As far as I know they do for remote streaming on phones, if they weren't part of my server at the time they introduced the monthly remote streaming subscription. I tried to add a new user after it was introduced, and to use Plex to access content from my server on their phone they no longer had the option to pay the $5 or whatever, they had to sign up for a $2 a month subscription. I don't know if this may have been walked back in the last few months, but at the time it was true.

I don't sell access or anything like that, I've just got friends and family with access. It fluctuates, but right now it's sitting at 17 external accounts. I host on the public internet. Despite it being not recommended in general, it's actually safe to do so if proper precautions are taken. (Correct firewall settings, force https, reverse proxy, scheduled updates, etc.) There are a few extra things I do, but just those should be safe enough if your users aren't reusing passwords.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

No, before the remote pass they had to pay a one-time fee, but since they added the remote pass subscription as long as the plex server admin has a plex pass no-one has to pay a cent.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/requirements-for-remote-playback-of-personal-media/

Since 2025-04-29, there are new requirements for allowing remote playback of video personal media from a Plex Media Server (that is, streaming when not on the same local network as the server). These requirements apply to apps that have been updated to our new experience, such as our mobile app, and will also apply to other platforms as we progress.

When using an affected app/platform to stream personal video content remotely from a Plex Media Server, then one of the following needs to be true:

The admin account for the Plex Media Server has an active Plex Pass (which also allows remote playback for any other user streaming from that server)

Your account has an active Plex Pass

Your account has an active Remote Watch Pass

but just those should be safe enough if your users aren’t reusing passwords.

So you've put your server/networks security in the hands of 17 other people's password policies, and you think that's "actually safe to do so if proper precautions are taken"?

I've got 20+ friends and family who use my Plex server, only a few have ever paid a cent (when they had the one time fee for mobile streaming), and my server and networks security is not at the risk of someone using the password "password".

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 0 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

It literally is made for that. And yes the security issues chat keep getting fixed and workout to someone streaming a random item maybe. Much easier for them to download or watc on YouTube.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 3 weeks ago

The biggest security issues are "out of scope" because making a secure open-to-the-web media hosting platform is hard, especially for free. The devs have just flat out said they're not doing it.

Everything that people do to get remote streaming working is either incredibly insecure, or a workaround that means most people can't stream from your library on the devices that they want to.