Tonight’s Your Last Chance to Dodge the $750 Lifetime Plex Pass Hike

If you’ve been on the fence about making a long-term commitment to your Plex Media Server, today is decision day — it’s your last chance to lock in a lifetime Plex Pass for “only” $250.

We put that in quotes, as that price is already nearly twice what it was a mere 14 months ago. However, it’s going to get a lot worse in only a few short hours.

As we shared last month, Plex is tripling the price of a Lifetime Pass tonight. Technically, the increase is scheduled to go into effect on July 1 at 12:01 a.m. UTC, but for those of us on this side of the globe, that’s today, June 30, at 8:01 p.m. ET or 5:01 p.m. PT.

In other words, you can buy a Lifetime Plex Pass now for $250 — or in four hours for $750.

If you think that price sounds insane, you’re not alone. When it announced the price increase last month, it said it actually “considered eliminating the Lifetime Plex Pass” entirely. However, it seems the company decided to set a high enough bar to actively discourage new Lifetime Plex Pass subscribers instead — while also scheduling it far enough in advance to draw in a few eleventh-hour signups.

While I’m by no means recommending you rush out and buy a Lifetime Plex Pass in a panic, it’s not a bad price if you’ve gotten value out of the service, and feel you’ll continue to do so over the next few years.

In a sea of companies that have tried to squirm out of lifetime subscriptions, Plex stands out as a rare gem for honoring its Lifetime Plex Pass; a person who signed up for $75 ten years ago has the same perks as someone signing up today for $250, so while none of us has a crystal ball, you can remain reasonably confident that “lifetime” means “lifetime” — at least for as long as Plex remains in business.

In case there was any doubt, Plex has made it absolutely clear that “All current Lifetime Plex Pass holders will continue to have access to all benefits and perks associated with a Plex Pass,” and that nothing will change for those customers.

By contrast, while Plex isn’t changing the price of its recurring subscriptions yet, there’s no guarantee that won’t happen down the road. Today, you can get a one-year Plex Pass for $70, but it could be twice that by the time it renews. After all, nothing is safe in a world where even Apple just dramatically raised its legendarily stable prices, and it’s become clear over the past few years that Plex has been trying to find ways to increase its revenue. Monthly and annual subscriptions are the best way to do that.

Even if we could be 100 percent confident that Plex will honor its Lifetime Plex Pass, you’re still placing a bet on the company’s longevity. A $250 Plex Pass today is essentially a 3.5-year bet — or less if the annual rates go up — which isn’t unreasonable. However, it makes far less sense to drop $750 on the hope that the company will still be around a decade from now.

Either way, if you’re a Plex fan and you’re willing to roll those dice, you have a few more hours to lock in a Lifetime Plex Pass at the current $250 price. After that, it’s a choice between a staggering $750 one-time purchase or $70 a year or more for as long as you plan to keep using it.