cross-posted from: https://poptalk.scrubbles.tech/post/2333639

I was just forwarded this someone in my household who watches our server. That’s it folks. I’ve been a hold out for a long time, but this is honestly it.

They want me to pay to stream content that I bought from my hardware transcoded also on my hardware.

I’ll say it. As of today, I say Plex is dead. Luckily I’ve been setting up Jellyfin, I guess it’s time to make it production ready.

Edit: I have a Plex Pass. More comments saying “Just buy a plex pass” are seriously not getting it. I have a Plex Pass and my users are still getting this.

And for the thousandth person who wants to say the same things to me:

  • YES I know I’m unaffected as a Plex Pass owner.
  • My users were immediately angry at it, which made me angry. Our users don’t understand what plex pass is, and they shouldn’t have to, that’s why I had it. The fact that they were pinged even though it should have kept working is horribly sloppy
  • Plex is still removing functionality. I don’t care that “People should pay their fair share”. If Plex wants to put every new feature behind a paywall, that’s completely okay. They are removing functionality.
    • “But they have cloud costs”. Remote streaming is negligible to them. It’s a dynamic DNS service. Plex client logs in, asks where server is, plex cloud responds with the IP and port of where server is located. That’s it.
    • “Good luck finding another remote streaming” - Again, Plex just opens up an IP and port. Jellyfin also just opens up an IP and port (Hold on jellyfin folks I know, security, that’s a separate conversation). All “remote streaming” is is their dynamic dns. Literal pennies to them. Know what actually is costing them money? Hosting all of that ad-supported “free” content that they’re probably losing money on.

In short, I don’t care how you justify it. Plex is doing something shitty. They’re removing functionality that has been free for years. I’m not responding to any more of your comments repeating the same arguments over and over.

    • LilB0kChoy@lemm.eeEnglish
      374·
      23 days ago

      I run into you again! This time I get to wholeheartedly agree with you! You are spot on and nailed it.

      I use Plex for exactly the reasons you said because when I set it up I didn’t know anything about self hosting a media server and I wanted to share with family in other locations. I keep it because it’s so easy for my older, less tech savvy family members to access so I don’t have to be their support person for it.

      I’d consider Jellyfin if the end user access was more plug and play.

      The biggest thing about this is I don’t get why OP is so annoyed. If you have a Plex Pass you’re not impacted, you can still share and your users can still access your library for free, they can’t share with you without a Plex Pass but who cares.

      • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
        224·
        23 days ago

        I’d consider Jellyfin if the end user access was more plug and play.

        It’s about as plug and play as any other website. They just open the app, type in the URL, and log in with their credentials and…that’s it.

        • SMillerNL@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          23 days ago

          What about combining sources? Because in plex I can search all libraries. Mine or external.

                  • confusedbytheBasics@lemm.eeEnglish
                    2·
                    22 days ago

                    The relay feature is terrible though. It ruins video quality for any stream over 1mbps unless you pay and then it still ruins any stream over 2mbps. Any good plex server will have direct connect enabled just like jellyfin.

                    What’s the security risk you worry about having a plex media server or jellyfin server listening on the Internet?

              • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
                32·
                22 days ago

                I’m not telling anyone what to do, I’m just saying the VPN is not necessary. Mine is exposed.

                • stephen01king@lemmy.zipEnglish
                  32·
                  22 days ago

                  It’s not advisable to expose Jellyfin to the internet. Telling people they don’t need VPN means you are encouraging them to expose it to the internet.

                  • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
                    35·
                    22 days ago

                    It’s not advisable to expose Jellyfin to the internet.

                    Wrong.

                    Telling people they don’t need VPN means you are encouraging them to expose it to the internet.

                    Wrong again.

      • Pornacount128@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        64·
        23 days ago

        How exactly are you aquiring a folder full of media without technical know how in the first place? (Genuine question?)

        I suppose having Plex handle users is easier than creating an account but barely imo.

        Not shitting on Plex either, gotta do what you want I think the problems with this kind of thing is the change, people had a free service for years and now they have to change or pay. People hate change, lol

        • shutz@lemmy.caEnglish
          7·
          23 days ago

          I’ve been “collecting” content for many years now. I learned most of what I needed to know about ripping and transcoding over the years, such that each time I need to deal with a new video format, or a new application, it’s not too hard, because I’m building on everything I’ve already learned.

          And each time I was learning new things, it’s not like there was a risk that all my previous content might suddenly become unusable or inaccessible.

          Meanwhile, a couple years ago I was finally able to build myself a proper NAS. While I know my way around Linux somewhat, I never kept a Linux-based daily driver because most of the apps I use regularly are on Windows, and I’m not confident about running them stably in Linux, nor am I confident about equivalent native Linux apps. And I’m not confident about setting up and administering my own server. My past experiences have shown me that whenever you need to do anything complex and specific, it involves a lot of work.

          So at a coworker’s suggestion, I got a Synology NAS that turned out to be a breeze to setup. And then I figured out how to get Plex server on there (not available in the Synology package manager, but the “manual” process turned out to be simple enough)

          And it just WORKS! it’s not perfect, but it’s mostly painless to use. I was happy paying for the lifetime Plex pass at the beginning, because it handles all the routing and discovery that needs to happen to allow me to stream to my phone, or to my parents’ TV when I’m visiting them.

          My next NAS might not be by Synology due to their recent announcement about supported hard drives, but I’ll probably be looking for something that “just works” because I can’t be bothered to learn how to be a sysadmin, and risk losing my stuff because I’m making the kinds of mistakes one makes as they’re learning.

          Just like, if I owned a car, I wouldn’t be digging under the hood to “tweak the timing” or replacing brake discs. I’d be happy paying someone I trust to do that work, leaving me with a car that “just works”.

          • LilB0kChoy@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            23 days ago

            Are you me? Swap a Windows daily driver for a Mac instead and our experiences are basically identical.

            I went with a 920+ but I’m also running a server on an Asus mini PC running Ubuntu to split the load for transcoding because I’ve got a lot of remote users now.

          • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.auEnglish
            32·
            23 days ago

            My next NAS might not be by Synology due to their recent announcement about supported hard drives,

            Just on this - this was widely misrepresented just like this plex announcement is. Just so you are aware of the actual truth - the new + Synology NAS’s do not require Synology branded drives. They will still accept and work with all drives including WD, Iron Wolf, Seagate, etc.

            All that is changing is that only the Synology branded drives will get some of the “smart health” monitoring features and easy firmware updating (of the hdd). Nothing else is changing. You will still be able to buy all of the new Synology devices and plug in whatever HDDs you want and they’ll work fine.

        • Couldbealeotard@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          23 days ago

          How many people with a folder full of media also know how to safety expose a home server to the internet? It would be less than 1%.

          Meanwhile, you don’t need network engineer levels of knowledge to run Plex for remote access. You download the software, choose the folder, and send your friends a share link.

          • Pornacount128@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
            2·
            23 days ago

            This is a perspective I didn’t realize. I only used Plex for a short while before switching to Jellyfin, but I didn’t know Plex handled server connection like this (I think I setup direct connections from the beginning but it’s been a while).

            Thanks for the info!

        • CmdrShepard42@lemm.eeEnglish
          3·
          23 days ago

          How exactly are you aquiring a folder full of media without technical know how in the first place? (Genuine question?)

          Because there are excellent setup guides out there that walk you through the process and allow you to set all this up without knowing anything about the individual steps you’re taking.

      • realbadat@programming.devEnglish
        1·
        22 days ago

        I’d consider Jellyfin if the end user access was more plug and play.

        Honestly if it could support multi-server login cleanly, that would be the trick right there.

        That said, haven’t had any issues, but I did have to help family set it up the first time.

    • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      143·
      23 days ago

      I LOVE Jellyfin but can only imagine the amount of work I’d have to do if I tried to get my parents and in-laws successfully using it. We all just split the cost of lifetime Plex pass the last time it was on sale.

    • kratoz29@lemm.eeEnglish
      104·
      23 days ago

      You know all the certs and security and port stuff you need to do? Plex does that. You just download the app, point it at your folders with media, and you’re all set both at your home and beyond it.

      I am just gonna read your comment until here, Plex does shit if you are CGNATED, and as it is 2025 I suppose most users are, I still needed to expose through IPv6 with a reverse proxy, using a VPS or a VPN to access my Plex Server, so yeah, Plex hasn’t helped me at all since many years ago with the noob friendly approach they have.

      EDIT: Oh and their relay feature is garbage, even for Plex Pass users, and I happen to be a lifetime one.

    • dutchkimble@lemy.lolEnglish
      41·
      23 days ago

      Completely agree, and I think it’s fair for them to make it a paid feature. It’s kind of like using wireguard yourself to create a whole network vs Tailscale.

    • L3G1T1SM3@lemm.eeEnglish
      43·
      23 days ago

      Outside of portforwarding plex ports on your router though? But yeah plex does provide a service and it is asinine the pushback this is getting.

    • Semperverus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      711·
      23 days ago

      Any time you rely on another company to handle your data, you are beholden to their whims, end of story. Don’t like what they’re doing? Too bad. Give up the convenience and host it yourself, or continue to be a slave to their corporate interests.

        • Semperverus@lemmy.worldEnglish
          32·
          23 days ago

          Been slowly chipping away at those for the last decade (could have gone way faster but I’m lazy), and I’m almost completely google-free. I dont use any microsoft products at home (work forces me to), and Apple can eat my ass. My phone is a completely de-googled GrapheneOS device (I don’t have an issue relying on companies for hardware, just software), and hopefully in the future a Liberux or Pinephone linux phone.

          I self-host my own movies, music, and cloud storage. I also host my own chat service for friends and family, built on top of XMPP. The services i do use are generally very privacy respecting like Signal for people outside of my social sphere, or freedom respecting like Lemmy (mostly weaned off of reddit).