From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv



Plex's Lifetime Pass Price Just Went Completely Sci-Fi
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If you thought Netflix's price hikes were steep, you may want
to buckle in for this one.

If you're a Plex fan, this could be your last chance to lock
in a lifetime pass at a price that's anywhere approaching
reasonable. This week, the self-hosted streaming provider
announced it's raising the price of a Lifetime Plex Pass to a
staggering $750 - but it's also giving folks a few weeks to
get in at the old price before the increase takes effect.

The price bump has raised a lot of questions as to what Plex
could possibly be thinking. This latest hike is tripling the
price of a lifetime Plex Pass, which currently sells for $250,
but it's also worth noting that Plex doubled that only a year
ago. In other words, this summer, the price of perpetual
access to Plex will have gone up nearly 500% in less than
18 months.

Of course, there's a much simpler explanation that the company
hints at in its announcement. By effectively pricing the Plex
Pass out of the market, it encourages more recurring
subscriptions, which make for a more reliable revenue stream.

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.

It clearly doesn't want to nix the lifetime offer entirely, and
like any company, it's probably happy to take the money from
anyone who has it to burn. However, it's a pretty tough value
proposition, especially considering Plex isn't changing its
subscription prices, which remain at $7 per month or $70 per
year, following a change from their original prices of $5 and
$40, respectively, in April 2025. Prior to that, prices remained
flat for nearly a decade.

Still, over the past few years it's become clear that Plex has
been looking for additional ways to make money. In 2018, it
began pivoting from strictly providing a self-hosted personal
media service, first dipping its toes in the streaming waters
with Plex News & Podcasts, and then launching its own
ad-supported video-on-demand service in 2019, followed by free
ad-supported streaming TV in 2020 with dozens of linear, live
channels.

Those moves allowed it to benefit from advertising revenue, but
they also weren't well-received by longtime customers, who only
wanted to stream what was on their own personal servers without
wading through scads of additional content, especially since most
of it wasn't exactly mainstream.

Since Plex is a private company, there's no visibility on how
well that worked, but last year's price increases made it clear
that Plex was beginning to feel the strain of carrying its
lifetime Plex Pass holders. At that point, a Plex Pass went from
$120 to $250, increasing the gap compared to an annual
subscription from 3 to 3.5 years. At the time, it offered a
similar grace period to let folks lock in the $120 price before
the increase, which probably helped with short-term cash flow - 
and I imagine it's doing the same thing here, hoping folks will
jump at the final opportunity to pay "only" $250.

To be fair, that's not a bad deal if you're an avid Plex user and
have the money to spend. Plex deserves kudos for honoring its Plex
Pass commitments in an era when many other companies - including
big names like SiriusXM, TiVo, and Rolling Stone - have tried to
squirm out of them, and this week's announcement made it
abundantly clear that nothing will be changing for existing Plex
Pass holders.

That said, buying any lifetime subscription is placing a bet on
the company's longevity. While I was comped a Plex Pass in 2017
while reviewing the new Live TV and DVR features (and the company
has also honored that), I would have happily paid $250 for the
value I've gotten out of it. However, I'm also saying that in
hindsight, and as happy as I am with Plex, there's no set of
circumstances where I can imagine myself paying the new $750 price
for a lifetime Plex Pass.

Nevertheless, if you're into Plex and willing to roll the dice,
you can pick up a $250 Plex Pass until 12:01 a.m. UTC on July 1,
2026. That will pay for itself in 3.5 years, or possibly even
sooner if Plex ends up hiking its annual subscriptions down the
road.


<https://www.idropnews.com/news/plex-pass-lifetime-price-hike-750/263985/>




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