Today we’re announcing an important pricing update. Starting July 1, 2026, the price of a new Lifetime Plex Pass will increase to $749.99 USD.
When Plex first started, we were movie and TV fans who wanted to make something great for people like us. We chose to offer a Lifetime subscription early on because we knew many of our customers would rather pay a higher one-time fee for software that they can depend on every day.
We’ve considered eliminating the Lifetime Plex Pass in the past, given that recurring subscriptions help us sustain long-term development, but we know it’s still a valuable option for many in our community. So instead of retiring it, we’re keeping it available at a price that reflects the real, ongoing value of the software we’re committed to building and maintaining for years to come.
Wild. 💰
How do I give others access to my Jellyfin library?
I did that just a week ago. It’s pretty simple and everything works. No money necessary.
Once I max out Subnautica 2 this is my weekend project
And an oil change.
2015-2025 $120
2025-2026 $250
2026-? $750
Plex can fuck all the way off.
Calling it now:
2028-? Plex Pass Plus (subscription only)
Got my lifetime for $75 in 2013. Started testing Jellyfin anyway once Plex started offering streaming media to compete with local libraries.
Anyone with $750 to spend on this either:
A) Doesn’t have the skills/resources to set up and server, so they’ll just put the money towards streaming
B) Has the skills/resources to set up Jellyfin and will just put the towards server and media costsAny bets when older lifetime passes get un-grandfathered (for at least some “new” features) at some point?
Some companies seem to be able to change the contract whenever they want and bar access if you dont accept. Cell providers in my area seemingly aren’t allowed to do that but it feels like everyone else can, especially regarding digital media.
We’ve considered eliminating the Lifetime Plex Pass in the past, given that recurring subscriptions help us sustain long-term development, but we know it’s still a valuable option for many in our community. So instead of retiring it, we’re keeping it available at a price that reflects the real, ongoing value of the software we’re committed to building and maintaining for years to come.
Translation: We fucked up by creating a lifetime pass but now we can’t get rid of it without being sued by everyone who did what we said they should and bought one. If we honour existing passes and stop selling new ones, we’ll be reviled by everyone else, so we’ll just pick a ridiculous figure out of the air so nobody can say we killed them.
…reflects the real, ongoing value of the software…
If people are mostly buying the lifetime pass at the old price, that’s the real value of the software. It’s too bad they don’t think it’s enough to keep their company going. I don’t think this new price will save them. Not all companies need to exist.
the only thing i can think of re plex is sometimes their “live tv channels” have shows i forget about like come dine with me or mst3k. etc.
i can get some streams like that on a roku fine.
does jellyfin allow for “streaming channels?”
