Selfhosted

pretty much the only reason I still use Plex is because I like to be able to watch stuff during downtime at work and plex.tv isn't blocked on the work network while my private domain is.

And no, using a hotspot off my phone on a personal computer isn't an option, both because the security requirements of my job site prevent us from using personal devices in the main area where I work and because the building itself is a massive concrete structure that blocks most cell signals.

Donations isn’t going to cover the hunger of a 40 million dollar VC round. Those investors want more than a return, they want plex profitable ASAP

So what is the move for them?

Plex has a two-pronged VOD service. They have ad-supported "live television" and they have content to rent.

I don't know if that's enough to sustain them but I don't really care. I've been a PlexPass owner for over ten years. I have only asked that they resolve bugs and made requests for things like proper organization of classical music (which they've explicitly stated they will not consider).

You do bring to light something I hadn't considered; that they see Plex as a business model. From my perspective, I want to buy a fully developed product with the expectation of bug fixes and security patches etc over time. I genuinely can not think of a single thing the developers have added to the service that I've used in the past ten years.

So, what kind of business model charges money to do things that don't have an apparent impact on the user experience?

Plex has been one of my most used applications in the past decade. However, it has its limitations and they are actively imposing more limitations on the experience in favor of "a sustainable business model".

The issue is that their sustainable business model is interrupting the users' sustained use of a platform they've already paid for. I've had to go through all of my devices and disable all auto-updates to ensure I do not get the "New Plex Experience".

What we should be asking is why "selling a product" is no longer a business model.

There are a few ways Plex could have played this:

1. By attrition. Stop the sale of plex pass, but leave those users and their access alone. New sign-ups get new rules about features/$.
2. By using some of their revenue to paywall Premium features, keep a cut-down but functional version for non-paying plebs. It doesn't have to be all-or-nothing, even for streaming outside your network (which you could cap at X number of hours per month)
3. Start making Plex features a-la-carte, meaning, $2/mth for HDR, 4$ for streaming, etc. Or bundles.

The point is there are lots of companies who do this right and don't have such a blatant disregard for the user. In the long run, this will not help Plex, it will help other streaming service helpers who are actually willing to respect users.

I know you're not defending Plex and I acknowledge that. However, I see a lot of "How are they supposed to make their money?" arguments here, hence my description above of just a few models Plex could have chosen instead of f**king the customer.

My guess is they have VLANs and they didn’t set up the server to treat them as local traffic.

Considering both Plex and Tailscale are going toward VC exits, Headscale and Jellyfin is the only FOSS way atm.

yet