TIBBL vs Plex
Plex is a full media server: movie and TV libraries with rich metadata, music, photos, well over a decade of maturity, and apps on practically everything. If you want one system that organises everything you own, Plex is the obvious answer and TIBBL is not trying to be it.
TIBBL is a DVR with a library, not a media server. It records antenna TV through an HDHomeRun tuner and puts IPTV playlists in the same guide, with recordings kept on your own disk. The differences below are about live TV and what remote access costs.
Where they differ
Only the differences are listed. Where the two work the same way, there is nothing to compare.
Works away from home out of the box. No port to forward, no VPN, no reverse proxy, no extra subscription.
Streaming your own media away from home requires a paid subscription: the Remote Watch Pass at $2.99 a month ($29.99 a year), or a full Plex Pass.
One plan covers the DVR, the licensed guide, remote viewing and multiview. There is nothing else to buy from us.
Features are split across two products — Plex Pass, and the separate Remote Watch Pass for remote streaming of personal media.
Up to four channels on screen at once, on Fire TV, Android TV and the web. Each channel on screen uses one tuner.
No built-in multiview.
Live scores on games in the guide, and game recordings extend automatically when a game runs into overtime.
Not built in.
$6 a month or $60 a year, with the first 30 days free.
The apps are free to start. The Remote Watch Pass is $2.99 a month; Plex Pass is a separate monthly, yearly or lifetime subscription.
Who should choose which
Choose Plex if you want a media server — a curated movie, music and photo collection with beautiful metadata, shared with family, on any device in the house. That is Plex’s home turf and it has spent many years earning it.
Choose TIBBL if your centre of gravity is live TV: antenna and IPTV channels in one guide, recordings on your own disk, remote viewing included in the one $6 plan rather than sold as an add-on, and up to four channels on screen for game day.
Either way you supply the aerial hardware: over-the-air TV needs an antenna and an HDHomeRun network tuner, plus a computer that stays on. TIBBL’s apps today are Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV and the web browser; Apple TV, Roku and iOS are coming soon.