Plex lets you stream your own media library anywhere and adds free ad-supported movies and TV. Compare Plex Pass pricing and top alternatives.
Plex is media server software paired with a streaming platform: it turns a user's own video, music and photo files into a personal, Netflix-style streaming service accessible from phones, smart TVs, consoles and browsers, while also offering a separate free, ad-supported catalog of licensed movies and shows.
Plex began as a 2007 side project porting the Kodi (then XBMC) media center to Mac OS X, was renamed Plex in 2008, and became a formally incorporated company, Plex Inc., in December 2009, headquartered in Campbell, California.
Plex Media Server indexes a user's personal media library, fetches metadata like posters and descriptions, and transcodes files on the fly so they play smoothly on virtually any device and network condition.
Beyond personal libraries, Plex offers free ad-supported movies and TV shows, live TV and DVR functionality with an antenna or tuner, music and podcast streaming, and photo backup and organization, unifying personal and licensed content in one app.
The core Plex Media Server and basic remote streaming of your own library are free to use. The optional Plex Pass subscription adds premium features like hardware-accelerated transcoding, offline mobile sync, advanced parental controls and live TV/DVR.
Plex Pass is available monthly (around $6.99), annually (around $69.99), as a new 5-year plan (around $249.99), or as a lifetime one-time purchase, which increased significantly to roughly $749.99 in mid-2026.
Yes, the core Plex Media Server and streaming your own library is free. Plex Pass is an optional paid subscription for premium features.
Plex Pass adds hardware-accelerated transcoding, offline mobile sync, advanced parental controls, live TV/DVR and other premium features.
Plex Pass costs around $6.99 per month, about $69.99 per year, a new 5-year plan around $249.99, or a one-time lifetime purchase priced at roughly $749.99 as of mid-2026.
Plex is developed by Plex Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Campbell, California, co-founded by Elan Feingold, Cayce Ullman and Scott Olechowski.
To stream your own media library, yes, you need Plex Media Server running on a computer or NAS device; the free ad-supported streaming catalog does not require this.
The closest alternatives are Jellyfin, a free and fully open-source personal media server, and Emby, a similarly freemium self-hosted media server.
Yes, Plex has apps for most smart TVs, streaming devices, game consoles, mobile phones and web browsers.