big corporation gatekeeping all that content. Plex libraries are personally curated by the people who put them together.
This change with Plex comes at a less than convenient time in my life. I recently canceled YouTube TV after the big price hike to $83/ month for the basic package. I switched to ad-supported plans for a few networks where I watch TV and have already saved a lot of money. I’d planned to revert to my Plex library for most of my TV consumption, where I have dozens of shows I promised myself I’d watch and all my comforts, including the three summers worth of YouTube scrapes of the original Real World series. If you’d like me to share those seasons, you’ll have to pony up $2/month first. Or we’ll all need to switch to Jellyfin.
