You use Plex most, but not for Plex content

Plex is one of the most popular media apps around, which lets you watch your own content over a network, as well as give you access to a variety of free movies and TV shows.

The service has introduced a number of new features in recent months, but we wanted to know if you used Plex first. Here is what you told us in this poll.

Do you use Plex?

The result

More than 3,100 votes were counted at the time of writing, and 57% of readers actually used Plex, but only for their own content. This is not very surprising, since it was Plex’s original purpose and the ability to stream a selection of free content came later.

Those who use Plex for both their own free library of content and videos are in second place with 26.74% of the vote. The app doesn’t have as many prominent, high-profile headlines as other streaming services, but it still has a decent library for free service.

More coverage: Did Plex just hit the streaming media box?

Those who do not use Plex are responsible for 13.61% of the final tally, coming in third. For those who want to see their own content through a network, there are actually several options, MB has emerged as the biggest competitor.

Finally, less than 2% of respondents said they only use Plex for free content.

Comments

• Timothy: No. I prefer MB over Plex. Emby all the game I throw it.
• Bikerchris: The funny thing is that in the last 2 weeks, after 18 months trial of Plex (monthly payment), I decided to let Emby go. So far I’ve liked it a bit, though it’s mainly due to the inclusion of schedule-based parental controls and the option to view content while the net is off. After all, wouldn’t it be better to have easy access to media without local, internet? The jury is still out, but I’m paying it back month after month to give it a full test. It involves a lot more than the Plex but with a little more effort it has some control options that I like. I’ve tried Jellyfish but installing TrueNAS is a challenge.
• Swansea poverty: Plex has been a big upgrade for me in all competitions. Starting with Cody which didn’t come close to my need, Jelly was okay but the way Plex handles transcoding is the real game changer. Admittedly you need modern architecture but let’s be honest we are talking about transcoding from 4K HDR to 720p SDR, none of the competitors came close to offering simplicity.
• Nihaopal: The thing I hate most about the plex is that they take away from me the features for which I paid. I got Plex Pass early in life, I saw that only my main account can download content now and not my daughters account which has never happened before, I saw that she also needs to have Plex Pass when I have subscription for her iOS app and Originally Plex charged for the app in the App Store which I bought, then they did it for free, now they want to charge again but in the app.
• Joe G: My time with Plex is probably coming to an end. The latest release was an untested beta with a push out, no opt-out, no opt-in for everyone. Parental controls were ignored and managed users may find inappropriate content (R movie rated on Kids profile, Rated G movie recommended). ‘Fix’ was new to hide more see content. Instead of prioritizing the release over the kids, they leave it unattended most of the day instead of rolling it back. They could bring it back, put it in their workplace, and then push it back.