Plex icon
Plex icon

Plex

 859 likes

A multimedia tool for streaming movies, TV shows, sports, and music while facilitating personal media organization with versatile libraries and metadata retrieval.

Plex screenshot 1

License model

  • FreemiumProprietary

Application types

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Android
  • iPhone
  • Chrome OS
  • Android Tablet
  • Windows Phone
  • iPad
  • Apple TV
  • Daydream
  • Kindle Fire
  • Android TV
  • Kodi
  • Roku
3.4 / 5 Avg rating (30)
859 likes
25comments

Features

Suggest and vote on features

Properties

  1.  Lightweight

Features

  1.  Media Server
  2.  Media Streaming
  3.  Play local content
  4.  Local Storage
  5.  Media Center
  6.  Media Transcoding
  7.  Remote Media Access
  8.  Automatic Library Search
  9.  Support for subtitles
  10.  Media sharing
  11.  Support for DLNA
  12.  Automatic subtitles download
  13.  Local server
  14.  Works Offline
  15.  Chromecast Support
  16.  No Tracking
  17.  Dedicated Server Hosting
  18.  Ad-free
  19.  Dark Mode
  20.  No registration required
  21.  Kids Mode
  22.  Lossless Audio
  23.  Offline sync of media files
  24.  Stream audio
  25.  Remote File Access

Plex News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent News

Show more news

Recent activities

  • App icon
    POX added Plex as alternative to Meelo
    9 days ago
  • spx300, s47959089 and RemovedUser liked Plex
    28 days ago
  • Guest does not think Lightweight is a important feature of Plex
    about 1 month ago
  • App icon
    POX added Plex as alternative to Finer Player
    about 1 month ago
  • App icon
    okwithmydecay added Plex as alternative to Navidrome
    3 months ago
  • POX updated Plex
    4 months ago
  • fernando-csouza and veneno_ liked Plex
    6 months ago
Show all activities

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Comment summary: Plex is praised for its elegant and user-friendly interface, providing seamless media streaming across devices, including smart TVs and gaming consoles. However, some users express frustration with cloud account requirements and inefficient server-host setups. While its metadata features and media organization are appreciated, the inability to use the system offline and issues with data privacy are concerning. Alternatives like Emby and Jellyfin are mentioned for those seeking fewer restrictions.
xeizo
  
Top positive commentFeb 7, 2016

Younity doesn't work on Android, that rules out plenty of users. Personally I always liked Minidlna(now ReadyMedia) the best, as it does exaclty what I want without any extra "features. But it's *NIX only. Could probably work on OSX, but not in a Windows environment.

So Windows - Android, Plex looks like a top pick at the moment. Kodi works, but I couldn't fins a way to browse folders in Kodi. Plex does that, Plex wins.

[Edited by xeizo, February 07]

1
darkpixel
  
Top negative commentOct 22, 2017

Plex is actually pretty good in a lot of respects--a beautiful interface that pulls a ton of information together in 'just the right way'.

But I will never use Plex again. Newer versions of Plex go out of their way to prevent you from using it unless you sign in to their cloud account. I fought for hours after an update to my home media server locked everyone out and suddenly started requiring we link to cloud accounts. No thanks. I'll find someone else for my media library.

1 reply
dzevel5

Plus Plex collecting user data. Plex also prevents device from sleep mode

Reply written Mar 30, 2019

If this reply contains spam or other abuse, notify admins about it.
20
nolaray
  
Positive commentMar 4, 2024

Plex is a powerful and versatile home theater solution that lets you stream your media collection across multiple devices. Whether you want to watch movies, TV shows, music, or photos, Plex can organize and deliver them to you with ease.

0
Kelson V
  
ReviewJul 12, 2022

On the plus side: It works, the players are easy to find and install for multiple platforms and devices, and the server can even run on a Raspberry Pi.

On the minus side: You have to sign into their cloud account to do most things. And it's constantly trying to push you into purchasing a subscription. Even if you're only using it with your local collection.

If you want to use it for remote streaming, that's one thing. But I just want to listen to my own library of music on my own network. It shouldn't have to connect to a remote service, sending who knows what local data, just for that.

(Oh, and installing on a Pi? You need to either hook up a display to it or use an ssh tunnel to complete setup if you're trying to run it as a headless server.)

0
jules salin
  
Positive commentMay 4, 2021

If you'd like to create your own Netflix/Spotify, Plex is the way to go.

-1
Third Opinion
  
Negative commentFeb 11, 2021

split between shows and movies NOT good

-1
Deko
  
ReviewSep 5, 2020

Its nice! But I dont want to pay for the android app, when I host my own server. Jellyfin is a better alternative.

1
Show more comments
7 of 25 comments

What is Plex?

Plex bridges the gap between your computer and your home theater, doing so with a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media. Plex can play a wide range of video, audio and photo formats as well as online streaming audio and video. The real power of Plex is found in its library features: Organize your media into versatile libraries, automatically retrieve metadata from the Internet, and display your libraries using one of the visually stunning skins.

The Plex mobile app lets you remotely stream music and video to your smartphone over WiFi, and use your smartphone as a remote control for your media center,

Plex Videos

Official Links

Plex information

  • Developed by

    Plex
  • Licensing

    Proprietary and Freemium product.
  • Pricing

    One time purchase that costs $120, and / or subscription that costs $5 per month + free version with limited functionality.
  • Rating

    Average rating of 3.4 (30 ratings)
  • Alternatives

    94 alternatives listed
  • News

    12 news article related to Plex
  • Supported Languages

    • English
    • Afrikaans
    • Bulgarian
    • Croatian
    • Czech
    • Danish
    • Dutch
    • Finnish
    • French
    • German
    • Greek
    • Hungarian
    • Indonesian
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Norwegian Bokmål
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
    • Romanian
    • Russian
    • Chinese
    • Slovak
    • Spanish
    • Swedish

AlternativeTo Categories

Video & MoviesAudio & Music

Apple AppStore

  •   Updated Dec 12, 2024
  •   4.67 avg rating
View in AppStore

Popular alternatives

View all

Top Plex apps (extensions / mods etc)

View all

Our users have written 25 comments and reviews about Plex, and it has gotten 859 likes

Plex was added to AlternativeTo by Mogelfar on Feb 28, 2009 and this page was last updated Oct 9, 2024.