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Plex was great until they forced the Plex Pass on us. I have now switched to using the Kodi [http://kodi.tv/ http://kodi.tv/] and Emby [https://emby.media/ http

Plex was great until they forced the Plex Pass on us. I have now switched to using the Kodi [http://kodi.tv/ http://kodi.tv/] and Emby [https://emby.media/ https://emby.media/] combo instead.

ejdyksen 11y ago
Plex is very usable without the Plex Pass.
- codeaken 11y ago
  Before I could access my media server with the iPhone app. Then all of a sudden I was forced to register for a Plex Pass to be able do this. For me at least, that made the whole app unusable.
  - SG- 11y ago
    the mobile apps are free as remote or for $4-5 or so you can unlock the ability to play and sync media without a plex pass like before.
    - hedwall 11y ago
      You can play on iDevices without a subscription, but you can't sync.
    - majora2007 11y ago
      For iOS, they actually require Plex Pass for syncing, which is kinda a shame as I, the server owner have it, but why should my users have to subscribe?
      - johnpowell 11y ago
        They don't. I have a plex pass and the people that use my server that don't have it can sync fine.
  - mikewhy 11y ago
    Yeah there's nothing about Plex or any apps that requires a Plex Pass. When an app for a new platform is in beta it is put behind the Pass, but that's it.
- sagarun 11y ago
  Agree. My Vizio TV has a plex app, but i can't use it without plexpass. I gave up and now running kodi on raspberrypi
  - kayone 11y ago
    Full discourage, I work for plex on plex media player and smart tv platforms, we removed the plex pass requirement for smart TVs a few days ago, they are all free to all users. But as someone that works with smart TVs many hours a day, I would stay with rpi, it's a much much better platform, can direct play more formats without need for transcoding and in general more stable.
metamet 11y ago
Yup. I paid for the Android application and was excited to use it on my Xbox One. But nope. Just running some Amazon Fire TVs with XBMC/Kody at home, all hooked into my NAS. Next step is going to be building a shared SQL database so all the media positions are lined up.
feld 11y ago
Sorry you missed out on the $75 lifetime license. It was worth every penny and will continue to be because I will be using Plex for many, many years to come.
- jaxondu 11y ago
  The lifetime license is now doubled: MONTHLY $4.99 YEARLY $39.99 LIFETIME $149.99.
- bradbatt 11y ago
  Totally agree that the $75 lifetime was so worth it and glad I jumped on that when it was available. Personally, I think the current asking price of $149 is still way, way worth it for what Plex Pass provides.
davexunit 11y ago
Kodi all the way. IIRC, Plex is based on XBMC (now Kodi) but made proprietary. There's no need to sacrifice your freedom when Kodi exists and works very well.
Touche 11y ago
Well, they are a company now and maintaining a half dozen apps isn't cheap. The alternative to a modest subscription would be ads; I prefer the subscription.
gwynp 11y ago
Are Emby and Kodi a combo ? I thought they were basically the same thing.
- codeaken 11y ago
  I am using Emby as a central media server. Emby takes care of the hosting and indexing of the material. Then I have multiple Kodi clients that consume the contents from Emby.
  - thomnottom 11y ago
    Does it sync your playback across devices and allow you to sync items for offline viewing? That's the main reason I paid for PlexPass, but would switch back to a complete open source option if it does that. Although I also enjoy the ability to share my server with family and keep a separate kid-friendly profile for my daughter.
untog 11y ago
For anyone that is curious, I just discovered that Emby used to be MediaBrowser. A better name, but as someone who only checks in on these things infrequently I was very confused to discover "Kodi" and "Emby", only to realise I already knew them under different names.
BinaryIdiot 11y ago
> Plex was great until they forced the Plex Pass on us They did what now? I've been using Plex on my home server and all of my mobile and TV devices and I haven't had it "forced" on me at all. Everything works great. Typically. Until I have to restart FireTV every few days because it stops playing audio from Plex for some odd reason.
alainv 11y ago
Am I missing something? Emby appears to have the exact same business plan with Emby Premiere.

Plex was great until they forced the Plex Pass on us. I have now switched to using the Kodi [http://kodi.tv/ http://kodi.tv/] and Emby [https://emby.media/ https://emby.media/] combo instead.

ejdyksen 11y ago

Plex is very usable without the Plex Pass.

codeaken 11y ago
Before I could access my media server with the iPhone app. Then all of a sudden I was forced to register for a Plex Pass to be able do this. For me at least, that made the whole app unusable.
- SG- 11y ago
  the mobile apps are free as remote or for $4-5 or so you can unlock the ability to play and sync media without a plex pass like before.
  - hedwall 11y ago
    You can play on iDevices without a subscription, but you can't sync.
  - majora2007 11y ago
    For iOS, they actually require Plex Pass for syncing, which is kinda a shame as I, the server owner have it, but why should my users have to subscribe?
    - johnpowell 11y ago
      They don't. I have a plex pass and the people that use my server that don't have it can sync fine.
- mikewhy 11y ago
  Yeah there's nothing about Plex or any apps that requires a Plex Pass. When an app for a new platform is in beta it is put behind the Pass, but that's it.
sagarun 11y ago
Agree. My Vizio TV has a plex app, but i can't use it without plexpass. I gave up and now running kodi on raspberrypi
- kayone 11y ago
  Full discourage, I work for plex on plex media player and smart tv platforms, we removed the plex pass requirement for smart TVs a few days ago, they are all free to all users. But as someone that works with smart TVs many hours a day, I would stay with rpi, it's a much much better platform, can direct play more formats without need for transcoding and in general more stable.

metamet 11y ago

Yup. I paid for the Android application and was excited to use it on my Xbox One. But nope. Just running some Amazon Fire TVs with XBMC/Kody at home, all hooked into my NAS. Next step is going to be building a shared SQL database so all the media positions are lined up.

feld 11y ago

Sorry you missed out on the $75 lifetime license. It was worth every penny and will continue to be because I will be using Plex for many, many years to come.

jaxondu 11y ago
The lifetime license is now doubled: MONTHLY $4.99 YEARLY $39.99 LIFETIME $149.99.
bradbatt 11y ago
Totally agree that the $75 lifetime was so worth it and glad I jumped on that when it was available. Personally, I think the current asking price of $149 is still way, way worth it for what Plex Pass provides.

davexunit 11y ago

Kodi all the way. IIRC, Plex is based on XBMC (now Kodi) but made proprietary. There's no need to sacrifice your freedom when Kodi exists and works very well.

Touche 11y ago

Well, they are a company now and maintaining a half dozen apps isn't cheap. The alternative to a modest subscription would be ads; I prefer the subscription.

gwynp 11y ago

Are Emby and Kodi a combo ? I thought they were basically the same thing.

codeaken 11y ago
I am using Emby as a central media server. Emby takes care of the hosting and indexing of the material. Then I have multiple Kodi clients that consume the contents from Emby.
- thomnottom 11y ago
  Does it sync your playback across devices and allow you to sync items for offline viewing? That's the main reason I paid for PlexPass, but would switch back to a complete open source option if it does that. Although I also enjoy the ability to share my server with family and keep a separate kid-friendly profile for my daughter.

untog 11y ago

For anyone that is curious, I just discovered that Emby used to be MediaBrowser. A better name, but as someone who only checks in on these things infrequently I was very confused to discover "Kodi" and "Emby", only to realise I already knew them under different names.

BinaryIdiot 11y ago

> Plex was great until they forced the Plex Pass on us They did what now? I've been using Plex on my home server and all of my mobile and TV devices and I haven't had it "forced" on me at all. Everything works great. Typically. Until I have to restart FireTV every few days because it stops playing audio from Plex for some odd reason.

alainv 11y ago

Am I missing something? Emby appears to have the exact same business plan with Emby Premiere.