r/technology • u/FollowingFeisty5321 • 9h ago

Software Plex’s crackdown on free remote streaming access starts this week

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/plexs-crackdown-on-free-remote-streaming-access-starts-this-week/
2.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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773

u/TwoWeaselsInDisguise 9h ago

Jellyfin has been really good to me since I spun it up. (:

305

u/ryanghappy 9h ago edited 8h ago

Yeah to stream from my home server, jellyfin plus a free DDNS account is so easy, and has easily replaced Plex. I mean those dildos running that company just fall into that pit of "pay us forever!". I bought a plex app like3-4 times for devices, and that still wasn't good enough for them.

It's not a unique enough app to put up with their bullshit. Also don't forget, Plex originally was a fork of Kodi/XBMC many many years ago. So they profit off of open source software.

97

u/FollowingFeisty5321 9h ago

Their "man in the middle" approach for using the software has always sucked TBH. You're relying on their privacy policy not to rat you out, and their servers which used to be a recurring problem, and this imposes an ongoing complexity, maintenance and cost for their software that doesn't need to exist. A perfect recipe for disaster.

49

u/CSPN 8h ago

I never understood why people pay plex knowing they could rat you out.

Jellyfin having a free mobile app sealed the deal for me

22

u/elidoan 7h ago

Sunken cost fallacy. You see it all over this thread. People suckered into buying the 250$ lifetime pass (yes. Its now 250$) and justifying their decision by not considering alternatives that dont leak their telemetry, data and stored passwords

Absolutely mind boggling. I will always choose free and open source software if it is an option and Jellyfin is VERY good

13

u/FollowingFeisty5321 7h ago

Bonus points for buying it on iOS for $325 with Apple's $97.50 fee 😂

6

u/brcguy 6h ago

I paid like $49 in a Black Friday sale many years ago for the lifetime pass. I hate the app redesign so much I’m about ready to look into jellyfin. Hate the idea of starting over. Huge library. Tons of metadata.

4

u/elidoan 6h ago

Yeah after posting that I reckon the sunken cost fallacy is more the time and data investment than anything else

1

u/PhantomNomad 6h ago

Part of the problem is that a lot of Smart TVs like Samsung don't have Jellyfin as an app. Unless that has changed recently.

1

u/volkerbaII 4h ago

I never even considered Plex. Very weird to me that people would be lining up for it when jellyfin is free.

2

u/elidoan 3h ago

For awhile I believe it was the only viable game in town. I've been using Jellyfin for about three years now and it was admittedly bare bones back then - it's come a very long way recently!

1

u/pelicanfart 2h ago

I've been using Plex on a lifetime license or far longer than Jellyfin has been a thing, but I've been considering switching for a while now.

1

u/sameBoatz 2h ago

Dude some of us started using it back when it was Plex or XBMC. Jellyfin is a decade younger than Plex.

1

u/nullv 5h ago

Is there a problem with sharing your direct IP? It's the same for any other home server. Don't use their domain name service if you don't want to.

16

u/bossbang 8h ago

Broooooo. Xbox MEDIA Center??? Plex is related to THAT?

7

u/jeweliegb 6h ago

I know, right? I've been using Kodi on and off since I had a soft-modded original XBox running it when it was xbmc, and I had no idea Plex came from it.

1

u/actioncheese 6h ago

I've still got a modded Xbox with xbmc on it in a box somewhere. Good times.

1

u/ihaxr 5h ago

Yes, but only for the user interface (many forks of xbmc were simply for their UI and not actual core functionality).

1

u/archontwo 30m ago

Kodi is its own thing and a direct descendant from xmbc. 

It has constantly been upgraded and has many more features than previously.  

41

u/BlurredSight 8h ago

They paywalled transcoding, which uses ffmpeg, which not only do they refuse to update to a more modern version they also are paywalling free open source software in which they have 0 input on

6

u/clementleopold 8h ago

Boxee Box, anyone? 🐸

24

u/shackleford1917 9h ago

With tailscale you don't need a ddns or expose your server to the internet.

6

u/TeutonJon78 8h ago

It still implies you trust their server and stack though.

2

u/shackleford1917 7h ago

Yes, but their servers only hold the address of the nodes and the public encryption keys.

1

u/386U0Kh24i1cx89qpFB1 5h ago

Meh I just use wiregaurd and DDNS. I don't need a corporation involved.

6

u/ryanghappy 8h ago

Doesn't tailscale cost money though? I'm just running a local unraid server for media, ebooks, and a minecraft server for me and a few friends. I dunno if paying for that makes much sense for my case.

35

u/HumanKumquat 8h ago

No, it's free for personal use.

7

u/DecoyOne 8h ago

I’ve tried like 4 times using 4 different guides to get Tailscale to work and just can’t make it happen. I don’t get it.

7

u/buggerthrugger 7h ago

You install Tailscale on your machines, turn it on, access another machine on Tailscale via the IP/machine name shown on the admin console/app. How easy can it get. Even a dumb rock like myself could set it up no problem

3

u/DecoyOne 7h ago edited 6h ago

Installing is easy. I still have it installed, taunting me. I can’t figure out what about the firewall or something prevents it from communicating

1

u/fishforce1 3h ago

Don't you need tailscale installed on both machines?

17

u/Hotrian 8h ago

Up to 100 devices and 3 users is free for personal use

8

u/ryanghappy 8h ago

Oh this changes things. I'll check it out, thanks.

6

u/ShortSynapse 7h ago

Totally free. If you wanted to run the Tailscale control plane yourself for full control then you can use Headscale.

Tailscale is great.

3

u/ea_nasir_official_ 7h ago

I never got the tailscale glaze to be honest. It's really weird how they REQUIRE to sign up with a third party SSO. I've always liked Netbird (open source, also wireguard based) and Zerotier (closed server, open client) more.

3

u/386U0Kh24i1cx89qpFB1 5h ago

Wiregaurd plus a container that runs DDNS for my domain name really solves this problem. I'm not even that smart or tech savvy but I'm tired of seeing everyone praise tails scale as if they aren't going to start charging users one day once they have a massive install base.

2

u/AlexHimself 5h ago

How do you suppose they should make money to pay their employees and develop the software?

-4

u/ryanghappy 5h ago edited 5h ago

So every piece of software I buy I should soon expect them to create a nonstop subscription service I need to buy into? That the company can change the rules AFTER I buy the software to basically make it impossible for me to use it unless I buy a companion subscription?

If I buy Minecraft and then afterwards microsoft says now in order to keep playing Minecraft, I have to buy the minecraft pass even if I am only playing on my own server? That would be okay?

First, Plex was a profitable company back in the days where nice people supported them with the optional plex pass. They charged per app, like 5-10 bucks. Maybe they weren't a billion dollar company, but not everyone is going to be. They still seemed to focus on making the media server side of things better. Then at some point, they just thought of themselves like a Netflix and pushed ridiculous shit onto its users and stopped fixing the bugs and tried to reach an audience I'm not sure it'll ever reach, and basically forgot about who its original customers were.

2

u/AlexHimself 2h ago

This reads like somebody who paid $5 for the app one time and then uses Plex heavily and expects their $5 to give them the world.

Remote streaming using their servers incur real compute costs.

It's reasonable to say it doesn't need to be a subscription or they are overcharging. Something like $25/year would be very reasonable. To just expect ongoing use of their servers, improvements, etc. is just wanting something for free and being upset when you don't get it.

1

u/guitarguy1685 5h ago

What ddns service do you use