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Plex Price Jumps and Free Remote Streaming to End—What You Need to Do
Plex, the popular personal media streaming service, is rolling out significant changes in 2025, including a price increase for its Plex Pass subscription and a shift in how remote playback works.
The updates, detailed in a company blog post on Wednesday, aim to fund new features and maintain the platform’s independence amid rising costs.
Starting April 29, 2025, Plex Pass prices will rise for the first time in over a decade. New rates will be $6.99 US/month (up from $4.99 US), $69.99 US/year (up from $39.99 US), and $249.99 US for a lifetime subscription (up from $119.99 US).
Canadian pricing right now is $6.49 monthly, $51.99 annually and $159.99 for the lifetime plan. We have yet to learn about how much the new prices will be in CAD, but stay tuned for that.
Current Lifetime Plex Pass holders are exempt, and anyone can still grab the lifetime deal until the deadline. Plex likened its long-held pricing to AriZona Iced Tea and Costco’s hot dog combo but said the hike is essential to keep improving the service (Lol).
Remote playback for personal media is also changing. As of April 29, 2025, streaming from a server outside your local network will no longer be free.
Users can either upgrade to a Plex Pass, which covers remote access for all server users, or opt for a new Remote Watch Pass at $1.99/month or $19.99/year—perfect for those streaming from someone else’s server without needing full Plex Pass perks. Current Plex Pass subscribers won’t see interruptions from these changes.
On the upside, Plex is axing the one-time mobile unlock fee for its Android and iOS apps, making local playback free once the new mobile experience launches publicly. The company also teased upcoming features like a Common Sense Media integration for parents, a new server management app, and an open API for custom integrations.
Plex is updating its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service too, adding clarity on data use, though it stressed it won’t share or sell personal media info. Existing users won’t see changes unless they opt in later.
“We’re not slowing down on personal media,” Plex assured fans, crediting their support for driving these updates.
What are you going to do if you’re a Plex user?
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This is actually a positive change. People love to forget that plex hasn't increased prices in years, and offers an excellent service and program that so many can enjoy. Free or for super low cost. Ending the mobile activation fee (which allowed users on a server to watch full content on a mobile device…without this unlock, you'd get a minute of playback only, so essentially no remote playback on mobile without paying that one time fee), which ends the eternal hassle of explaining to new users being added to my server how plex works. Many server hosts have lifetime passes and have for years. Many more are upgrading right now. If not for the perks, to thank the developers. It's all over Reddit. So they are removing free remote play, which wasn't entirely free before, due to the unlock fee required. It makes life so much easier and, seriously, if the server host you're accessing isn't a plex pass holder, is $20/yr really so much to pay for unlimited streaming? Others charge that monthly. Besides even the server hosts have to pay that or upgrade. Most of us don't care about paying, but these articles are making it sound like plex is removing so many things without replacing them with something equal or better. I've been using plex for six years. I have thirty users. I happily upgraded and none of those people have to ever pay. Not even a one time mobile activation fee. So…. In the end, this is a positive change, not doom and gloom. What are we going to do? Keep using, enjoying, and supporting plex.