Plex, which started as local media server—something to stream movies from your computer to your phone or TV—has evolved into an entire media ecosystem. You can use the free Plex account to watch a library of free movies, discover new TV shows or movies, and create a universal watchlist that spans all popular streaming services. Plex, clearly, is a lot of things—some free, some paid. Let’s break it down.
What is Plex?
Plex’s modular media center starts with a free streaming service of their own. Anyone who has a free account can watch and enjoy a large list of free movies and TV shows. They’ve partnered with Crackle, Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate, and more to provide free movies and TV shows that you might actually want to watch, with a catalog more than 50,000 titles strong.
Plex also has a Live TV feature that lets anyone stream more than 1,000 channels in real time, as well as special channels depending on where you live. (You can find a list of all the channels here.) That said, their collection leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, you’ll find niche kung-fu movies, animes, and comedies to watch, but Plex doesn’t have the catalog to go against a popular streaming service like Netflix, and even their Live TV catalog is lacking. You can use it to catch up on news, but it’s not going to replace a dedicated Live TV service like Sling TV or Hulu, or good old-fashioned cable.
Plex can help you create your own streaming service
Where Plex shines is as a media management platform. It’s a great way to build your own 4K media streaming service, whether local or remote.
Here’s how it works: You set up the Plex app on a PC, Mac, or NAS system where all your movies, TV shows, and music are stored. Then, use their easy-to-use setup guide, and point the Plex app to the folder where the media is saved. Plex will run its wizard, and will show your entire media collection with proper posters, metadata, trailers, and more.
You’ll feel like you have just created your own Netflix app, and it didn’t cost you a dime. Plex has streaming apps for all platforms—as long as the Plex Media Server app is running on your computer, you can use all that media to stream locally on any of your devices. This can be a smart TV, an iPad, or an Android smartphone.
And just like that, for free, you have created a free streaming service that can be used by anyone in your family, and can be shared with other Plex users who are away as well—with it, you can let a friend from the other side of the country watch movies you own. Local streaming of files is effortless, and you can also enable Remote Access to check out your entire collection from anywhere in the world, as long as your home computer is turned on.
Plex also has a paid tier called Plex Pass that adds offline downloads for streaming apps, so you can load up your iPad with movies before heading out, without even connecting it to your computer. With this subscription, you also get premium photos and music options, auto-tagging, lyrics support, and more advanced sharing restrictions for shared users.
Plex Pass costs $4.99 per month, or $39.99 per year, or you can buy it outright for $119.99. As good as the service is, you don’t really need to pay for it, especially if you aren’t going to be using the offline downloads feature often.
Plex lets you create a universal watchlist
Credit: Plex
Universal Watchlist is a relatively new addition to Plex, and it instantly turns it into a streaming hub that connects popular online streaming services with the media you own.
It couldn’t come at a better time. It’s harder than ever to keep track of all the new and interesting TV shows that are coming out. For general use cases, JustWatch is a great option, but if you’re planning to use Plex, their built-in option is added convenience.
On top of that, it’s easy to use. Search for a title in Plex, and use the Bookmark button to add it to the watch list. Right below, Plex will tell you where you can stream, rent, or buy the media. Click on an app and Plex will open that service, with the movie ready to go.
Verdict
If you’re looking for an easy-to-use media center for your own collection of movies and TV shows, Plex is hard to beat. There are other options like Jellyfin that offer more features, such as offline downloads for free. But Plex offers a superior overall package, and the UX is unparalleled in the media center space. The extra features, like Universal Watchlist, make the experience sweeter, but the collection of free media and Live TV channels is still lacking. For more details, check out the PCMag’s full Plex review.
