My coworkers are giving up on Plex. I’m still sticking with it for these 4 important reasons

Sydney Butler

Tue, June 30, 2026 at 12:01 PM UTC

Illustration of a clapperboard, a popcorn bucket, and a drink cup, along with the Plex and Jellyfin logos. — Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek | Sem_Sem/ Shutterstock

Plex has been around since 2008, forking from a macOS XBMC port, which is, of course, today's Kodi. I haven't been on the Plex train since day one, but it has been over a decade at this point, and it was my first go at self-hosting streaming media in my home.

I've seen my colleagues split off and opt for Emby , Jellyfin , and the aforementioned Kodi, but I still haven't felt the urge to leave Plex behind, despite some questionable decisions by the powers that be at Plex. Maybe it's because Plex hasn't annoyed me enough to make the effort, but I actually think there are a few things keeping me on the Plex side of the fence.

Plex is still the easiest way to build a personal streaming service

It feels like an old glove

I've watched the installation process for the alternatives and the setup procedure to get your media library ready to stream, and it seems more involved than Plex for no real reason. I am, of course, biased, because I've already set up my media library, and at this point I'm just adding or removing a show or movie here and there. If my little mini PC Plex server had a drive failure tomorrow and I was starting from zero anyway, maybe I'd be happier to experiment.

However, even without taking that into account, it's tough to deny that Plex has the most polished interface. It's easy to forget that when I open Plex on my Apple TV, I'm accessing a media library that I'm hosting myself and not a commercial service like Netflix or Disney Plus. For the most part, it looks and feels like the big boys and not the scrappy open-source underdogs.

Remote streaming just works

I'm scared to mess with it

Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek | Hamara/ Shutterstock

To be clear, Plex remote streaming didn't always work for me, but that was entirely my fault . Once I fixed the problem on my own network, the feature became completely bulletproof. Honestly, I don't want to mess with something that works so well. Additionally, other options, like Jellyfin, don't have Plex's cloud infrastructure to relay the connection from the greater internet.

This means there's more manual work compared to Plex, and some potential security issues if you misconfigure things. It's worth reading our friend Samir Makwana over at XDA's guide on how to set up Jellyfin remote streaming without exposing things to the internet you shouldn't.

The app ecosystem is hard to beat

It's the client experience that matters

Plex app icon on an Apple TV — Justin Duino/How-To Geek

One area where Plex still enjoys a significant advantage is device support.

Virtually every screen in my house can run Plex. Smart TVs, streaming boxes, game consoles, smartphones, tablets, web browsers, and desktop computers all have mature Plex applications available.

Just as importantly, those apps are generally consistent. Someone using Plex on a Roku can quickly figure out the interface on a Samsung TV, Apple TV, Android phone, or web browser.

The client situation for the alternative media hosting platforms isn't nearly as rosy. Often the client is either absent or made by an unaffiliated third party.

If I were the only person using this setup, that would be fine. Heck, I use a third-party Plex client on Kodi for my retro CRT-based streaming setup, and I can easily get over the lack of polish or small bugs. However, the idea of exposing my wife or my other family members to an eclectic mix of apps and workarounds to access the media on my server gives me a horrible tech-support PTSD flashback.

No alternative has convinced me to switch completely

The strongest argument for staying with Plex may simply be that none of the alternatives have persuaded me to leave. Imagine that you rent an apartment or a house, and you've been living there for some time. It's getting a little run-down, and the landlord isn't the best in the world, but they're the devil, you know. You're still living comfortably, and the idea of moving house and all the effort and risk it entails is unappealing.

Things will have to get a lot worse before you're ready to make the leap. I'm happy with the small subscription fee I pay every month, and I think it's worth the specific premium features it gets me. If I could no longer justify that fee, I could still live without those features and be happy enough not to move.

Jellyfin is excellent and has made tremendous progress. I fully understand why many users prefer its open-source approach and lack of subscription fees. If Plex disappeared tomorrow, Jellyfin would probably be my first choice. For now, however, the (completely legitimate) benefits these other options have over Plex aren't enough for me to live with the compromises.

Check out Yahoo's latest streaming advice, based on hands-on testing.

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