Plex and Emby. Why not free?

[flying_squid]

Why do these services want to charge me to run MY media from MY server to MY device. I just want to stream things from my computer to my phone or tv etc. most of the time within my own network. Is there a way I can do this for free? I don't always want to watch things on my pc and this allows others on my network to watch movies on their devices.

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

Those services are companies like any other, and if they make a product they like to get paid for it.

Anyway, there are free alternatives, though with varying levels of support and features of course. It's possible you've already got one installed, VLC player. Did you know it originally stood for VideoLan Client? That name became deprecated once they started adding features, such as a streaming server. You can access that from the Media Menu, Stream..., and go from there.

The UI isn't the friendliest, but again, free. And it does support various interfaces, for instance you can code your own interface in Lua and operate it over Telnet. Here's a list of supported features:

http://www.videolan.org/streaming-features.html

And if you decide it's too much hassle, there are companies out there who've already done all that for you, albeit for a price.

 

[USAFRet]

Why do these services want to charge me to run MY media from MY server to MY device.

Because people that make these things like to eat?

As above, look into VLC.

 

[galdur]

Why do these services want to charge me to run MY media from MY server to MY device. I just want to stream things from my computer to my phone or tv etc. most of the time within my own network. Is there a way I can do this for free? I don't always want to watch things on my pc and this allows others on my network to watch movies on their devices.

i installed plex media server resently.
i use a browser on my other 2 computer and my tablet and my phone. they work fine and are free ? chrome . firefox. for example. i tried the app on android and windows phone. it is not free.
about 10 people connects to my computer to use the plex server . i have no subscription with plex.
none of them pays anything. they use all kinds of devices to play the media. from ps3 ps4 smart tv . browsers. and so on. computers , phones tv ?
what apps are you using ? that request to pay ?

 

[flying_squid]

Why do these services want to charge me to run MY media from MY server to MY device. I just want to stream things from my computer to my phone or tv etc. most of the time within my own network. Is there a way I can do this for free? I don't always want to watch things on my pc and this allows others on my network to watch movies on their devices.

i installed plex media server resently.
i use a browser on my other 2 computer and my tablet and my phone. they work fine and are free ? chrome . firefox. for example. i tried the app on android and windows phone. it is not free.
about 10 people connects to my computer to use the plex server . i have no subscription with plex.
none of them pays anything. they use all kinds of devices to play the media. from ps3 ps4 smart tv . browsers. and so on. computers , phones tv ?
what apps are you using ? that request to pay ?

I've used both plex and Emby Android apps. I have found that going through the browser in my phone works free, but when I go on the app it's asks for either plex pass subscription or Emby premium

 

[galdur]

i looked at the plex website for apps. this is about the first thing i looked for when i started to use plex.
"Available anywhere. stream all of your media to all your devices. anytime anywhere.with the same beautiful experience on all of them.(iOs Android and Windows apps require a one time unlock fee for full playback if you do not have a Plex Pass"