Plex Prices Soaring? Meet Jellyfin + TerraMaster - the New Power Duo for Media Enthusiasts

Plex’s Price Hike Sparks Change – Why You Should Reconsider Your Media Server

In April 2025, Plex announced a doubling of its lifetime membership price to $249.99, with monthly fees rising from $4.99 to $6.99 and annual fees jumping from $39.99 to $69.99. Remote streaming now requires either a Plex Pass or a newly introduced "Remote Watch Pass," leading users to question: "Am I paying extra to access my own files?"

For NAS users, the essence of a private media library lies in full control. However, Plex’s reliance on its backend for login deviates from the original "self-hosted" ethos. As Plex shifts toward streaming services, ads and bloated features increasingly clash with user needs. Meanwhile, Jellyfin, a completely free, open-source, ad-free platform, has rapidly gained traction with its "user sovereignty" philosophy. As its slogan states: "Your media, your server, your way"—Jellyfin emerges as the ideal alternative.

Jellyfin’s Advantages – Free, Open, and Flexible Media Server

As a dark horse in the open-source arena, Jellyfin offers robust media management without subscription constraints:

Feature-Rich:
Server/client support, hardware acceleration, 4K playback/transcoding, AV1/H.265/HEVC decoding, metadata scraping, music management, web radio, subtitles, intro-skipping, Dolby audio, parental controls, and more.

Fully Free:
No subscriptions, no feature locks, no price hikes. Users can freely inspect and modify the code.

Privacy-First:
Data remains entirely local, with no cloud sync or third-party tracking.

Highly Customizable:
Plugin support (e.g., LDAP, Open Subtitles), customizable playback settings, and personalized tweaks.

Cross-Platform Compatibility:
Built on .NET Core, Jellyfin works seamlessly on Windows, Linux, Docker, and major NAS systems (e.g., TerraMaster’s TOS).

Biggest Drawback?
Remote access requires manual setup (e.g., VPN or Tailscale). However, a growing community and abundant tutorials have lowered the technical barrier, enabling users to configure once and enjoy free media services indefinitely.

TerraMaster – The Perfect Hardware Partner for Jellyfin

While Jellyfin excels, its performance relies on robust hardware. Take TerraMaster’s new U4-500 as an example:

Seamless Decoding:
Equipped with an Intel Core i3-1215U processor and Intel UHD Graphics, it delivers 4K random read/write speeds of up to 450MB/s. Its robust 4K video decoding capability seamlessly supports uPnP/DLNA protocols, and when paired with Jellyfin, effortlessly streams videos to various multimedia devices.

High-Speed Transfer:
Features two 10GbE copper-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, providing up to 20Gbps data transfer bandwidth for smooth and uninterrupted data transmission.

Scalable Storage:
Supports multiple RAID modes (Single, RAID 0/1/5/6/10, TRAID, and TRAID+). Combined with dual M.2 slots and Hyper Cache acceleration, it significantly enhances storage efficiency for disk arrays, enabling seamless media library expansion. Additionally, when paired with the TerraMaster D6-320, it can add up to 132TB of extra storage capacity to meet growing data demands.

Multi-User Management:
Enables granular permission controls for secure family sharing and controlled guest access.

Enterprise-Grade Security:
TOS offers comprehensive protection, including PAM authentication, OTP two-factor authentication, AES 256 encryption, automatic account lockout, anti-DoS attack protocols, firewalls, and security isolation modes. The newly introduced SPC (Secure Program Control) ensures all executable programs on the system are authorized and legitimate, reducing risks of malicious attacks and safeguarding sensitive data from leaks.

Plex’s pricing reflects corporate strategy, but NAS users have another answer: Jellyfin + TerraMaster NAS. This zero-cost, autonomy-driven duo redefines private media servers, delivering unparalleled audiovisual experiences.