Plex's Lifetime Subscription Is Getting First Price Hike In 10 Years And It's A Big One

It looks like 2025 it will be a year of big changes for Plex, which is one of the top choices for those looking to host and stream their own media. Just last month the company announced that it’s going to be removing its incredibly popular Watch Together feature as it revamps the software’s code base. Now, it’s informing subscribers that some pricing changes are on the way.

In order to get the most features available users need to sign up for Plex Pass, which is available with monthly, yearly or lifetime tiers. Currently, users pay $4.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $119.99 for the lifetime plan. However, all three tiers will see a price increase. Users will soon be charged $6.99 a month, $69.99 a year, or $249.99 for lifetime access.

The company says these price increases are necessary to keep up with rising costs. It also laid out its roadmap, so users get a sense of the value they’ll be getting from Plex this year, likely to lessen the sting of needing to pay these higher prices. New features include integration with Common Sense Media to better help parents, a new server management app that will be available on both the web and mobile clients, alongside a more open API for server integrations.

There is a silver lining with these new prices, well, as much of a silver lining as there can be when having to pay more. So long as the user who runs the server is a Plex Pass subscriber, all other users can stream from remote devices for free regardless of whether they’re paying or not. With the current pricing scheme, users who weren’t subscribers needed to pay a one time fee in order to watch a remote stream on a mobile device. There will also be a new Remote Watch Pass for those who access a server from someone who doesn’t have a Plex Pass subscription, which will cost $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.

The new pricing will take effect starting April 29. For anyone interested in running their own Plex server, it might not be a bad idea jumping in with the monthly plan to see if it’s worth pouncing on the lifetime membership before it spikes in price.