Quote marks doing a lot of work Plex ups its price for first time in a decade, changes remote-streaming access You've got until April 29 before the Lifetime Pass more than doubles in price. Kevin Purdy Mar 19, 2025 2:32 pm | 0 If you want to watch your legal personal backup copy of Chicago Fire while you're away from your Plex server, you'll now need some kind of Plex Pass. Credit: Plex If you want to watch your legal personal backup copy of Chicago Fire while you're away from your Plex server, you'll now need some kind of Plex Pass. Credit: Plex Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn morePlex is a bit hard to explain these days. Even if you don't know its roots as an outgrowth of a Mac port of the Xbox Media Center project, Plex is not your typical "streaming" service, given how most people use it. So as Plex announces its first price increase to its Plex Pass subscription in more than 10 years, it has its work cut out explaining why, what's included, and what is changing.Starting April 29, the cost of a Plex Pass rises from $4.99 to $6.99 monthly, from $39.99 to $69.99 annually, and a lifetime pass now costs $249.99, previously $119.99. In a blog post, Plex cites rising costs and its commitment to an independent service that supports "personal media.""We are all in on the continued success of Plex Pass and personal media," the post states. "This price increase will ensure that we can keep investing dedicated resources in developing new features, while supporting and growing your favorites." The post cites a roadmap that contains an integration with Common Sense Media, a new "bespoke server management app" for managing server users and "an open and documented API for server integrations," including custom metadata agents.Someone in a remote video stream must have a PassAnd then, after that note, Plex hits the big change: Streaming "personal media"i.e. video files, not audio, photos, or offerings from Plex's ad-supported movies and TVfrom outside your own network will no longer be a free Plex feature, starting April 29. "Fully free" might be the better way to put it, because if a server owner has a Plex Pass subscription, their users can still access their server for free.But if you've been hosting your own Plex server to maintain access to your stuff while you're away or relying on the kindness of non-Pass-having friends with servers, either you or your server-owning friends will need a Plex Pass subscription by the end of April.Alternatively, you, as a non-server-running Plex viewer, can get a cheaper Remote Watch Pass, $1.99 per month or $19.99 a year. That doesn't include Plex Pass features like offline downloads, skipping a show intro or credits, or the like, but it does keep you connected to your "personal media" vendors.Plex sweetened the changes a bit by removing the one-time activation fee that users of its Android and iOS apps once paid after hitting a one-minute streaming limit. That used to be a hard fee, even if you were streaming your own files on your own network, but now it's about local versus remote, not TV versus mobile. If you've already paid this unlock fee, you can now get an "extended trial" of the new Remote Watch Pass, Plex says, so long as you sign up on the same platform and with the same account.Lifetime Plex Pass owners are still free to host and stream as they wish. If you want to get in on that kind of relative stability as Plex changes over time, it's still $120 until April 29. Plex's post, which notes that "Yes, that was a lot," has an FAQ section with more details.There is also a new privacy policy and terms of service with the new pricing, though not for those with accounts made before March 20, and Plex notes that it does not share, sell, or largely collect information about personal media use. As The Verge noted, the policy states that if your account is set to public, "watch history, reviews, or other data from the Services that you share publicly" can, indeed, be seen publicly, and possibly used for marketing purposes.An odd-shaped service with ambitionsPlex is now an app where you can pay to rent officially licensed movies, find shows across streaming services, share your viewing and ratings with select friends and "Discover" new options, and, most notably, stream your "personal media," including photos and music. It's a wide-ranging service, and certainly impressive that it has kept its prices steady for a decade.But as the app gains features and complexity, shifts toward a whole new look, and introduces a requirement for at least one side of a remote stream to have paid something, Plex runs the risk of nudging its most enthusiastic users toward less ambitious, more focused alternatives, like Jellyfin. It's now up to Plex to prove that, with the money they can make from tighter Pass requirements, they can make the serving and streaming experience better for both sides.Kevin PurdySenior Technology ReporterKevin PurdySenior Technology Reporter Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He has previously worked at Lifehacker, Wirecutter, iFixit, and Carbon Switch. 0 Comments