‘Free’ and ‘streaming’ are two words rarely seen together these days, and many of us spend upwards of £30 each month on the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus.
If you’re trying to cut costs, you might have considered one of the lesser-known free streaming services. Tubi, which boasts 97 million users, is one of these, as well as Pluto TV.
But even more under the radar is Plex. It’s what’s known as a FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) service, meaning it collects shows into a playlist with ad breaks, giving the feel of watching a TV channel.
You can watch on-demand content and stream live TV on Plex too, but it started off as a free media-server software, allowing users to stream content they already own on their computer onto a TV.
According to its website, Plex now boasts 25,000,000 users.
What is Plex?
Plex launched in the late 2000s as a place where users could house their own music or video files. It still does this, and is popular for the way it organises the content in the same way services such as Netflix and Disney Plus do.
In 2019, the app introduced an ad-supported on-demand streaming service and free-to-stream live TV channels.
This means, just like with Tubi and Pluto TV, there are automated ad breaks while streaming on Plex.
It’s completely free, thanks to the revenue generated by the adverts, but there is a paid version of Plex too. The ‘Plex Pass’ costs £4.99 per month (or £49.99 per year and £189.99 for a lifetime pass) and allows users to record content, download content for offline streaming and skip intro credits.
Meanwhile, it costs £1.99 per month or £19.99 per year to be able to stream from anywhere or on any device outside your own home.
Last February Plex added a rental service, meaning users can pay to stream new releases in the app, rather than paying a regular subscription to watch them on Netflix, Apple TV Plus, Prime and the like.
How to watch Plex
Plex can be accessed through a web browser, or you can download the app via your mobile device’s app store, Amazon Fire TV, Android and Apple TV.
When it comes to putting together your own library of downloaded content, you’ll need to set up a Plex Media Server. It sounds complicated, but Plex guides you through the process. All you really need to do is provide the files and it automatically organises your library for you.
If that’s not for you, or you don’t have any of your own downloaded content, you can go ahead and stream the content already provided by Plex straight away.
What to watch on Plex
As for what you can watch, Plex boasts thousands of free, on-demand movies and TV shows and over 600 channels of free, live TV.
The most notable offerings include every episode of Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean, US zombie horror series Z Nation, 11 seasons of paranormal reality show Ghost Hunters, five seasons of Charlie Sheen’s sitcom Anger Management and popular sci-fi series Sanctuary.
There’s also episodes of Baywatch and Kim’s Convenience, while movies that are free to stream include 2004 romcom The Girl Next Door, 90s James Bond parody Austin Powers and 1992 drama Damage, which inspired hit Netflix show Obsession.
Meanwhile, live channels include GB News, Homes Under the Hammer, Tennis+ and a wide variety of crime offerings.
Plex also has a feature called Discover Credits, which allows you to find out more about the cast of the films and TV shows on the service, including their filmography and where you can watch their other roles.
The service has proved popular with users and even has an entire subreddit dedicated to it, where users share advice on how to use Plex.
One Reddit user described it as ‘like Netflix, but for movies/shows you own’, while another echoed ‘I call it DIY Netflix’.
On Amazon, reviewer Fiorina said: ‘From the moment I downloaded Plex onto my Firestick, I was hooked,’ adding ‘the streaming quality is top-notch’.
Chas E wrote: ‘Fantastic app. This works with no problems at all,’ and ItsGherks called it ‘jaw-droppingly good’.
However, some were disappointed with the frequency of the adverts, with Outsiderny complaining of ‘too many adverts that increase once you’re hooked’.
Dillonsauntie pointed out that it’s ‘worth the very annoying and very frequent ads to see things that are difficult or expensive to access elsewhere.’
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