# Plex 219 Hacker News commenters recommended Plex and 218 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (42 owners). **Verdict:** A polished, turnkey media server whose apps run on nearly every device, letting anyone stream your own library remotely; critics resent price hikes, paywalled features and disruptive UI changes. ## Why people recommend it - Apps on every device (4 comments): "Plex gives you Media Library indexing, web app, mobile and TV apps to play content from your NAS, from anywhere in the world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48987405)) "there really is no other option like Plex. It's so insanely turnkey and easy to install on every device." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45988668)) "Honestly the fact the Plex apps are on every platform and keep getting updates is worth the money for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48094087)) - Easy for non-technical users (5 comments): "The most technologically useless people I know can operate Plex and can access my collection with basically no support necessary." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50156832)) "I want to watch movies/shows, I don't want to spend time tinkering with my setup. And Plex provides exactly that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585547)) "Plex mostly "just works". The latest Apple TV client changes have me hot and there are things I don't love" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50186994)) - Stream your library from anywhere (4 comments): "Plex gives you Media Library indexing, web app, mobile and TV apps to play content from your NAS, from anywhere in the world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48987405)) "Want to watch an episode of that series while you're sitting at work waiting for a long test pass? Plex." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48988099)) "Have the advantage of hosting content on Plex and other media servers that you can play them remotely." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46419195)) - Lifetime pass paid off (3 comments): "Nearly a decade after my investment, I can stand up as many Plex servers as I want with free relay services, metadata aggregation, trailers, and extras." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48093630)) "I've got a lot of really good things to say about Plex and sure as hell have benefitted from the lifetime license." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49032205)) "I paid $120 for Plex 8 years ago, and if it becomes utter crap tomorrow, it's been totally worth it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49605112)) ## What people warn about - Rising prices and subscription creep (6 comments): "$750 now vs $119 when you got it is definitely the point where you have to think about the alternatives out there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49047260)) "it's getting harder these days to actually recommend it while the pricing is really all over the place" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49034617)) "I bought the app and now it wants a subscription, so I both don't understand their pricing models and don't trust their lifetime pricing now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46516700)) - Basic features behind paywall (4 comments): "We run a plex server and I hate it. Hiding "timer" functionality (turn off in x minutes) behind a paywall feels like a shit move" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46516045)) "they starting charging to access someone's library that had been shared with you if the sharing party did not have Plex pass" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46417470)) "having to pay 30/year to access someone else's server, who's already paying a regular Pass and the infra, sure seems abusive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49033185)) - Frequent unwanted UI changes (4 comments): "Plex tends to revise their UI and inner workings in a way that favors everything but the core media sharing platform." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47760847)) "I am inured to having to re-learn the navigation UI with every new release, so that part can't be too bad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48542686)) "I despise the frequent and ugly Plex UI changes they push out, but the app works on every device" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46527177)) - Drifting from personal media focus (5 comments): "Then two years later they come up with something that really alienates me (that FAST service)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48804460)) "Their business leadership decided to make Plex more like a TV than a personal media server, and the UI / UX changes reflected this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48988057)) "Plex could reverse this trend in a week if they decided to prioritize work on any feature that their core market actually wanted." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47760642)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Jellyfin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jellyfin.md): 385 recommend - [Emby](https://hackerapproved.com/p/emby.md): 20 recommend - [Audiobookshelf](https://hackerapproved.com/p/audiobookshelf.md): 17 recommend - [Plex Media Server](https://hackerapproved.com/p/plex-media-server.md): 15 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://watch.plex.tv/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Plex", https://hackerapproved.com/p/plex/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).