Skip to main content Tom's Guide Tom's Guide Search Tom's Guide View Profile Best Picks Entertainment Technology Magazines Why subscribe? The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From$12.99View Amazon Spring Sale MacBook Air M4 Nintendo Switch 2 Best mattress Wordle Today Entertainment Yikes! Plex is getting a price hike and this key feature is going behind a pay wall Scott Younker 19 March 2025 So long free remote playback When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Plex announced a number of updates today, and the biggest is a price increase of its Plex Pass. It's going from $4.99 to $6.99 a month. The monthly increase is going in effect starting April 29. The subscription levels are also seeing increases with the annual plan rising from $39 to $69. The lifetime plan is leaping from $119.99 to $249.99. These changes will affect new and existing subscribers but if you already paid for a lifetime subscription nothing will change. You may like What streaming costs in 2025: The price of Netflix, Disney Plus, Max and more Netflix announces yet another price hike — here's how much more you'll pay "In order for us to keep up with rising costs and remain committed to ensuring both Plex Pass and our support for personal media continue to thrive—it’s time," Plex said in its announcement post. That price increase is affecting more than just the cost of the subscriptions. Remote Play locked behind paywall (Image credit: Plex) Plex is also pulling a key feature behind the paywall now — remote playback. For a long time if you wanted to share your Plex with family or friends, you could enable remote playback for free. Sign up to get the BEST of Tom's Guide direct to your inbox. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Now, if you don't have a Plex Pass then your friends or family will need to subscribe to a new Remote Watch Pass that costs $1.99 per month or $19.99 a year. "The reality is that we need more resources to continue putting forth the best personal media experience,” Plex says. They are offering a free bonus that might salve some of the price increase wound. Plex is soon going to make it free to stream on a local network from its mobile app without buying Plex Pass or pay the one-time activation fee that removed the one-minute playback limitation on Android and iOS. That is supposed to launch when the rebuilt mobile app goes live later this year. Looking more like a streaming service (Image credit: Plex) The removal of remote play from the free option is disappointing. I run a NAS server with Plex as my media player, and while remote play hasn't been used much for my purposes, it's been nice to have when I needed it. In the last couple of years Plex has been trying to become more akin to standard streaming services. It has added public profiles and social features like Discover Together. This after the service added free movies and shows plus a live TV and DVR option a la Tubi or Freeform. Despite these moves, which has cluttered up the home screen when using Plex, it remains a fairly solid media player. Yup, even in the free version which I currently use. 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