I have been paying for Plex Pass to use as a server and Infuse Pro as a client for the last like 5+ years. Plex has always been very good with the metadata, while Infuse is unparalleled as a player. Best of both worlds.
But years have passed, and I wonder if I still need to keep using Plex. Is Infuse getting better in the metadata department? There are also some nice features in Plex like being able to skip TV series intros, but Infuse is doing that too now (is it relying on Plex for that)?
Been using Infuse solely for many years and there are very few things that it offers above what infuse can do. Based on other users it seems these two things are the most used:
The skip intro which is exclusive to plex at the moment.
Easy access to your files outside of your local network (with transcoding through the plex app).
Multiple versions is coming very soon for infuse, so that is no longer exclusive
One of the things Plex offers over Infuse is Multi User Profiles, each with their history etc. This is the sole reason I still use a Plex server as a backend, but Infuse as a player. If Infuse ever offers profiles, I will ditch Plex
Wait, I know that Plex offers User profiles, which is absolutely great if you were going use Plex as a front-end, but as far as I know this does not have any impact on Infuse. So when I open Infuse on Apple TV, I do not get a choice of which profile I want to use, so it is kind of useless as a feature in the backend only.
You are not wrong Plex multi user profiles have no effect on Infuse as a player (unfortunately). But in my house, the kids use the free Plex player to watch their stuff and we use Infuse on the ATV for ours. That keeps my watching history “clean”. But it costs me keeping a Plex server running for one missing feature.
I think the OP was asking benefits of using Plex as a front end vs Infuse (if i understood it correctly)
To clarify, replacing Infuse as front-end was never under consideration. The point of debate is whether Plex is worth using as back-end, or completely get rid of it and use Infuse for everything.
But I understand your point of view because I also have kids, which is why I set up a pin code on Infuse for everything that isn’t G/PG. But I do not like that they can still browse through all the library even if they cannot watch it. Plex requires a PIN code at the profile itself, so it is a much better implementation.
Just a thought as a test for you to see what it’d be like, you can add your machine that holds your file as a SMB or FTP share along side your Plex share so you may end up with doubles for a bit but then you could uncheck your plex share and see Infuse by itself. Then if you like it, just delete the Plex share or if you still have questions you could then delete the SMB or FTP share and be back to where you started.
Are there any advantages or disadvantages to using Plex Media Server for Infuse’s library vs using Infuse’s own library scanning? I honestly don’t know which method to use. I tried using both at the same time for different media sources but it was a disaster. For some reason, even though I unchecked certain Plex folders, they would still show up in the results.
The one advantage of using PMS that I can think of is the speed of the library refresh. Infuse takes a very long time to update folder shares for the library, but with the PMS, this happens very fast.
But other than that, If I’m a Plex Pass subscriber, is there any reason why I shouldn’t use PMS with Infuse? Will PMS sometimes transcode files for Infuse? And can I use both Plex’s playlists and Infuse’s or do I have to pick one?
For years I used both the Plex server and player. I recently switched to Infuse as a player but kept the Plex server, and I too have am wondering if I should attempt to ditch Plex entirely.
Before I made the switch I did some reading and it sounded like keeping a Plex server was still useful if you tend to customize your metadata and such, as Infuse wasn’t nearly as capable in that regard. For example, there are lots of cases where I can’t (or don’t want to) follow The Movie Database format for episode order, or metadata etc, and I want to be able to customize things. I’m not sure if maybe customizing has gotten easier with Infuse recently? Maybe someone could comment on how this works with Infuse these days.
I’m using Infuse on an Apple TV, and I also read about of folks having issues with loosing there database and having to rebuild it all due to various issues with iCloud. Considering how much I like to customize things I’d hate to have to start from scratch.
So that’s why I’ve been hanging on to Plex for the moment, but I would welcome input on whether my concerns are still warranted.
For me personally it is.
However if my media is all mainstream and has a listing on TMDB then my opinion would change.
Plex offers me the choice of TMDB or TVDB for a lot of my documentaries and there are still far too many missing on TMDB to contemplate adding them all myself.
Plex is still an essential part of the experience IMO. The metadata customization, ability to change a show from Aired order to DVD order and add all the custom artwork among many other great things is just too valuable to me. Plus I have a rather large music library and PlexAMP is like the Infuse of music players.
Plex is still a beast and I doubt I’ll ever ditch it completely. Especially if Infuse ever adds the ability to switch users like Plex. THAT will be a big reason to keep Plex if you ask me.
I really really don’t like the management at Plex, and their attitude towards their end users, which is also why I haven’t spend a dime on them (Did do the majority of translations into my language though). But Plex Server as a software package is for me, quite excellent. It works, is easy to use, and has nice flexibility which fits my meager use cases.
Couple that with Infuse, which has rock solid streaming playback from Plex (Which the Plex Client can’t deliver), and I got a perfect fit. My two main problems in this setup are really with Infuse; Horribly confusing GUI for setting up streaming from a Plex server (Fortunately only have to mess with it very rarely), and no support for Plex extras.
In time, I will likely switch to Jellyfin, simply because of the open source aspect. But for now, Plex is a keeper for me.
Plex multi user profiles have no effect on Infuse as a player (unfortunately). But in my house, the kids use the free Plex player to watch their stuff and we use Infuse on the ATV for ours. That keeps my watching history “clean”. But it costs me keeping a Plex server running for one missing feature.