What is Plex? Everything you need to know

What is Plex? Everything you demand to know

Two people are browsing movies and shows on Plex on a tablet

(Image credit: Plex)

Plex fills an important void: streaming services are transitory, while physical media require a lot of hardware. For videophiles who embrace the digital age, simply don't want to tether their railroad vehicle to a proprietary film store, options are limited.

You can lookout every piece of media on your calculator, load upward an external difficult drive or turn to a media server. And for our money, the best media server you can get correct now is Plex. In fact, "for our money" isn't entirely accurate, since the best parts of Plex are absolutely free.

And not only are Plex apps bachelor on the best streaming devices, merely a mastery of Plex volition complement the best Netflix shows and the best Hulu movies.

I've covered Plex a number of times in the past, whether I was lauding its generous gratuitous tier, or explaining how to set up its aggressive live Tv set streaming. Merely up until at present, Tom'due south Guide hasn't had a unproblematic guide for those simply getting their feet wet in Plex's surprisingly deep waters.

Whether you're a video hoarder with hundreds of movies only begging for a media server, or a casual streamer looking for a dissimilar approach, Plex is well worth at least a few hours of your time. Read on to find out exactly what it is, and how yous can make information technology piece of work for you lot.

Plex TV explained

I often refer to Plex as a streaming service, and this is technically true: Plex takes videos stored in a remote location and streams them to a receiver, usually attached to a television. Nevertheless, Plex isn't a streaming service in the same way equally a subscription program like Netflix, or even an à la menu storefront like Vudu.

Instead, Plex is a media server. This ways that you'll provide your own content instead of relying on a big company's library, which usually changes from month to calendar month.

Train to Busan on varying Plex devices — (Paradigm credit: Plex)

While Plex itself can walk you lot through the process of setting upward a media server, information technology works like this: Y'all provide your own video content, and put it in a special binder somewhere on your computer. You directly the Plex software to this folder, and Plex and then makes your computer available as a server. By using the Plex app on another estimator, a mobile device or a streaming gadget plugged into your Telly, y'all tin stream content from your reckoner to another platform of your option.

This is also precisely how streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video deliver video to y'all, but with some actress steps in-between. "The cloud" is really just "a computer somewhere else that'due south always turned on." I'm sorry to be the i to deliver this news.

Granted, media servers are a dime a dozen. Streaming players from the PS4 (but non the PS5) to Roku devices take media server apps congenital in; even Windows Media Player works as a pretty passable media server in a pinch. What sets Plex apart is how well it organizes media, and how pretty the whole interface looks.

While most media servers leave you scrolling through an endless listing of poorly named files, Plex automatically organizes your shows into seasons, complete with title cards and episode descriptions. Information technology tells you who starred in your movies, and tin can even notice lyrics for your music. Information technology makes your own library await just as pretty as anything from Netflix or Disney Plus.

While Plex is primarily a media server, information technology offers a number of other features in both its free and paid tiers. Information technology has an ad-supported streaming service that offers gratuitous movies and TV. (The movies are bang-up; the Television is non.)

Information technology can also evidence you lot popular movies and shows on other free streaming services. Current offerings include some of the Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man movies. Yous can use it to watch news or mind to podcasts. Hook up an Hd antenna and a tuner, and Plex will let you sentry live Tv; add in a hard bulldoze, and Plex works as a DVR platform.

Plex tin can even find actress content for your movies (such equally interviews and deleted scenes) and stream them. Over the past few years, Plex has quietly become one of the very best streaming platforms on the market.

The best Amazon movies for Prime number members

The latest Plex news (updated February. 17)

Plex bugs on the Nvidia Shield TV take been fixed in a new update
Plex added new color schemes in Nov. 2021
Syncing on Plex is at present, more only, Downloads

Plex downloads

Plex is available as both a media server and an app that receives streamed media. You can download both versions from the Plex website.

Plex Pass

Plex is available both as a gratuitous service and a premium tier it calls Plex Pass. While free tier doesn't bill you lot monthly, there's a $5-per-platform activation fee if you want to employ the Plex Android and iOS apps. The Premium tier costs $v per month, $40 per year or $120 for a lifetime pass. If you use Plex a lot, the lifetime pass pays for itself subsequently two years; otherwise, utilize your best judgment.

A man browsing Plex on a tablet — (Image credit: Plex)

It's as well worth pointing out what you tin can become for free, and what you lot tin't. On Plex'southward gratuitous plan, you lot tin host a media server, stream content to whatsoever non-mobile Plex app (computer, streaming actor, game console and smart Goggle box) and watch Plex's ad-supported Television and movies. As stated above, the mobile apps aren't really free, but even if you don't go a Plex Laissez passer Premium subscription, activating one of them costs $5, only once.

Information technology'south entirely conceivable that the free tier will exist plenty for near users, especially since Plex doesn't hide any of its navigation or auto-sorting features behind a paywall. However, the Premium subscription does offer a handful of interesting features.

Plex Live Boob tube

Live TV & DVR functionality is a pinnacle Plex Laissez passer feature, enabling yous to hook up an antenna, tuner and difficult bulldoze at abode, then broadcast it remotely to your Plex account. Plex will fifty-fifty offer a comprehensive guide based on your local listings.

Plex's live TV interface — (Prototype credit: Plex)

It'south amazingly useful — if you like network TV and can't sentry shows equally they air, at whatsoever charge per unit. A Premium subscription besides gets you lot mobile app access (assuming yous haven't already paid to activate them separately), trailers and extras for movies yous own, and lyrics for your vocal library. It's also the only manner to get parental controls on Plex.

In my opinion, the Premium subscription's benefits are relatively small-scale, unless you specifically want live Telly recording. Just the subscription is also not that expensive.

Plex Server for hosting your own content

Hither, nosotros come to the crux of the issue. Plex is a wonderful service, provided that you can bring your own movies, Telly and music to the party. The only question is, where can you get this stuff? About of our TV and movies come streaming these days, and even those that don't usually download in proprietary formats, viewable merely in the app where you purchased them.

A man browses a Plex media server — (Epitome credit: Plex)

First off, music is pretty piece of cake to come by. You can buy and rip CDs, if y'all want to go old-school, or yous tin normally download MP3, WAV or FLAC files from your digital vendor of choice. (iTunes is the obvious exception, but Apple is inappreciably the only game in boondocks anymore.)

Movies and Television set are a slightly thornier issue. A lot of Plex users build their libraries by ripping DVDs they already own. This is not technically legal, especially if your DVD comes with encryption. At the same time, at to the lowest degree ane state court has ruled that ripping DVDs, provided yous don't share the content, counts as Off-white Use. At the very least, we can say that from a applied standpoint, ripping DVDs exclusively for your ain use is unlikely to ruffle any feathers. Based on my enquiry, no private individual has ever gotten in legal trouble for this.

Yous tin also record your own shows from TV, using features similar Plex's Live Telly DVR, or similar services that let you record cable programs. Programs like PlayOn let y'all record programs from streaming services similar Netflix and Hulu. Doing so usually violates the Terms of Service, but it'south not illegal and, again, and so far as I could tell, no ane'southward ever had an business relationship canceled because of information technology, so long as they kept the recordings private.

Of class, far and away the about common way to build a Plex library is just to torrent content. It's not legal, and the ideals are highly questionable, only I would wager that nigh people reading this piece have torrented something at least in one case — possibly just because there was admittedly nowhere else to find the content. Anything beyond that, you tin can pursue at your ain risk.

Bottom line

Since the all-time features on Plex are free, at that place's no barrier to trying it out for yourself. If you need material to fill up your media server, try downloading some public domain movies, and give it a go. Getting a Plex server up and running usually takes less than one-half an hour, and getting an app set up requires even less time than that.

Plex has been one of my favorite streaming services over the past few years, but I've also been able to learn a lot of my own content during that time. If yous don't have a media library to call your own, you may wonder what all the fuss is about — but if you exercise, y'all may wonder what yous ever did without Plex.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom'south Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of scientific discipline and engineering science. Subsequently hours, you lot tin can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.