Plex vs xbmc vs windows media center

To add plugins, skins, and content to XBMC, you have to use the 10 foot interface designed around a remote control. To add content to Plex, you use the 2 foot interface designed around a mouse. Likewise, while Plex appears to have a more active app development base, many of the more popular Plex apps have been ported to XBMC.

Occasionally XBMC will not include a streaming addon that Plex includes, because XBMC mildly fears potential lawsuits, but most of those addons can be found and added via the bluecop repository found here. Perhaps a key visible difference lies in the install process. Plex installs two programs, one of which is an always running service. Most under-the-hood differences between the two programs have been spelled out.

Plex can act as a video server for thin clients while XBMC cannot. The question posed to me was a simple one. As always though, the answer to a simple question is rarely simple itself. Choose XBMC because you support wholly open development. Choose XBMC because it has a more active development base. Choose Plex because you like the idea of an always-on Media Server. Choose Plex because TVTunes is built-in, rather than a downloadable addon. Choose Plex because you have no need for anything but Apple machines and you prefer their selection of apps.

As far as I can tell, for a non-technical user, in the proposed case, there should be only two notable differences. First, the watched status should be the same between machines. For some this may be an advantage.

For others, it may not be. Second, one need only install a Plex app once, rather than twice for the XBMC addon, when using two clients. But you will miss some information. Platform compatibility is the most obvious yet vital factor in evaluating whether the product suits you or not. Yet most of the Kodi installations on those platforms, say, iOS, need some workarounds like jail-breaking or side-loading. And this may not sound comfortable to most new beginners, though the Kodi software is compatible with their devices.

Plex, on the other hand, is supported by a wider range of platforms and with much easier installation as well. Apart from the devices mentioned above, the Plex media client also supports streaming services, Smart TVs, Web, and gaming consoles. It can even be installed as an add-on on Kodi.

Plex is compatible with almost all platforms. Since Kodi is open-source, you can expect Kodi to be more flexible in customization. And it is, users with some computer know-how can do their own personification on the menu displaying, function improving, and other characteristic changes they want.

The less-experienced users can also rely on its off-the-shelf plugins to customize the software to their tastes. Plex, however, seems to have no customization at all except some basic touches on the home-screen modification and sidebar navigation. It is also void of plugins service removed two years ago that can help to customize the Plex interface at one go. Yet still, in the field of customization, Plex is no match for Kodi. And if you are a seasoned user and care about a personalized style, Kodi is your better option.

But if you are a non-tech-savvy person, Plex may be the right one for you. The way how Plex and Kodi store the media database is very different though they both scan and organize your local media collections.

And that matters greatly as it explains how Plex and Kodi work and also helps you to decide which software you like better. Kodi forms an independent database every time you install Kodi on a new device. For example, you have Kodi installed on both your computer and your phone. The Kodi on your computer will create a media database based on the media files on your computer; and the Kodi on your phone will also organize your phone-based library likewise.

And that explains why Kodi is only media player software. Plex, on the contrary, has only one central media database stored on the Plex server device. And you can access the same database on any of your client platforms. Try to think of it as Netflix, only that the media database is from the local collections on your server device. And this also allows for some streaming services features such as multi-device watching, viewing progress tracking, and media downloading.

One thing that also matters yet is easy to get passed by is the transcoding feature. Transcoding is related to the database location. Since Kodi has a separate database on every new device, you can easily tell that Kodi has to rely on the very device where the Kodi is installed to do the transcoding. And this means your device cannot be too low-powered. Plex, however, leaves all the heavy-lifting to the server device since its database is stored on the server.

And there are no requirements for the client devices. This fact just speaks why Plex can be supported on nearly all platforms. Yet transcoding on the server device is CPU-intensive and requires a lot of power.

And unlike Kodi, you have to buy a Plex Pass to enable hardware transcoding. XBMC, on the other hand, tends to trade ease of use for a high amount of customization. To sum up the main difference, Plex is easy but limited and XBMC is hard but almost infinitely customizable. Of course, each platform offers a variety of other advantages and problems. Let's take a look at some common considerations and figure out if you ought to use Plex, XBMC, or a combination of both.

Depending on the operating systems and devices you want to use with your HTPC, you may only have one choice. Plex takes about five minutes to set up. XBMC can take five minutes, too, but can also take a lot longer if you want to configure additional features and customize your setup.

If you're looking for a simple process, you'll probably prefer Plex. All you do is install the server software, tell it where to find your media, and create a Plex account that you can use to log in from the server and any client devices. When running Plex on a client computer, mobile device, television, or set top box, it'll automatically detect any servers connected to your account.

From there, you can just start using Plex whether you're home or thousands of miles away. That isn't to say you'll have a hard time setting up XBMC. You can simply download XBMC for your platform, tell it where to find your media, and call it a day. However, most users want to do more than that. If you have your media in a remote location, you'll need to set up file sharing on that system and tell XBMC how to access it. You'll also spend some time configuring XBMC's settings to work just the way you like, as it contains far more fine-grained controls than Plex.

Still, if you're only installing the app on a computer the process doesn't require too much effort. When you get into customization, however, you can spend hours getting XBMC just the way you like it which we'll discuss later.

For some, this can be a plus or a minus. It really depends on how much effort you want to expend and what you want to accomplish. The Bottom Line : If you want to get up and running in minutes, including powerful features, Plex will do the trick.

If you don't mind spending more time setting things up manually and tweaking settings to get exactly what you want, XBMC's setup process won't deter you and you might actually like it. XBMC offers a remarkably high level of customization, from plug-ins to skins to additional features like watching live television. If you can think of it, chances are XBMC can do it. It may not right out of the box, but because of its customization options you can add on almost whatever you want.