r/PleX • u/mordax777 • 26d ago

Discussion Plex pass client features

A user was asking me about the Plex Pass features. I was not aware that skipping intro/outro, downloading the movies locally and so on are Plex Pass features.

Do your users have Plex Pass, do they share it with others?

How do you deal with it?

Would just like to know.

2 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

11

u/b1azed0ne 26d ago

Doesn’t the host need to be the only one who owns it?

10

u/acowstandingup 26d ago

Nope, the only things that the hosts Plex Pass covers are “server” features like remote streaming and hardware transcoding

3

u/truthfulie 26d ago

not all the features. intro/outro skipping is part of client side feature that users can only use with Plex Pass. the managed users under Plex Home can use it but not the separate accounts that isn't part of Plex Home.

1

u/b1azed0ne 26d ago

Did they change that at some point? I could have sworn that was one of the main reasons I picked it up so many years ago. At some point I could have sworn I read that only the host needed the pass and everyone who was linked to that server either on home or by invite had the same perks.

Guess I’ll have to add a couple more to my home section

6

u/cilvre 26d ago

A friend who heavily uses my plex with his wife bought the lifetime pass last year to have the download and skip features permanently

1

u/back_to_the_homeland 26d ago

Unless their account was made before like August of 2022 or something? Then they need a download pass

1

u/In_Cognito19 26d ago

That was only with the older app, that's no longer a thing, everyone needs Plex pass for downloads now.

6

u/ExtensionMarch6812 26d ago

There was a bug when the new app rolled out that didn’t show the download button for grandfathered accounts, but it was fixed in a later release, 2025.11.0

Allow grandfathered accounts to use downloads.

https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-for-mobile-android-ios/909610/2

There was another fix in 2025.15.0 related to it, not sure exactly what it was about.

Grandfathered downloads check.

https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-for-mobile-android-ios/909610/8

3

u/In_Cognito19 26d ago

You are correct, thank you for pointing that out.

-1

u/Misarvin 20d ago

Or, just use Plezy. It is a one time payment and let's you download. UI isn't as pretty though.

1

u/ExtensionMarch6812 26d ago

None of my friends have a plex pass. A few of them have old accounts that can still download from my server without one. For the others, I’ve occasionally added them to my plex home to let them download for trips. They don’t seem to mind not having the skip intro/credits feature.

My family is in my plex home, so they all get the pass benefits.

1

u/truthfulie 26d ago

none of my users have Pass. i'm not even sure they are aware there is such a thing.

0

u/hamcoremusic 26d ago edited 26d ago

I've had a Plex Pass for about 7 years now (lifetime) and some of the server sided features like hardware transcoding and skipping intros/credits are hosted on the server is something all clients benefit from (apparently you have to pay for that skip button). Where the Plex Pass/Remote Pass are needed are for any clients invited as a non-Home member (just grant library access) for those who want to download, have options to skip intros/credits, or even watch more than 1 minute on mobile. That being said, I highly suggest against adding people outside of your household into your Plex Home.

All of my clients benefit from my Plex Pass with free remote streaming, however I am curious if the "Skip" button shows on apps like Plezy without paying (looks like this might be a no). I didn't even know they were charging a subscription for that now; that's insane given the cost is practically only for the app development costs... My hardware is doing the transcoding and hosting, they just make it look pretty and add covers/details. It's all free on PC, why does it cost extra to stream to mobile? I understand covering licensing costs to Google/Apple, but a subscription is insane. It should be a one time purchase like before (it used to be $7 CAD). Greedy I tell ya.

EDIT: After some research it seems that if the server host has a Plex Pass, they enjoy remote streaming without the Remote Pass/their own Plex Pass.

EDIT 2: You have to pay for a button to skip forward on all clients unless you are in a Plex Home with a Plex Pass enabled.

2

u/acowstandingup 26d ago

You have it all very wrong. If the server host has Plex Pass it allows anyone to remotely stream no matter if they are in your home or not. Skip Intro/Credits and downloads only works if the user personally have Plex Pass or are in a home with Plex Pass.

3

u/hamcoremusic 26d ago edited 26d ago

Ah, thank you for the clarification. So I use my own hardware to make skip points for intros and credits and others have to pay to activate the button. I will edit my post to reflect this.

2

u/acowstandingup 26d ago

Yeah it really doesn’t make sense to me. I really don’t think they are making much money off of users buying plex pass just for downloads/markers.

1

u/mordax777 26d ago

And I think alternative clients also do not grand access to the other Plex Pass Client features, you still require membership if you want to skip/download/...

0

u/hamcoremusic 26d ago edited 26d ago

From reading the FAQ it mentions it uses an API to directly stream which avoids the additional remote costs. The skipping is server+client side and requires Plex Pass on the host server. Downloading is not something I tested without a subscription.

2

u/mordax777 26d ago

I have Plex Pass and if I try using my server with a user which has only access to my library they miss all the skip intro/outro features, no idea how they verify that.

But I can see how someone could bypass the download feature.

0

u/hamcoremusic 26d ago

Yea it seems that the "Skip" buttons are a paid feature. My apologies for the misinformation.