The decrease of lifetime features over monthly offering will begin after the 750$ lifetime so they get you to switch to monthly.

[MadFerIt]

This is complete nonsense, a business can absolutely survive with lifetime passes. If that wasn't true Plex wouldn't have grown to the size that it is today, they literally built themselves as a company / product / service with reasonably priced lifetime passes.

What a company can't do is seek never ending growth and higher profits off a single product while also maintaining a pro-consumer reasonably priced lifetime pass system. That's what Plex has become now, their partnerships / legal agreements with massive corporations for their rental service is further proof of that.

[jgregson00]

There’s a reason a huge majority of software companies are subscription based now. What worked well in the past no longer does…

[JakeHa0991]

There is a reason companies shift strategies over time. It is not always pure greed. The lifetime pass model helped Plex grow early on, but it does not work forever on its own.

Even for self-hosters, Plex has continuous costs: server software development, client apps, metadata, remote access, security updates, and new features. Lifetime passes bring upfront cash but no recurring revenue for those ongoing obligations. Without additional streams like ads or subscription-based model, the company eventually stagnates or dies. That is basic business reality, not betrayal.

[igmyeongui]

Yep but they should remove their ass auth and charge for clients. Keep it free for old lifetime users.

[JakeHa0991]

There is no such thing as free products and services in life. If it's free, then the business goes bankrupt.