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Comment on Plex is locking remote streaming behind a subscription in April

yarr@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

I keep a Jellyfin instance running as a hedge. Here’s the thing with Plex (and actually a lot of companies set up similarly): those “lifetime” memberships are a trap. Think about it: Plex gets your money ONCE but they have ongoing expenses. Sooner or later, they’ll have spent every single cent made by a lifetime membership unless they either get more folks OR squeeze everyone a bit more.

Once they started adding their own shows and making strange UI decisions, I could sense the end was coming. A move like this brings it up fast. Jellyfin is not nearly as good as Plex in a lot of ways, but it’s really Open Source.

Anyway, a lot of rambling, but in short: when there is a “lifetime” subscription, watch out!

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waitmarks@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Yes, it’s one thing to offer a lifetime subscription early on to get a large cash infusion and reward early adopters, but it’s a big red flag if they don’t get rid of the lifetime subscription eventually. What will happen is one by one, the people that use the service the most will switch to lifetime and your cash flow will dwindle. Eventually the only people left on the month to month are the casual users who don’t use it very often and will leave as soon as a price increase happens.

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- Toribor@corndog.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  This is my exact concern.
  
  If I pay for the lifetime pass now, what’s to stop them from restricting even more features behind new types of subscriptions and paywalls. “We’re adding back the ‘Watch Together’ feature but it requires a Platinum Plex subscription and will not be a part of Plex Lifetime Pass users.”
  
  Seems kind of inevitable honestly.
  
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  - Ushmel@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I’ve been waiting for this moment for like 8+ years though. I’ll just switch when it becomes more obvious.
    
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- yarr@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  I don’t think they necessarily have to get rid of it, it’s just that you can’t support a company ALONE from a one time infusion.
  
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Renohren@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Pcloud will probably go this way.

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