The Plex personal media server had long allowed remote streaming for free users. The company announced back in March that this would in future require a paid Plex Pass subscription, which was set to come into effect from the end of April.
The company initially hadn’t appeared to enforce the new rule, but it appears that it is now starting to do so, with the Roku app first in the firing line …
Plex completely revamped its app late last year and since then has seemed keen to monetize its efforts, both by increasing the cost of the Plex Pass and persuading more people to take out a paid subscription. At the end of April, monthly subscriptions rose by $1, annual subscriptions by $20, and lifetime subscriptions more than doubled in cost.
But the more controversial change was that for the first time, remote streaming became a paid feature. This either required the owner of a Plex server to have a Plex Pass subscription or remote users to purchase a new Remote Watch Pass.
While the company didn’t initially appear to be enforcing this, Wired reports that this has now changed, with the Roku OS app first to be affected.
Plex’s new rules took effect on April 29. According to a recent Plex forums post by a Plex employee that How-To Geek spotted today, the changes are rolling out this week, with a subscription being required for people using Plex’s Roku OS app for remote access.
The Plex employee added: “This requirement change for remote streaming will come to all other Plex TV apps (Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, etc.) and any third-party clients using the API to offer remote streaming in 2026.”
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