Because Kodi is just confusing. When I got my first Android TV, I was reading about Plex and Kodi everywhere. So I tried both. I never even figured out how to make Kodi do a similar thing to what I had with Plex.

Granted, Plex sucks nowadays and I'll be migrating somwhere else, but it definitely isn't going to be Kodi - it was confusing and ugly.

Plex is superior because of one app: Plexamp

To be honest it's entirely because Plex was what I first discovered and setup, and I liked it enough to pay for a pass

Why is the hype for kodi? Its just a (not good) media player

Used Kodi for a long time (even had an XBMC) and switched when it became more of a chore keeping Kodi updated across multiple devices than it was worth - along with wanting to play easier across more devices.

It's unfortunate, but just the UI customization that I loved Kodi for couldn't keep me on it over the lack of reasonable server/client architecture, minimal headless scraper capability (you can do it, but it sucks), and the general attitude of the forums getting very...angry/pissy?

I wanted subtitles on Chromecast and Plex was the only thing that could do it without burning them in (at the time, maybe jellyfish can do this now)

Imma be a weirdo here: I use Emby.

I've been using Kodi (LibreELEC) on an RPi as a media center for the tv. It is extensible with IPTV etc which makes it great as a standalone device.

For myself I'm using Jellyfin on multiple devices without having to manage metadata and configuration seperately. It's all on my homeserver.

tl;dr
Different use cases.

I mean... emby or jellyfin would be a better replacement for Plex.

But why not those? I bought a lifetime Plex Pass for $30 or something ages ago when the competition was garbage, so I already have a smoothly working setup for Plex. No reason to force my kids, their grandparents, etc, to a new interface for very little upside. Plex just works. I have tried the others and they're okay, but nothing compelling enough to force the change.

PS5 Client. Deal maker in my case.

Kodi with trakt for me

Plex is just easier, especially when using multiple devices to watch content and/or sharing content with friends and family. I used to be all in on kodi over Plex, but Plex improved and improved and improved and is a better product imo.

I just setup a htpc and am using kodi for client of jellyfin, because for some reason the jellyfin desktop app will not register any controller inputs and I haven't found a remote control solution that works.