Plex: Free vs Paid

Plex works by connecting your media, the Plex Media Server, and the various apps for all your devices—browsers, mobile devices, game consoles, streaming devices, home theater PCs—but, what parts are free to use and what parts are paid for?

The basic functionality of Plex is completely free, which includes playback of anything on your server, as well as Movies & Shows and Live TV (from Plex). Plex mobile apps require being unlocked (through an in-app purchase or a Plex Pass subscription), and premium features are restricted to those with an active Plex Pass subscription.

The “Free to Use” Parts: The Server and Apps

There are some details to get into, but the summary of “free” is simple:

• The video/music/photo media you own is yours. Of course, we don’t charge you in any way for that.
• The Plex Media Server is free to use.
• Our ‘Movies & Shows’ streaming service is free to all users and ad-supported.
• Free TV streaming is available from our ad-supported Live TV on Plex service
• Connect a compatible tuner and antenna to your server to let you watch over-the-air broadcasts available at your location live. (Recording of broadcasts requires a Plex Pass subscription.)
• All of our non-mobile, public apps are free (with the exception of Plex Labs apps). These include Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Plex HTPC, Roku, Smart TVs, Windows & macOS computers and game consoles (PlayStation and Xbox).
• Plexamp and basic streaming of personal music.
• 30-second previews of songs from TIDAL are available to anyone in the app.
• Our mobile apps (Android and iOS) can be used for free, but have limitations.
  • Until the mobile app is unlocked (through an in-app purchase or a Plex Pass subscription), video and music streamed from a Plex Media Server has a 1 minute playback limit, and photos will be watermarked.

  Related Page: Plex Downloads
  Related Page: Plex Media Server
  Related Page: Unlocking or Activating Plex for Android
  Related Page: Unlocking or Activating Plex for iOS

  The “Paid For” Parts: Mobile Apps and Subscription Services

  There are really two categories of things that are “paid for” within Plex:

  Subscription Services

  Plex Pass

  The Plex Pass subscription includes free activation/unlocking of our mobile apps as well as other features and benefits:

  • Activate/unlock our Android and iOS mobile apps simply by signing into your Plex account within the app.
  • Access to Plex Dash (a Plex Labs app)
  • Skip Credits in your personal library.
  • Skip intros in TV episodes in your personal library.
  • Hardware-accelerated streaming/transcoding.
  • DVR Recording: Record over-the-air broadcasts available in your area, using a compatible tuner and digital antenna.
  • Stream trailers and extras (interviews, behind the scenes, etc.) for content in your movie or TV show libraries.
  • Add lyrics from LyricFind to your music libraries to follow along whenever you want.
  • Invite full Plex accounts (not just managed users) of family members to be a part of your Plex Home, allowing easy switching between accounts, and restrict what content you share from your server.
  • Premium music features in Plexamp, like Sonic Analysis, Sonic Sage, Guest DJ, Track & Album Radio, Artist & Album Mix Builders, and more.
  • HDR to SDR tone mapping when transcoding, to help preserve colors for playback.
  • Get early preview access to new apps and features.
  • And even more!

  TIDAL Music Streaming

  • Stream over 80 million tracks, anywhere you are.
  • Paid TIDAL plans support lossless music quality streaming.
  • Enhance and expand a library of your own personal music by integrating TIDAL streaming.
  • Stream music tracks that appear in your favorite movies and TV shows.

  Related Page: TIDAL Music through Plex
  Related Page: TIDAL

  Removing Playback Limitations from Mobile Apps

  As mentioned above, our mobile apps offer in-app purchases that activate/unlock the app to remove playback limitations when streaming from a Plex Media Server:

  • Android and iOS mobile apps offer one-time, in-app purchases.
  • Again, a Plex Pass subscription will activate these features without additional purchase.

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  FAQ – Free Movies & Shows

  With free movies, documentaries, and TV content, Plex can help make your mediaverse bigger than ever. Plex users from almost every country are able to access free, ad-supported content to stream whenever they like. Awesome blockbusters, indie classics, cheesy B-movie action, and more are all ready for you to enjoy.

  Users located in the United States can also rent new and popular movies to stream to their Plex app.

  Related Page: Movies & Shows Overview
  Related Page: Renting Movies on Plex

  Basic Info About Free Movies & Shows

  Why ads? Will having a Plex Pass remove them?

  Our goal is to bring a wide assortment of content—from big studios, independent producers, and more—from around the globe to you for free. In exchange, we’re asking for a bit of your time to watch some ads. Even so, you can expect a notably lower ad-to-content ratio than you’d experience with typical broadcast television.

  Since ad revenue is how the studios and distributors get paid, having a Plex Pass will not remove ads or reduce their frequency.

  Does having a Plex Pass give access to additional titles?

  To be clear up front, having an active Plex Pass subscription does not change what content is available on the free service in any way. You don’t suddenly get access to more or newer titles. For information about additional features available to Plex Pass holders, see our Plex Pass Feature Overview article and the Plex Pass marketing page.

  Will the available content be changing?

  Yes, the content available will change over time. Many items will continue to be accessible, while some other items may only be available for a limited time from a distributor. We’ll also continue working to bring in additional partners to add more content from around the world.

  Are you putting ads into my personal content?

  Absolutely not! That would be a really terrible idea for many, many reasons. Your media collection—including your recorded movies and TV shows, home videos, photos, music collection, and more—will continue to stream to all of your devices, ad-free.

  Are there geographic restrictions?

  Some distributors have very specific requirements for where their content is allowed to be played, due to various licensing parameters they have in place with everyone they work with. Though some content in our catalog will only be playable in certain countries, much of it can be played worldwide. We’re continuing to work with new and existing partners to bring even more titles for users all over the world.

  Due to local regulations in a few countries, our on-demand content will not be available for users located in the following countries:

  • Bahrain
  • Cuba
  • Egypt
  • Iran
  • North Korea
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • United Arab Emirates

  Is there content in [my language]?

  While the majority of our content is in English, we do have non-English content, too. In addition, we’re working with new and existing partners to expand our catalog and bring in even more titles from around the world.

  Will the studio partners know what content I have or watch in my personal library?

  Absolutely not! In fact, we take pains to ensure that Plex doesn’t even know what’s in your personal media library in the first place. Neither Plex nor any of our partners will have any access or visibility into the content or metadata that our users have in their personal media collection.

  Do I need a Plex Media Server? Do these stream through my server?

  No, this service is independent of any Plex Media Server. You don’t need to run your own server or have one shared with you. The content streams from online and does not go “through” any Plex Media Server you have installed or shared with you.

  Why am I seeing the same ad so many times?

  Due to the way that the ad industry works, it’s possible that you may see the same ad more than once when watching content. Advertisers sometimes target different platforms, so the variety of ads available can vary depending on how you’re watching content. For instance, there are typically more ads available for “big screen” apps (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, etc.) than there are for playback in a browser, so people watching on a big screen app are less likely to see repeat ads, since there is a bigger pool of ads available.

  Accessing or Restricting the Content

  Can my family watch this content?

  Absolutely. Our ad-supported movie and TV content is available to all users for free. If your family members already have their own, regular Plex account, then they’ll have access directly, or they can choose to enable/disable the media source for themselves, as desired.

  You can also create a managed user for a family member and add them to your Plex Home for fast user switching.

  Related Page: Managed Accounts
  Related Page: Plex Home

  Can I restrict the content my child can access?

  Yes! You can create a managed user for your child and apply one of the preset profiles to control what type of content the child’s account can access. Plex Pass subscribers can further customize the restrictions for what content is accessible.

  Related Page: Parental Controls

  How do I turn Movies & Shows off so I don’t see it?

  You can control whether the Movies & Shows (on Plex) source is available for your account as well as for any managed users you have set up. You’ll find instructions in our “Movies & Shows Overview” article.

  Can I change the audio language?

  Our desire is to source the title’s original language and provide English subtitles or captions, whenever this is available and possible for us to source through our distributors. For the vast majority of content, only a single audio stream will be available.

  Are subtitles available?

  When sourcing content from our partners, we do request subtitles for the content from them whenever it is available. Typically, this will be English subtitles, but not all content will have subtitles available or provided to us.

  Why do some titles list the wrong audio language?

  Some non-English titles still have English listed as the language, even though the spoken language is different. We are working hard at resolving this discrepancy.

  Other Questions

  Can I create a watchlist of items?

  Absolutely! We offer a universal watchlist feature that allows you to add movies or TV content from anywhere. Whether it’s personal content from a Plex Media Server, a classic film we offer on our free Movies & Shows service, or even an upcoming movie that hasn’t even been released yet, you can add any of them to your Watchlist.

  Can I add titles to my own personal library?

  This capability is not currently available. However, we are exploring library augmentation that we may include in a future update.

  Will I be able to browse the entire catalog or see titles by genre?

  You can browse content available in different genres, but it is not possible to browse a single, consolidated free library. (There would be so many results that it wouldn’t be practical anyway.)

  Will I see preview thumbnails when seeking content?

  Yes! Preview thumbnails are available for our free content, so they can be shown when seeking within playback.

  How can I request a title be added?

  If it were only so straight-forward that we could pick and choose any title we wanted to add! Alas, content deals in this industry are complex and very nuanced. While you can give us suggestions in our forums, we can’t promise they will get added or commit to any timelines that involve content.

  How do I report things like mismatched or incorrect metadata and playback issues?

  You can visit our forums for detailed information on the best way to report issues to us. Keep in mind that in most cases, we won’t be able to provide an individual response for issues reported.

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