this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025

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173

Tools to migrate from Plex to Jellyfin? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

99 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Given the recent news about Plex soon charging for remote access, I wanted to finish up my switch to Jellyfin.

What tools/methods have you all used to migrate watch history to Jellyfin?

I have a few family members in there, and would like to get everything switched over without resetting their watch history.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

Not the answer to your question but thanks for the reminder to cancel

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I think you're looking for https://github.com/arabcoders/watchstate Watchstate will pull from Plex and migrate it into a Jellyfin instance. Emby is also supported. Works with multiple users as well, just do yourself a favor and make sure all usernames match up!!!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I just used this to migrate from Emby to Jellyfin, works really well. I already have trakt setup on my main account but for my kid nothing goes out to the cloud so their account was all done with watchstate. It was also handy to keep Emby and Jellyfin in sync during the transition.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If someone wants my Lifetime Plex account they can have it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I’ll take it if you haven’t already given it away. This Plex change is not great for me, since I’m using remote access. I’ve got a Jellyfin server too, but I’m finding it less convenient for me, mostly for various nitpick reasons

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[–] [email protected] 99 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

All the folks saying "just buy the lifetime pass" gonna be in for a big disappointment in about 5 years

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (23 children)

If we got 5yr it's more than paid for itself. Even FOSS needs support - stop whining and support good things.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yep. Enshitification behavior doesn't cease once you're technically a paying customer. If they hadn't made a habit of enshitification. Clawing features away to put behind a paywall I'd give them some support. But I prefer foss anyhow. And for myself, I'm not missing anything.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago

Won't take that long before the enshittification is complete.

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[+] [email protected] -23 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Just buy the lifetime Plex Pass before the price hike and you're golden.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

That would probably work, until Plex decides to introduce another subscription tier on top of the lifetime license, and/or demand more money from its paying users. I could totally see them doing that

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

"just give the bully more money and he'll stop bullying"

[+] [email protected] -11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Bully lol. Such hyperbole.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's quite similar scenario. This service is getting shittier to use, so you recommend paying more

[+] [email protected] -9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

It's not getting shittier, they're just asking for you to pay because you haven't been paying. If anything, the service is improving. I paid once and never have to pay again and I'm saving a ton by not needing to pay for Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount, AppleTV etc. etc.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Well, the addition of Plex Movies and Live Channels is certainly shittier.

What’s the reason for $120 to stream my local files to a friend or family member? What exactly does Plex do in this process that would warrant a cost?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

pay the license costs for the codecs your using...

granted... none of us care about that. but thats what they're doing. also developement on the software (for good and bad)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Doesn’t the player itself handle the codecs, not the Plex Media Server?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Transcoding...

Since Plex is distributing software that can re-encode video, the codecs that comes with the software must be licensed for many of the codecs.

Here's an article that covers some of the shenanigans around h264... Now realize there's at least a dozen others as well that are likely just as screwy. https://jina-liu.medium.com/settle-your-questions-about-h-264-license-cost-once-and-for-all-hopefully-a058c2149256

[+] [email protected] -6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Their default Movies and Live Channels are bad, but that's not why we're using Plex right?

$120 is to support the platform and it provides the option to download movies/tv shows locally and allows for Transcoding to name but 2 benefits. It's also got clients for pretty much every device out there.

If you can't afford $120 for life then that's too bad. Move to JF.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I’m still confused. Plex isn’t hosting any of my files, so why would remote users downloading them cost Plex anything? If they Direct Stream, there’s no transcoding involved. And if transcoding is involved, and I am not paying for Plex Pass, doesn’t that just happen directly on my server? I don’t see any reason why Plex is charging for my server doing work. Bizarre.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They aren't charging users to cover their costs to stream your data from your server. It's to help them with their developper costs. Transcoding is something your server does and it's only unlocked with Plex Pass so if you don't have that, you can't use it anyway. I have only 4k movies so if I want to watch them at any resolution smaller than 4k, I need transcoding which was the primary reason I got the pass. They can also proxy your connection in case you have issues connecting directly so they are somewhat using their own resources for that. They offer a great service at a very low price, much lower than Netflix and it's much better. Everyone that connects to my plex server love the experience so it's well worth it for me. If it's not worth it for you, that's cool. Use something like JF and then deal with a lack of device support and any other issues that come with JF. I hear it's a also a great service but I also hear there are more issues with JF than Plex so I'm happy with Plex.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So, my users transcode just fine without Plex Pass. I believe. You are referring to enabling hardware accelerated transcoding, which is a Plex Pass feature. You don’t need Plex Pass to do basic transcoding. That’s a free feature.

As for the proxied connection, I believe. You are referring to Relay. Thats such a low quality that its recommended to disable it and that’s the first thing I do on my PMS.

I believe Infuse (for the ATV4K) will be a decent workaround in the meantime, since it seems to allow remote play from Plex servers without charging, and plays stuff better than the default Plex app anyway, fwiw (like Atmos content).

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 weeks ago

You could be right about the CPU transcode vs. GPU transcode. It was a long time ago when I setup my Plex but I do recall having performance issues with CPU transcoding. Either way it's a valid point.

I had to use relay only once at a Hotel and it was decent enough but the TV they had was pretty lame so I couldn't tell how bad Relay was vs. the TV quality. Either way I got to watch what I wanted without commercials.

Never heard of ATV4K but I'll check it out. Thanks.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Bad advice to be paying them after they chose to go this route IMHO

[+] [email protected] -11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't agree. They're only affecting people who haven't been paying and it's an excellent service. They're even giving you a heads up so you're not caught offgaurd. It's not even 9 months of Netflix and it's valid for lifetime. If you can't afford it, that's one thing. If that's the case move to JF and move on. I find Plex is very much worth the cost.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Pay even more money for the inferior product. Good advice.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago

Agreed. It encourages that behavior.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, at this point they just think we are stupid as, as if they were taking a huge toll with the bandwidth by capping the remote playback option... They are not hosting the files ffs.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

oh no, this is the first im hearing about this.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

If you have Plex pass you dont have to worry about it. Others can still remote play from your server free. Actually more so because the mobile app is free for them too now.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

But if you don't already have lifetime and are paying monthly or annually then that price is also almost doubling

[+] [email protected] -9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Just buy the lifetime Plex pass before the price goes up then.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

spend money to pirate now before you have to spend even more money to pirate later

🤦‍♂️

pLeX iS aWeSoMe!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

This is like complaining that you have to spend money on HDDs or a VPN.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Really I think we are going to see an increase in jellyfin uptake given the changes which is great for that project

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It’s not the same at all.

Plex practically doubled their prices to access features that users previously had for free.

Can’t remember the last time a HDD manufacturer put previously free features behind a paywall or when a Mullvad doubled its prices.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

How have they doubled their prices? The monthly fee and lifetime license are still the same price and they've always charged for Android and iOS playback if you didn't have the Plex Pass. I won't argue that this change is a good thing but I don't think it's anywhere near as big of a deal as people are making it out to be. They aren't changing anyone now who streams from a server that has the Plex Pass so now my users can watch on their mobile devices for free using a license I paid for once close to a decade ago.

HDD manufacturers have been increasing their prices as of late for the same products that were previously cheaper, and Mullvad is still charging you the same monthly fee even though they've removed important features like port forwarding, so what's the difference? Hosting a server has costs associated with it and this is another one of those costs if you want to use their completely optional solution to use and share your library.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

How have they doubled their prices?

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2642674/plexs-lifetime-subscription-plan-is-getting-a-massive-price-hike.html

HDD manufacturers have been increasing their prices as of late for the same products that were previously cheaper

Nope. Most recent delta is a decrease of $0.0000022 per MB. And the general trend has been decreasing for decades.

my users can watch on their mobile devices for free using a license I paid for once close to a decade ago.

You sound like a boomer talking about the house they bought decades ago for $75,000.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Not really. Or at all. Both of those are multi-purpose devices which you can use for other things. A plex license is singularly for Plex. It doesn't do anything more for you than to stream your own media, something you can already accomplish for free.

Of all the examples you could have chosen you essentially picked the worst two.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

It doesn't do anything more for you than to stream your own media

Sure it does, which is why we're not all using VLC to stream our media.

Furthermore, they do provide a simple way to share our media with friends and family via their authentication servers along with their relay servers if direct access to your server goes down for whatever reason which have associated costs. I have a lot of my own gripes about Plex, but this particular change is probably at the bottom of the list, and I think acting like this software has zero value is disparaging not only Plex but Jellyfin and the army of volunteers over there working hard to make their product better for you and everyone else at no cost. You're essentially saying all their work is worthless since their product accomplishes all the same things as Plex.

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I think this is the tool you are looking for: https://github.com/luigi311/JellyPlex-Watched

I haven't used it myself but I plan on it eventually when I do make the switch.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I think that's the one i use, I had a few mobile users not be able to watch plex in the past so I installed jellyfin and that so they could go back and forth

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I recently made the switch, worked pretty well :)

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I sync my watch history with trakt.tv -- I believe there are plugins for both Plex and Jellyfin which can transfer those watch histories via that service. I don't know of any other way.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah this is what I did when I spun up a Jellyfin instance to play around with. For plex I used PlexTraktSync and the jellyfin trakt plugin to sync from trakt to jellyfin.

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