Plex has been a fan-favorite solution for streaming media for years. It is relatively easy to set up, especially if a remote media server is added to the setup. Until now, remote access to Plex Media Server was free. This was a great option for users who were traveling and wanted to access their home server while abroad, or wanted to share a server.
Plex announced today that free travel will be ending, at least for users of the service who want to access media remotely.
It changes: Starting next week, Plex will require Remote Watch Pass or Plex Pass to stream remotely on the company’s Roku app. Starting in 2026, the change will come to all Plex TV apps on all platforms and any third-party clients that are using the Plex API for remote streaming.
plex tells Two options in one post on the official forum:
- Remote Watch Pass – Available for 20 euros (about $23) per year, this is specifically designed for streaming media remotely using Plex.
- Plex Pass – Customers can upgrade their account to a Plex Pass subscription, which is available for about 60 euros (about $70) per year, but is currently on discount. It includes premium features, like skip intros and credits, hardware transcoding, and more.
In other words, Plex created a new subscription plan for users who – very soon – can no longer use the remote streaming functionality of the application, because Plex has turned it off for them.
Plex users who don’t want to subscribe to the service just to maintain access to a feature they previously used for free can check out alternatives to Plex.
Here is a short selection:
- jellyfish: Free and open source, supports Windows, macOS, Linux, and does not limit remote access.
- cody: Another free and open source solution that supports desktop systems as well as Android, Fire TV, and Raspberry Pi. However, getting remote media servers to work with the solution is complicated.
Do you have any other alternatives that you recommend others to replace Plex with? Feel free to leave a comment below.
