this post was submitted on 29 May 2025
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Text:

I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in Account Settings or using this page.

Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/ (Might have to clear cache)

Can also read about the changes here: https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/

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[–] Soliae@lemm.ee 90 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Jellyfin is the way. Costs nothing other than the hardware needed and nobody is selling anything about you.

Our personal streaming library with Jellyfin is bigger than any public service and we can add to it from VHS, DVD, Blueray, though extra equipment was required for the VHS/Blueray.

It’s also available anywhere we go and we can set up separate accounts for different family members. There’s even a phone app.

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[–] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 82 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners

That is a honey pot rights holders will be falling over themselves to pay Plex for access to once they hear about it.

Been telling anyone that would listen that they need to get out of Plex since they implemented that first iteration of trying to require you to sign into your own self hosted server with a Plex.tv account. They were telegraphing what direction they were going in with that kind of user hostile move.

Lots of responses about how it was easy to get around so no big deal (or worse that they liked it for some coping mechanism reason) and that nothing else was as easy and feature rich as Plex so it was worth it.

Well now a few years down the road from that they are now going to use that beach head on everyone's Plex server they can to collect what is being watched and sell it to the highest bidder.

[–] Genius@lemmy.zip 23 points 1 week ago

Boy am I glad I just switched to Jellyfin

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[–] Xanza@lemm.ee 68 points 1 week ago (29 children)

Seeing the replies in this thread it kinda makes me wonder what Plex actually has to do for these zealots to quit using their platform.

Like do they literally have to steal naked pictures of you and pass them around the office? Like wtf.

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[–] mwalimu@baraza.africa 63 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It is as if it is a general rule at this point that centralization breeds corruption. No matter how many statements people make early on in social engagements, centralization leads them to screw people depending on these systems. When making long term commitment to anything, check if it is centralized or how easy it is to unshackle yourself from it.

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[–] CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world 53 points 1 week ago (13 children)

Me eating 🍿 and reading the comments of Plex users arguing with Jellyfin users, while myself being a user of Kodi which has it's own problems..

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[–] rfr_Foglia@feddit.it 52 points 1 week ago (64 children)

Can someone clue me in on the reason why anyone would prefer Plex instead of Jellyfin?

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 57 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

There are a LOT of pros and cons.

Pros:

  • Developed by a professional, multi-disciplined full-time team with some security oversight.
  • Hosted caching of The Movie DB for faster lookups
  • Provision of SSL communication to and from your server without any special setup
  • FREE EPG data caching
  • Centralized server management from the web
  • Low-speed relay for those stuck behind CGNAT.
  • A REALLY solid mobile audio*** player (sorry, but plexamp beats the pants off the JF alternatives)
  • Centralized Login for your friends and family with email-based password reset
  • 2FA already set up
  • A nice reflector gauge to see if your* ports are open and what your limits are
  • Great client support on a LOT of devices
  • Search is fast out of the box, even with extensive collections
  • Their clients tend to do a better job supporting all the decoding features on every player
  • Very reasonable Tuner support (but somewhat ugly) **

Cons:

  • Not free
  • Not Open
  • They have a lot of your historical data and will eventually sell it when they sell the company. This is not going to be optional. That data is worth a lot and they likely already have enough EULA rights to sell it to whoever asks. Imagine if the MPAA gets in on the fun.
  • Their security history is quite dicey
  • The lifetime membership will eventually be enshitified as it's not economically sound in the long run
  • They constantly change the terms of the agreement.
  • They constantly remove features people are using
  • They constantly push to share data between users
  • They constantly push Ads
  • They are making previously free features pay.
  • Their investors are starving, which makes them a liability.
  • Their clients are generally slower.

edit: * a word ** forgot to shout out for the tuner support *** replaced media with audio for clarity

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[–] Seefoo@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago (8 children)

This is specifically related to watching their free content. You can opt out of the sale & sharing of said data, which is used to play you targeted ads when watching their free content. I am not a big fan, but this is the typical "free" TV spiel. Was there something that changed recently or is it just being recognized now?

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[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 35 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Aww come on guys, my JF boner can only handle so much /s

Seriously though, why did they even give you the option to disagree, you know they're just going to force it 3-6 months.

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[–] Zink@programming.dev 35 points 1 week ago (17 children)

I’ve had a lifetime plex pass for several years. Once I tried Jellyfin a few months ago it was all over. My “I’ll run both just in case” period lasted a week or two.

The downside is that Jellyfin will take more setup on your end, especially if you want to let other people connect securely to your server.

The upside is performance and responsiveness. Once I started using it I decided Plex had to go, even if I have to drive to each family member’s house to fix their shit. It was like moving between Linux and Windows, as far as one being designed to work and the other being designed to satisfy dozens of corporate KPIs.

Fortunately the setup for the end user is just as simple once your server is good to go. They just need URL, login, and password.

And since it’s all open source, there’s some fun diversity in clients. I use Finamp specifically for music, and there are audiobook focused ones.

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[–] moseschrute@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago (16 children)

Just downloaded Jellyfin! Been a Plex user for years. Noticed they’ve stated to add a lot of crap to the Plex interface. I just want to stream my media library. I’m a little disappointed that Jellyfin doesn’t have a native Apple TV app, but SenPlayer looks really nice and their price model is a one time fee. So no subscriptions!

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[–] unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 33 points 1 week ago

best bet for your home theater PC is STILL old computer parts with high capacity storage

[–] insight06@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago (5 children)

For those who aren't quite ready to delete their accounts get, this link buried on their privacy page can let you opt out: https://www.plex.tv/vendors-us

Not sure why "us" is in the URL, I'm in Canada

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[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Selling IP address info. Huh.

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[–] Sunny@slrpnk.net 30 points 1 week ago

also: water is wet.

[–] dantheclamman@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (30 children)

I think people feel loyalty to Plex and I understand why. I even understand why they're charging for self-hosting considering their costs of delivering the dynamic DNS, software development, content info, etc. But being closed source, VC funded, and with their core product an increasingly small part of their business, it's all a powerful recipe for enshittification. Tech Altar has talked before about how enthusiast brands often betray their users. Jellyfin was not a trivial set up for remote access, but I've really been happy with it, and I like having the peace of mind of having control over how it works

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[–] Suavevillain@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I miss when you could use something without it turning into spyware. Jellyfin it is then.

[–] PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk 26 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I might actually have to switch to Jellyfin then...

I say that as a paying plex pass customer

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

If you're watching their "free" content and agree to that box...

The title made it seem waaaaay worse than what the screenshot actually says

[–] frezik@midwest.social 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

"Hashed emails". Besides the fact that they can match up a hash from one source to a hash from another source to link them to the same person (they never said they'd salt them), emails often have enough predictability to break the hash. Assuming they all end in "@gmail.com", "@outlook.com", or "@yahoo.com" will get you the vast majority of emails out there. Unlike a good password scheme, people don't shove a lot of random data into their email addresses.

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[–] Scrollone@feddit.it 25 points 1 week ago (5 children)

It's interesting to see the different kind of comments here and on Redshit.

Here, people are smart and they are switching to Jellyfin. On Redshit, if people mention Jellyfin in a comment they get downvoted right away.

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[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

Man Plex when fully enshitified FAST!

[–] disconnectikacio@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Stopped using plex, replaced with jellyfin

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[–] stellargmite@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

Thanks for the headsup. This is the final push I needed. Been running Jellyfin for 6months or so but need to put more time into it. Plex has been great, and I’ve also been paying (though felt a little conflicted) a sub which I’m willing to do if it keeps a worthwhile project on an honest trajectory aligning with my needs and restrictions, for a good service or product. However they're now doing exactly why I started on the self hosting path. Who’s to say the third party is jot going to be a heavy handed industry body, corrupt authority , let alone the problematic world of adsales? They’re walking a very strange line and seem very confused about their purpose. Other than the all ruining ‘growth’. Seeya plex.

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