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Plex increasing Lifetime Plex Pass cost to whopping $750
(9to5mac.com)
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this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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Easier sure, but it comes at the expense of all traffic (even streaming to a device on your local network) going through their servers. If you have an internet outage or their servers go down, you can't even stream media locally with Plex. No such issues with Jellyfin.
Edit: apparently my frustrations about this were based on something I set up incorrectly, so +1 point for Plex working locally without internet, -1 point for ease of use/setup if I had this wrong for years without knowing it or finding the fix on my own.
This is incorrect, bordering on outright FUD. Plex only uses their servers for the initial server discovery. When you sign into Plex, your device basically contacts the central plex discovery server and goes “hey, which servers do I have access to? And where are they located?” Plex’s server then passes that info back to the device, so the device can reach those servers directly. No actual content hits Plex’s servers by default. Hell, Plex wouldn’t want content hitting their servers by default, because it’s a truly astronomical amount of bandwidth that would be required on their end, for no real benefit.
You can technically use their relay option to bounce the video stream off of their server, but they specifically say that it’s a last-ditch workaround for troubleshooting. Because their relay server is intentionally bandwidth-capped and will throttle your video quality. So the relay is only really meant to be used for troubleshooting and edge cases.
“Aha! But you need to contact their server to get access even on LAN! So it will stop working when your internet goes out!” You can just configure the device to use a direct connection instead. This will allow you to connect directly to a server on your LAN. No need for their handshake server.
You can totally stream locally without internet, I've done it several times. I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that Plex doesn't do direct streams, especially locally?
I got that idea from the times when I couldn't stream to my TV in my home while my internet was down. Switched from Plex several years ago though
There is a server side setting you need to switch off. If I remember correctly it deals with the way you sign into plex.
I like shitting on Plex but you absolutely can stream entirely locally without internet.
There is at least one TV application that doesn't support local streaming without first logging into Plex's servers. I have an LG tv and it'll hang at the loading screen, then error out if I don't have Internet connectivity. I love the TV but LG as a company sucks. I wouldn't buy it again.