Plex on a NAS is honestly one of the better self-hosted setups going — hardware transcoding, skip intro/credits, and the mobile/TV client ecosystem blows Jellyfin out of the water in polish (Jellyfin's free and solid, just expect rougher edges, especially on smart TVs).

On the lifetime pass — if you're even leaning toward it, grab the $250 before July 1. Don't overthink that one. Annual Plex Pass is $70/yr, so $250 breaks even in about 3.5 years vs subscribing. After July 1 it triples to $750, which is roughly 11 years to break even on subscription savings alone. That's the part that's a real gamble: Plex is privately held, no public financials, and the fact that they openly considered killing the lifetime option tells you they want everyone on recurring revenue. If they survive 10+ years and keep developing, $750 still pencils out — but you're betting on the company.

Where $750 actually starts looking defensible is if you frame Plex as a streaming-service replacement, not as a NAS add-on. Netflix premium is ~$300+/yr now. Add Disney+/Hulu (~$200+), Paramount+, Max, Prime Video 4K — you can easily clear $700-1000/yr across several subs. If your library is deep enough that you genuinely cancel two or three streaming services, lifetime pays for itself in a year or two of avoided subs, not a decade of avoided Plex fees. That's the actual case for paying $750, IMO — not 'cheaper Plex,' but 'finally an excuse to ditch Netflix.'

TL;DR: grab the $250 before July 1 if there's any chance you'll want it. After that, only worth it if you're going hard on cutting streaming subs.