Projects like Plex, they started out from the open source community, had free contributions, and then monetized. People are bastardizing open source.
this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
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The reason Plex is as popular as it is is because of their infrastructure and software that lets users stream video and music remotely on any device at the press of a button. That costs money to build and maintain.
It certainly doesn't cost what they're charging. They have a cache, a relay and an auth service. I'll grant them some more allowance for an active security team. They've wasted manyears on features nobody wants and have eliminated any feature that costs them any amount of money to maintain if they can't make money off it. (sync, client serve, yada yada)
It certainly doesn’t cost what they’re charging.
That's how services and products work. If they sold their product at cost, they'd go bankrupt. They're actually charging peanuts for the service they provide.
Their entire infrastructure required to do that proxy and caching is at most 10k a month. Thats a couple thousand users.
What you're actually paying for is their research and development of all that add ridden content they're trying to shove down your throat. Then selling your data, and selling you and your watchers ads.
That's some really expensive peanuts you're suggesting
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I have a Jellyfin server as backup, but its clients are shit for anything that uses subtitles. I bought plex pass years back for $80 on sale, can't complain, but I'm never going to wholly rely on something closed source that requires online credentials.
Never had any subtitle trouble on Roku or shield
That's great if you have a Roku or Shield. I don't. I've owned both in the past and don't want either because they're both an absolute mess of advertising. I currently have an Apple TV and an Android tablet. Jellyfin is okay on Android (and I emphasize okay and not amazing or great), but the Apple TV is may main viewing device and Swiftfin is the best option and still miles behind Plex.
Particularly because on Apple TV with Plex you can override built in subs with the closed caption styles, meaning literally all subs that aren't explicitly burned into the image can be made consistent and easy to read. Haven't seen that feature anywhere else, including on the Shield TV/Pro (I used to own one, got rid of it when Android TV updated to the ad-riddled version it is today). It's a really amazing feature IMO to be able to have full control of subtitle font, size, style, color, outline, and spacing, no matter what you're watching.
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I can’t comment on Plex vs JellyFin, but it’s an interesting perspective that $3/mon for remote access is too much
I use another piece of opensource software, where I consider that a plus. It takes the headache and security issues off my hands, while I can support the developers with a small contribution for an optional feature
$3/mon is $36 a year. That adds up - most people have to work several hours to earn that money.
Plex may also be harvesting your data. When I used it years ago it was already trying to send logs back home, blocked by the firewall.
Plex may also be harvesting your data.
You mean to say “Plex is harvesting your data.”
I like to not legally commit myself
🤣
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