Plex Lifetime Pass - is it worth it?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Plex Lifetime Pass - is it worth it?

nzkc

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#242708 10-Nov-2018 10:45

Been a Plex user for many many years. Only ever used the free version. Run it on a Linux server at home and use the chromecasting from the cell phone when not at home. Ive got an email offering a plex lifetime pass for $74.99 USD. Thats 37% off the going rate.

So my question is this: Is the plex pass worth it?

Ive never used it, so I dont really know what I'm missing. Is the only thing I'd really get the ability to play media on the phone? Cause, TBH, I dont really need that.

1 | 2

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#2123165 10-Nov-2018 10:48

I've used it for years and ended up buying a lifetime pass about 1/2 a year ago.

I believe they've provided an amazing service and deserve to be supported.

gehenna

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#2123177 10-Nov-2018 11:06

I bought the lifetime a few days ago, given I've been paying $5 a month for nearly 3 years it's worth it. Depends on your circumstances. The pass content itself is the same no matter the payment increment.

Senecio

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#2123245 10-Nov-2018 12:56

I got the same email. Not sure I need the pass content but I bought it just to support what has been a great platform that I’ve had many years of free use out of.

JimmyH

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#2123246 10-Nov-2018 13:00

I got the same offer, but am not going to take it up.

If you asked me 18 months ago, I would have said yes, no question. They had an amazing product and I was a real Plex fan, both paying monthly and responsible for getting 3-4 other people up and running with it. However, now I would say no. I stopped paying them a while ago because Plex was starting to annoy me. And it's getting worse.

The main reason is that the new interface is, in my view, atrocious. So much so that I have rolled my android clients back from v7 to v6, in order to get back to a more usable Server->Library->Content interface paradigm, rather than the new one what treats all servers as equal, mushes carefully curated libraries together, is unintuitive, and requires many more clicks to accomplish normal tasks.

Moving from local authentication to requiring login through their servers (so you can't login to and use your own server in an internet outage), coupled with their fairly outrageous changes to the privacy policy where they now collect data on everything you do and you can't opt out, were also fairly serious irritations.

Now if you hang out on their forums you just find endless posts complaining about terrible interfaces, updates breaking functionality, and long-standing unresolved bugs and functionality problems with the core product. All of which are ignored by Plex, with effort seeming to be focussed on low-value feature creep (VR, podcasts, newsfeeds, webshow integration etc).

I'm now looking at ditching Plex in favour of Emby in 6-8 weeks, as soon as I have tested it properly. I'm certainly not planning on buying lifetime anytime soon, unless I see a major commitment to fixing the interface and squashing bugs

gbwelly

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#2123247 10-Nov-2018 13:01

I paid full price for one, and for me I think it was great value. One complaint I see in the Plex forums is once you go lifetime you lose the ability to punish Plex corp by cancelling when they misbehave. (Eg introduced vr, news, podcasts, Web shows, and removed plugin support all while there are reproducible bugs which have remained around for months and years unpatched)

gbwelly

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#2123249 10-Nov-2018 13:02

Snap

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

mentalinc

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#2123262 10-Nov-2018 13:09

Check what the 2017 black friday deal was.

And expect something similar this year, then decide.

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davidcole

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#2123327 10-Nov-2018 14:44

I bought mine when they first came up. But at the time it was about $25 usd. Pretty happy to pay that

Previously known as psycik

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rb99

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#2123334 10-Nov-2018 15:48

Just sayin' https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/64948-switching-from-plex/#entry646744

(cos I like saying 'just sayin')

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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Paul1977

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#2123987 12-Nov-2018 11:15

JimmyH:

I got the same offer, but am not going to take it up.

If you asked me 18 months ago, I would have said yes, no question. They had an amazing product and I was a real Plex fan, both paying monthly and responsible for getting 3-4 other people up and running with it. However, now I would say no. I stopped paying them a while ago because Plex was starting to annoy me. And it's getting worse.

The main reason is that the new interface is, in my view, atrocious. So much so that I have rolled my android clients back from v7 to v6, in order to get back to a more usable Server->Library->Content interface paradigm, rather than the new one what treats all servers as equal, mushes carefully curated libraries together, is unintuitive, and requires many more clicks to accomplish normal tasks.

Moving from local authentication to requiring login through their servers (so you can't login to and use your own server in an internet outage), coupled with their fairly outrageous changes to the privacy policy where they now collect data on everything you do and you can't opt out, were also fairly serious irritations.

Now if you hang out on their forums you just find endless posts complaining about terrible interfaces, updates breaking functionality, and long-standing unresolved bugs and functionality problems with the core product. All of which are ignored by Plex, with effort seeming to be focussed on low-value feature creep (VR, podcasts, newsfeeds, webshow integration etc).

I'm now looking at ditching Plex in favour of Emby in 6-8 weeks, as soon as I have tested it properly. I'm certainly not planning on buying lifetime anytime soon, unless I see a major commitment to fixing the interface and squashing bugs

I switched to Emby several months ago, and while not without it's problems but on the whole I am finding it better than Plex.

I've been paying monthly, but am considering the lifetime Emby subscription.

What I have found is that the support forum is very responsive. Major problems are addressed pretty quickly, and pretty much all queries and suggestions are responded to by the developers. Sometimes it can be a while for a suggestion to be implemented, but the request is always acknowledged and they provide updates if you ask. Major issues are general resolved quickly.

Two things to bear in mind with Emby:

1. You need a paid subscription for everything but the Windows client I believe. At the time I switched I used Xbox One as my primary viewing device, the Plex Xbox app can be used for free, the Emby one requires a subscription.

2. It has support for most platforms, but not quite as many as Plex. For example, their is no app for Panasonic smart TVs.