The price of hosting your own streaming media is about to go up as Plex, arguably the biggest name in consumer self-hosting for music and video, announced a huge rate hike this week.
In an email to users this week, Plex announced that the price of its “lifetime” Plex Pass — which gives users free access to live TV channels, extra content, and additional streaming and hosting options — will triple in the coming months. The pass, which currently costs just $249, will jump to $749 beginning on July 1.
“When we started Plex, we were movie and TV fans who wanted to make something great for people like us,” the company said in their statement. “We chose to offer a Lifetime subscription early on because we knew many of our customers would rather pay a higher one-time fee for software that they can depend on every day.”
“We’ve considered eliminating the Lifetime Plex Pass in the past, given that recurring subscriptions help us sustain long-term development, but we know it’s still a valuable option for many in our community,” the email continued. “So instead of retiring it, we’re keeping it available at a price that reflects the real, ongoing value of the software we’re committed to building and maintaining for years to come.”
Plex users host their movies, music, TV, and photos on their own hardware, but Plex acts as a middleman software that makes it more easily accessible and more visually engaging on other devices. There are other, similar services — the most popular alternative being Jellyfin — but Plex has been the “brand name” in the space for years.
The free version of Plex will continue to exist, but it’s a lot more limited. For example, if you want to be able to access your account away from your home network, whether it’s sharing with friends or just connecting on the mobile app, you’ll need a Plex Pass.
Users considering self-hosting still have a little over a month to get a lifetime Plex Pass at the $249 price.
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