Plex begins paywalling distant streaming to TVs, starting with its Roku app

Here is some dangerous information for people who’ve been utilizing Plex to stream stuff from a buddy’s private media server to their TV free of charge for years. Because it pledged to do earlier this 12 months when it bumped up the price of the Plex Pass, the service is starting to enforce a paywall for distant streaming from a private server to TV apps. Plex is rolling out the change on its Roku app this week, adopted by its different TV apps (on the likes of Fireplace TV, Apple TV and Android TV) and third-party shoppers that use its distant streaming API in 2026. Plex additionally lately began deploying a redesigned version of its app on Roku-powered TVs.

Under the new way of things, the proprietor of a media server wants a Plex Cross subscription to grant different individuals distant entry to it via the service. A Plex Cross now prices $7 per thirty days, $70 per 12 months or $250 for a lifetime membership. These with such a subscription (or the Distant Watch Cross for $2 per thirty days or $20 per 12 months) can remotely entry another person’s media server, even when the server proprietor would not have Plex Cross. Plex began implementing the change on cell gadgets earlier than doing so elsewhere.

It at all times stinks when an organization places up a paywall round a function that was beforehand free. Plex must earn money to maintain issues operating, which is truthful sufficient. However turning free options into paid ones is hardly a consumer-friendly strategy, particularly when there are open-source alternate options like Jellyfin round.