I've been using Plex for almost a decade, and it mostly does what it's supposed to. But the app has never been its strong suit. The more you use it, the more the rough edges stand out, whether it's inconsistent playback across devices, or an interface that changes dramatically between platforms.

Add to that things like live TV, social shenanigans, and more, and it's fair to say that the app, more often than not, tries to do too much instead of just doing the one thing I need it to do — watch my own library. It's what pushed me to look for alternatives. Having gotten used to Infuse on my Apple TV, I figured there must be something else out there, preferably open-source. It turns out, there is.

I came across Plezy on GitHub and decided to give it a shot. For a relatively new app, I wasn't expecting too much, but it turns out, it's more than good enough for prime time.

Rethinking the Plex experience

A modern interface that looks and feels stunning

While Plezy's source is available on GitHub, the developer also provides binaries for all major platforms, so unlike most other open-source projects, you don't need to build or deploy via a Docker. In my case, I've tested it on a Mac, and getting it up and running is as simple as double-tapping the app icon.

The first thing you'll notice is the beautifully designed interface. Not only does it respond to your laptop's system profile with light or dark modes, but it also has a built-in OLED mode for a pure dark profile. That's already a good start. Add to that smooth transitions and gradients, and you're looking at a thoroughly modern re-imagining of the Plex experience.

Plezy handles playback on its own terms with a built-in media player instead of depending on system-level players that can and do behave differently across devices and platforms. Generally, in my experience, this has meant faster load times for streaming videos and much quicker scrubbing through timelines. Plex has improved its game, and I don't usually get many buffering issues, even on the official app, but here, there have been absolutely none. The app also does a good job at avoiding unnecessary transcoding. There's no need to convert files just to make them playable, including high bitrate content, which means there's less stress on my NAS-based server.

One of my favorite smaller quality-of-life benefits with Plezy has been the excellent subtitle support. With Plex, I've always had issues with subtitle styling or positioning, especially when playing foreign media. Plezy offers full ASS/SSA subtitle support, which has been more consistent in its presentation. It's great.

Beyond that, Plezy has all the standard Plex functions that improve the user and viewing experience. Media playback resumes exactly where I left off across devices because it taps into Plex's API. That's true even if you switch between the Plex and Plezy apps. Similarly, if you are speed-running a show, changing the playback speed works a treat — that's something I've occasionally had issues with in the official Plex app.

Most importantly, as I mentioned earlier, it's the simplified and more straightforward interface that stands out. You just open the app, and all your content libraries are available in a single spot, tap, and start watching the content.

A much more consistent experience across devices

Remote streaming without restrictions

Plezy has become my go-to media player on all the platforms that support it. The Plex client runs on my Android and Mac devices and behaves the same on both. No need to adjust layouts or having to deal with missing features. It's very seamless like that.

Offline playback is also well-supported. Plex's offline media support has been abysmal on smartphones and tablets, to the point that for a while I just switched to manually moving files. I couldn't trust it to do the job. That's not the case here. Plezy's offline support works beautifully, and since you get a dedicated app on the Mac as well, you get proper offline support on your laptop of choice, too.

Coming back to the interface, one of my favorite Plex features is the ability to maintain multiple libraries. I have a small library on a VPS that's shared with friends and a much larger one that's on a NAS. I toggle between these all the time in Plex and am not a big fan of digging through layers on menus. Please present all these libraries in a single list, including the ones my friends are sharing with me. It makes switching to a different media source a breeze.

Finally, Plezy lifts Plex's restrictions around remote streaming. While the official Plex app streams remotely only with a premium subscription, Plezy can handle it just fine, even on the free tier. That's a big win.

I didn't expect Plezy to replace Plex, but it did

I was pretty skeptical about Plezy's capabilities when I first installed the app. Surely, it couldn't beat Plex's official app at its own game. Turns out, it can, and it does. It's become my default client on my laptop because it fixes the issues I run into most. And the overall experience has become much closer to what Plex used to be — all about enjoying your own media without distractions.