- cross-posted to:
- selfhosted@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- selfhosted@lemmy.world
I was just forwarded this someone in my household who watches our server. That’s it folks. I’ve been a hold out for a long time, but this is honestly it.
They want me to pay to stream content that I bought from my hardware transcoded also on my hardware.
I’ll say it. As of today, I say Plex is dead. Luckily I’ve been setting up Jellyfin, I guess it’s time to make it production ready.
Edit I have a Plex Pass. More comments saying “Just buy a plex pass” are seriously not getting it. I have a Plex Pass and my users are still getting this.
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You state that you have a plex pass and are a server owner. In that case you shouldn’t be affected, yet you’re saying you are… what?
Just because I’m not affected doesn’t mean it’s not enshittification, and removing functionality that was free for over a decade.
the people giving their bandwidth away for free now want money to pay their bills?
To clarify, I disagree with needing an account (sharing my email) with Plex in the first place, and personally would not purchase what is essentially CDN or VPN depending on how plex distributes your content to your end users. However, from these comments it seems like this was a free service they offered and now want money for it, because it is not profitable. Enshittification? Sure, but not unexpected. Apparently this doesn’t affect you if you stream locally either.
This does complicate things though since now users have to consider paying a subscription for network security or begin distributing OpenVPN configurations to people. In some cases it won’t be possible, like on your TV.
That’s essentially my point of view. Plex enshittified. I was angry at how they handled the enshittification, throwing my users into a flurry, but I’m also not surprised that they’re doing it.
In case people aren’t clear on what’s happening, here is a graphic that illustrates what’s happening.
I have never used plex, and never will because I like my privacy, but that 20 usd a year does not sound much. thats less than 2 usd a month
I bought a lifetime plex pass for like $80 in 2016… is Plex getting more annoying? Yes. But is this a huge affront? No.
People are angry because everyone’s spent too much time on social media and are used to assuming the worst and flying off the handle.
jellyfin noises intensify
Ok, how do you access Jellyfin remotely?
Well you have to setup wireguard or a vpn tunnel to trick your device to thinking it’s on the same local network as your server.
Ok, how do you think you can avoid paying Plex’s remote streaming if you really really don’t want to just buy a lifetime Plex pass?
why can’t you expose it like Plex? You can do it… I don’t get your comment
Just open the right ports or config a reverse proxy 🤔. No need for a VPN
The vpn is needed for if A. Your behind a CGNat B. On a dynamnic ip and dont want to setup a dyndns. C. isolating your network from the outside.l for security reasons.
Yes, but the point is that if you setup Wireguard then your Plex streaming is now local and free.
The question is… how to get devices that dont support wireguard to work?
its not tricking your device, that’s how you maintain a connection to your home network. you don’t even need to send all traffic through the tunnel, most wireguard apps can do split tunneling per app.
setting up wireguard is really not that hard, and you don’t even need to update it because it’s in the kernel.
Ok, how do you think you can avoid paying Plex’s remote streaming if you really really don’t want to just buy a lifetime Plex pass?
with wireguard.
or open up 80 and 443 and let the fun begin if you are adventurous.
I think you’re missing my point. What will Plex see your streaming as if it’s behind wireguard, local, or remote?
I put my bets on local
So then OPs complaints about charging for remote streaming are irrelevant…
Ok, how do you access Jellyfin remotely?
WireGuard. VPN’s are more than just hiding your IP behind another country, they allow you to access resources that are not available to the world-wide-web.
Yes, now keep going with that train of thought and imagine what would happen if you put Plex behind the same wireguard setup. Specifically whether or not Plex would consider that local or remote streaming.
plex should consider that local, because now your traffic goes through that network, and reaches computers and services on that network. except if it relies on broadcasts, because wireguard does not forward broadcasts, but even with jellyfin that only affects automatic server discovery and DLNA, if you type in the URL it will work
Yes, so then OPs issue with Plex charging for remote streaming are irrelevant.
By nature of setting up Wireguard for Jellyfin, you’ve eliminated the entire purpose of switching to Jellyfin in the first place.
you’ve eliminated the entire purpose of switching to Jellyfin in the first place.
if we are only looking at this issue, then yes
Outside of ideological reasons or fears of further enshittification, is there anything Jellyfin does better? (Honest question)
Apologies I neglected to the read your entire comment, all in all I suspect it’ll be a logistical nightmare for Plex.
Yeah, my only point is just that if you’re going to switch to jellyfin because of this, you’re going to have to setup wireguard, at which point you’ve circumvented the original issue that made you go to Jellyfin.
If you really can’t stand Plex on an ideological basis that’s one thing, but I dont think most people here realize the above about wireguard.
I’ve got a lifetime plex pass I picked up on a deal ages ago; at this point it’s more that I don’t like the direction that plex is taking the platform, and policies like this fall under that dislike.
Previously they charged unlock fees to every user of their android and iOS apps no matter what. Now those fees are gone and you just have to pay for remote streaming if the server owner doesn’t have a Plex pass.
I really don’t see any problem with this. It’s just shifting pricing from all users to just users who aren’t paying for a Plex pass.
Yeah if I didn’t buy lifetime pass for like $50 years and years ago I’d be done with Plex probably.
They sent the same message out months ago, and sent it again recently to all users. Nothing has changed since the first email. Plex pass owners that run a server are fine and can still stream to their users.
I guess lots of people missed or didn’t get the first message/outrage on fediverse the first time it happened.
Took me a bit to realise people are still talking about the same thing and that this isn’t new.
I’ll move over to jellyfin once the features ease of use and security parity is there. Or if Plex becomes a security issue by being hosted in the states. Until then I’m going to keep milking my Plex pass lifetime account from 10 years ago.
I’ve been trying it out for a few months. Parity is there. This is what finally convinced me it was time to leave. I’m a plex pass lifetime member, but I don’t like features that have been free for years suddenly requiring a monthly subscription. It’s time.
I can agree with you that I love free software. But I’ve always been aware that it’s not. I’ll be pissed if they paywall new things behind a new subscription even for lifetime members though.
I was really close to setting aside time to mess with jellyfin but a lot of people on the fediverse have been raising alarms about security issues if you are sharing with others over the web. I can’t comprehend what they are but it’s put that project on pause since everyone is happy with the Plex server right now.
Honestly what I’ve seen is that most of the security stuff is fairly overhyped. If you do even the bare minimum, like put it behind a reverse proxy, you’re going to more than likely be fine
Plex pass pricing didn’t change for 10 fucking years. You can still stream locally (which is exactly what you’re doing if you’re using wireguard with Jellyfin, so you can use wireguard with your Plex and have the exact same experience) without a Plex pass.
If the server owner has a Plex pass then you need do nothing.
And for FUCKS SAKE, do NOT expose Jellyfin to the internet. It is an insecure pile of shit.
Plex also warned a month ahead of time without changing pricing so that people could get lifetime Plex pass at the old price.
How is it insecure?
I got no such warning, but then again I already have had a plex pass for more than 10 years. It’s the best $100 I ever spent.
I have a Plex Pass and my users are still getting this.
To be crystal clear to anyone getting this email: if the server admin has a Plex Pass, users need to do nothing to continue as normal. The streaming pass is only for users who aren’t connecting to a server that has a Plex Pass.
What I find shitty about this is that it’s being indiscriminately sent to every Plex account. There’s bound to be lots of people who don’t understand what this means who will be tricked into buying a streaming pass they don’t need at all. I’ve been getting messages from my users all day asking wtf is going on, and I’m getting tired of trying to convince them to just ignore the email.
Who do you think it should be sent to? Only server owners?
WAIT
WHAT?
That’s where my head was. If anything, it threw all of my users into a panic, thinking that they had to suddenly start paying. I had a couple immediately uninstall the apps. I don’t blame them, the way it was worded it was pretty much pushing them that they had to. Plex undid years worth of trust right there with them.
What gets me is that they didn’t message plex pass holders about this first. I would have gladly let my users know that they need to do nothing. Instead I’m fielding all kinds of panicked messages.
Same. Their wording was obviously meant to push them into just buying the membership. They chose language that sounded like you have to buy it ~or talk to your server admin~.
It should have been “Talk with your server owner, <<Server owner name>> to see if you need to purchase a subscription or not”. Language like that would be very clear - but they chose not to do that.
Or even better. <<ServerName>>, which is ran by <<ServerOwner>> already has a plex pass subscription, you can continue watching without a subscription! Gee, how nice that would have been.
I was reading your comment and the just came in the inbox. Lol I don’t even use plex at this point.
I guess if they know that the user only connects to one server that has a plex pass then they can filter down the email, the thing that keeps me from trying to move to jellyfin yet is that most of my users use multiple servers as a lot of my friends host plex so we cross share to get more coverage
Your users can still stream your content because you have plex pass. This is just notifying everyone who’s on a free account.
Well no, they notified everyone, and my users freaked out, rightfully so. One immediately uninstalled the app because of it. So, that trust is just gone. Then second, I’m angry that they’re removing functionality that has been free for a decade for… reasons? As I explain elsewhere, there’s negligible cloud overhead for it. If this was a new feature that was locked behind plexpass or something - fine. Removing functionality I can’t get behind. Sure, my server would keep working, but this is the last straw for me. It’s obvious what’s happening over there, and my users don’t trust it. So I’m out.
How is that better? Why is anyone paying to stream your own content?
Because we should support developers.
You’re right. We should support developers.
Here’s Jellyfin’s ‘How to Contribute’ page.
The $90 million in venture capital can nourish the leeches at Plex just fine.
Except it notified everyone whether their server has a pass or not. In other words, people who don’t need to buy a streaming pass were just told they have to buy a streaming pass.
Does jellyfin let you set up different accounts for remote users so they can keep track of where they are in a tv series (and not give them admin functions?)
Yup!
Yes
Ok, ok that’s solid.
Does it have “library sharing” so one wouldn’t have to login/logout to browse between my own media on my server and media a friend is sharing with me from their server?
No, each server is accessed separately. You can swap between servers easily, but there is no central way to browse all of your servers simultaneously. Jellyfin was designed specifically to rebel against Plex’s centralization, so that’s not a feature they’re ever likely to implement. There are ways to sync your watch history between servers, but it’s using third-party plugins.
I don’t see a technical reason why a client couldn’t log in to multiple remotes to pull and aggregate content through a single interface. No “central” server is required, so if this isn’t an existing feature, I don’t think implementing it breaks any kind of ideology goal on that.
They’re totally different servers. You have to log in to each, but you don’t have to log out of one to log in to the other.
I currently have three up in my browser, each in a browser tab, observing that my siblings and friend who self-host are all into some campy shit. I love it.
I’ll need to take it for a test spin, specifically what the experience is through whatever app they’ve got to run through a tv.
My brother-in-law both share our libraries with a set of people who have accessibility concerns. The Plex interface on a tv blends our two libraries relatively easily for those people. We have the redundancy of the two servers.
For me it isn’t about what I can do, it’s what can the person who struggles the most with what we already have set up get going. I pretty desperately want to move to Jellyfin (already have the Plex pass, so just for ideological reasons) but I’m not going to leave any of my people behind in the process. This is why I’m so hyper fixated on the case of UX for people accessing through a TV app where someone has access to multiple shared libraries.
Setup for remote access by the host is more work, ofc. Remote access on users end can be more difficult depending on how the host sets things up.
Most popular freebie approach seems to be tailscale VPN. Which requires remote users to connect through the Tailscale VPN. And for the host the free Tailscale option has a cap of 3 users. There is probably a learning curve and perhaps frustration for a low-comfort-with-tech type person.
Requires some money but I think the easiest remote user experience is Cloud Flare. This is what my brother does, so I haven’t seen it from his end, but on my end it is very easy to access as a user.
Both have so many help guides online, Tailscale or Cloud Flare.
All I know is I’ve been told over and over and over that Plex is better than Jellyfin because of reasons, so this latest move won’t have me changing my mind!
I’m not gonna deny that there are definitely lots of Plex fanboys, but there are also definitely a number of issues that legitimately makes it hard to switch.
For example right now, I can cast from Plex to my Chromecast. In Jellyfin, the cast menu just shows “Play on my device”. Afaik the only alternate app that also supports Chromecast is streamyfin, which seems to be in beta because the cast menu shows icons for my Chromecasts but no name and won’t let me select them.
Plex user from way back. Gave them up, forgot why, but lemmy woke me up. Plex is charging for what exactly? And why would I continue when Jellyfin is every bit as easy and free? I feel like I’m missing something.
(And yes, I got the implied /s. Most of lemmy is very literal, autistic even, missed it.)
I’m all for switching to FOSS alternatives but this is like complaining that video game companies charge you for playing games on your own computer. Maybe they’re just struggling financially.
More like complaining if a game company comes back to make your game worse after you paid.
“Yea I know you were enjoying Elden Ring and paid for it and host the multiplayer server yourself, but for reasons, all endgame content is going to require players to login and verify a subscription status to play online. Also greatsword have been depreciated and will be relaunched as a separate client: Elden Sword.”
bingo. “Sorry, we know that this game was completely on your computer, but every time you start the main screen the update of the day actually hits our servers and costs us money. About 4 cents a day, but it adds up! No of course you can’t just disable that, instead you will now need to pay us $5 a month to continue access. - Your friends.”
Been using Jellyfin since plex started to annoy me for using it without an account.
My god people.
If you setup Wireguard to use Jellyfin remotely, that would also get around Plex’s fees for remote streaming.
Am i reading this wrong?
If you use Jellyfin you no longer need plex. You can both host it on your own domain or do the vpn method.
If you really want to keep using plex then the vpn method will bypass the new restriction but i recommend not staying with software that limits what you can do with it when alternatives exist.
“Alternatives” https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/issues/5415
Came here to type this and forgot, and thought this was my comment :D
I used Plex way back when it was really just a desktop client that I ran on a Mac Mini. Once they wanted me to make an account with them to watch my own stuff I found a different solution.
I’ve been on Jellyfin for years and I am sure there are some features that I don’t have, but it works great for my setup. I have a docker running on my NAS and two shield tvs connected around the house. I keep all my content in a codec that plays on the clients just fine and everyone is happy.
Glad I switched to Jellyfin last year.
Deleted my Plex account as soon as I got this email, using the account link in said email, so hopefully they see the connection.
