SaaS
How many times would you have to watch Lord of the Rings to cover that?
Software platform Plex is killing its buy-once-use-forever model with an eye-watering hike of its Lifetime Plex Pass from $249.99 to $749.99.
The increase will take effect on July 1, but does not apply to existing Lifetime Plex Pass holders. The existing monthly and annual subscription pricing for the service is also unchanged, suggesting Plex really would rather you subscribed.
Lifetime Plex Passes used to cost $74.99, before increasing to $149.99 in 2014. It later fell back to $119.99 before jumping to $249.99 in April 2025. Just over a year later, the price is heading to $749.99.
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Plex is used primarily as a media server. Load it up with content and point clients at it. The project has its origins in the Xbox Media Center (XBMC) from which it was forked. The server software runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and several network devices, and the client runs almost everywhere, including iOS and Android devices.
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Remote access to a Plex media server used to be free, but in 2025 Plex shifted that functionality to its paid tiers. Other paid-tier functionality includes hardware transcoding and media file downloads.
"We've considered eliminating the Lifetime Plex Pass," Plex wrote. Considering the hike, it might as well have. An annual subscription costs $69.99, meaning it will take more than a decade before that $749.99 pays off. Unless, of course, Plex increases the subscription cost in the future.
The increase is the latest in a long line of price hikes from media companies, though it is among the most extreme. Plex has made no secret of the fact that "recurring subscriptions help us sustain long-term development" – hence the attempt to make the one-off lifetime payment less attractive.
The jump might be eye-watering, but it also reflects a growing realization across the tech and streaming industries. One-off payments don't cut it anymore and ads aren't enough, so a subscription is the way to go to sustain development.
Although existing Lifetime Plex Pass customers are not affected, the hike highlights how important subscriptions have become across all sectors (we can't see Microsoft weaning itself off Microsoft 365 any time soon) and what "lifetime" actually means. ®