Plex Adding Ability to Rent, Purchase Movies in Early February
Plex features a universal search that allows its users to find titles across different streamers, and now they’ll be able to rent or buy those titles too.
If you’re a Plex subscriber who loves using the service’s universal search platform to browse for your next show or movie, but hate having to leave the app to rent or buy those movies, this one is for you. Janko Roettgers reports in his Lowpass newsletter that Plex is adding video rentals and purchases to its platform, starting in early February.
- Plex has most studios signed onto its plan to allow customers to rent or purchase video on its platform.
- The move aligns Plex more closely with TVOD platforms like Prime Video.
- More big changes are coming to Plex this year, with details to be available in coming months.
Which Studios’ Movies Are to Be Available for Rental/Purchase on Plex?
Roettgers did not have a complete list available in his report but indicated that “most studios” had agreed to send their titles to Plex’s new transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) platform, and those that have not yet given their ascent could be added later. It’s likely that customers will see shows and movies from studios like Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Universal, and others on the platform soon if they aren’t immediately available when the platform launches in February.
Plex has announced intentions to offer a TVOD platform before, but as the latest word that the company will produce such a service comes just weeks before it’s reportedly set to launch, there’s a good chance that it will follow through on the promise this time.
The new rental/purchase store on Plex will work with other features on the service, including watchlists and presumably its universal search. That would allow customers to search for any title across multiple streamers to see if they can watch it with a subscription, or if they’ll need to rent or buy it through Plex’s TVOD platform.
What Else is Coming to Plex in 2024?
Roettgers’ report also teases some bigger, more sweeping changes coming to Plex in 2024. There are few details available as of now, but there will be additional social media features on the service and a site-wide redesign characterized as “significant.” Currently, Plex allows its customers to upload their own media to a private server and share it with friends, so long as they are the legal owners of that media.
In November of 2023, Plex launched the “Discover Together” feature that allows viewers to add friends, see what they’re watching and ranking and discover new titles based on the activity of those on the user’s friends list. This feature could see some new facets added to it this year, as Plex endeavors to bring more social functions to its platform.
If you’re a Plex user, keep an eye out for its new digital store for renting and buying video. That store should be launching sometime in the next few weeks, unless Plex changes its mind again and decides the current February target date needs to be pushed once again.
Plex
Plex is a free streaming service that includes on-demand access to 50,000+ movies and TV shows. The service also offers 1,100+ free-to-stream live TV channels in 193 countries. Users can also connect Plex to their computers to stream and share any media they have on their hard drives.