What does Plex actually do and how does it work?

Key Takeaways

Plex offers a customizable streaming service for your own media library, making your favorite content accessible on-the-go worldwide.
Plex’s media server functionality lets you organize and stream personal files, creating a personal streaming service rich with helpful metadata.
Despite its impressive features, Plex is accessible for free, with optional payments for additional features like a Plex Pass subscription available.

When streaming services first came into the spotlight, what they promised was easy access to all your favorite movies, TV shows, and other content — at first, it really looked like that. However, fast-forward a few years, and it’s only technically still true. While nowadays, you can find everything you love watching online, you’d need dozens of subscriptions from Disney+ to Max to have access to it all, bankrupting you in the blink of an eye.

That’s why physical media, and by extension, having your own library of files, is making a comeback after being deemed dead only a few years ago. If you have your own versions of movies and TV shows, there’s nothing stopping you from watching them whenever you want, free of charge.

The best video streaming services for on-demand movies and TV

After using dozens of video streaming services, I hand-picked the best ones for watching popular movies and critically acclaimed TV shows.

The only limiting factor in that case is access to these files. While you can stream movies anywhere in the world, your files are stored only on physical media, which often limits where you can watch them. You have to always remember to bring your USB stick or an external SSD to be able to watch movies on the go.

That’s where Plex comes in. Thanks to this software, you’re able to change your library of movies and TV shows from local-only to your own, personal streaming service, available everywhere you wish to go. With your own files that you can access as freely as any other streaming service’s library, Plex seems to offer the best of both worlds.

Best DVD players: Great disc players for your old movie collection

Are you looking for the best DVD player that’ll play back your older discs and keep things simple? Check out our top picks here.

What is Plex?

Your one-stop multimedia shop

Plex is a multipurpose piece of software, but it’s mainly popular thanks to two of its stand-out features. It’s simultaneously a streaming service and a client-server media player. The client-server media player essentially lets you create your own streaming service with all your media files (movies, TV shows, music, and photos), so that you can access them on-the-go via Plex media player apps and web browsers on almost any device.

Aside from these core functionalities, Plex has some more aces up its sleeve. The media server can also organize your media, and it even adds useful information like posters, reviews, and subtitles to your library. To add to all that, you also have Plexamp. It is the company’s free custom music player that allows you to stream your own music and has diverse customization options.

Plex introduces new features to make it the one-stop streaming app

Plex has changed and morphed over the years, from a platform to stream your own media files to a hub for all-manner of digital content.

What can you watch on Plex?

Your files or mine?

Even though Plex is best known for its media server capabilities that allow you to stream your own content, for a few years now it also offers its own streaming service to rival giants such as Netflix. The company claims it has over 20,000 on-demand titles and over 200 live TV channels available worldwide — in the US, it claims to have over 600 live TV channels. What’s more, you can stream movies and TV from a range of interesting studios, such as A24, AMC, BBC Studios, Bloomberg, Lionsgate, MGM, NBC News, Paramount, Reuters, USA Today, ViacomCBS, and Warner Bros. You can check out the full list of Plex content partners on the company site.

All that being said, being able to stream content is not enough to shine in this extremely competitive category. That’s why Plex tries to differentiate itself from other platforms by being a single place for users to discover and wishlist content. It features a section called Discover, where you can select the streaming services you currently subscribe to, and then search in a single place to see on which platform the content you’re looking for is available.

Discover also provides curated content recommendations based on the services you’re subscribed to, ratings, your friends’ activity, trending lists, genres, and awards. Furthermore, the Plex universal Watchlist feature lets you choose content you want to watch in the future, and it acts as a unified list of titles across streaming services. If a Watchlisted title is not yet on any platform, such as the latest theatrical release, it will notify you when it becomes available to watch.

10 best movies and TV shows to stream on Netflix right now

From the new Netflix original Damsel, to old classics like Gilmore Girls, here’s the best movies and TV shows to check out on Netflix for March 2024.

Be your own Netflix

Let’s now get to the main reason that Plex is so popular and interesting — its media server functionality. As we mentioned, the software lets you create a server where you can store your personal media library. However, that’s a part of the functionality that many other solutions offer. Where Plex excels is the ability to stream your personal files from the server to the Plex app or website, essentially creating your own streaming service with your own movies and TV shows available everywhere in the world.

Apart from streaming your content, Plex also excels at organizing it, and adding metadata such as cast, reviews, subtitles, etc. This lets you not only watch your favorite movies and TV, but also have them neatly organized and always full of trivia and other helpful information.

How to watch all the Star Wars movies and shows in order

May the Fourth be with you. Let’s rewatch the Star Wars universe in celebration. Here’s the best way — plus chronological and release date orders.

What is Plexamp?

Your own music, everywhere

Another Plex service is the Plexamp music player for Plex Media Server users. Even if you don’t have a personal media library, the Plexamp player lets you access the TIDAL music streaming service if you are a subscriber. Plexamp is available without a Plex Pass subscription, and has such features as gapless playback, visualisers, loudness leveling, as well as Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Chromecast, and AirPlay support. With a Plex Pass subscription, however, several additional features are available with Plexamp, such as the ability to download music on remote devices, see lyrics, view artists with a similar sound, and more. You can see the full list of Plexamp features here.

How I discover and transfer music for my Walkman in 2024

Find and download music without the help of algorithms.

How much is Plex?

You really don’t have to pay

With all the features and possibilities that Plex offers, you could expect it to be quite a pricey service. However, it couldn’t be farther from the truth, as you can easily make the best out of the platform for completely free, with some optional payments available.

Starting with Plex’s streaming service, it’s an ad-supported video-on-demand platform with free movies and TV shows, apart from offering a free live TV service. That means you don’t have to pay anything for all the content there, but you will be required to watch some advertisements now and again. A Plex Pass premium subscription is also available, starting from $5 a month, with additional features and access.

To note, Plex Pass does not offer any additional streaming content to users — the exact same content is available on the free tier. It will also not get rid of the ads while streaming, so if you’re using Plex as your streaming platform of choice, getting a Plex Pass is not that useful.

How to get Apple Music for free

Free Apple Music subscription deals are few and far between, but I’ve found a few actually decent offers available so you can start listening today.

What do you get when buying PlexPass?

All the goodies for subscribers

The Plex Pass is meant primarily for Plex Media Server users, giving them additional features to stream and manage their content. One of the main Plex Pass features is the ability to stream your Plex Media Server onto Android and iOS devices, but you can also pay a one-time $5 fee to access your media server files there. Remote access is free on devices such as Smart TVs, desktop apps, web apps, and game consoles. You can also share your server with friends and family, allowing them to access your content. Plex Pass also lets you download your media server content onto other devices, and then access those files on the go, even without an internet connection.

Plex Pass also offers DVR features if you have an antenna and a supported TV tuner connected to your server. Such a setup will let you record broadcast TV to consume later. Other Plex Pass features include video and music enhancement, sharing access management, skipping intros and credits, as well as hardware transcoding to leverage the hardware capabilities of your server device for smoother remote playback. You can check out all the benefits of the Plex Pass subscription on the company site.

Netflix on Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max Feb 2023

How to download Netflix movies and shows to watch offline

Going on a long trip with no internet? Here’s how to take your Netflix movies and shows with you, whether you’re using a phone, tablet, or laptop.

How to use Plex?

Being your own streaming service has never been this easy

You don’t need to create an account to watch on-demand video or live TV on Plex. Visit this page, and start browsing (and watching). However, making a free account is recommended if you want such features as a universal Watchlist, choosing your subscribed streaming services, getting curated recommendations, and playback synchronization across devices. To create your Plex account, visit the homepage to sign up.

On the other hand, setting up your own Plex Media Server is a bit more involved, as you’ll need a dedicated storage solution. You can use either a supported Network Attached Storage (NAS) device or a desktop/laptop that you intend to keep on and turn it into a server. More details on how to set up a Plex Media Server can be found on the company site.

How to get a Disney+ subscription for free

While the days of free trials are over at Disney, you can still snag a free subscription a few different ways.

What devices support Plex?

Watch everywhere, on anything

Even though Plex is very convenient and includes a lot of features, its success — especially when it comes to the media center features — is mostly due to the almost universal availability of the software. Whether you’re using a smart TV, a smartphone, or almost any other device, there is a dedicated Plex app that you can easily download and start streaming your content. Here are all the supported devices you can use to watch Plex content:

Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Safari
Android
iOS
iPadOS
macOS
Windows
Linux
LG, Samsung, Hisense, VIZIO, and Roku TV Smart TVs
Amazon Alexa
Amazon Fire TV
Android TV
Apple TV
Chromecast
Portal from Facebook
Roku
Sonos
PlayStation consoles
Xbox consoles

If you want to take advantage of the media server capabilities, here are the devices that you can use to set up your server and start streaming content: