A detailed comparison of the two leading personal media Alexa skills - so you can make the right choice for your home library.
Both My Media for Alexa and Plex for Alexa allow you to ask your Amazon Echo devices to play music, audiobooks, and other media from your personal library - without relying on a streaming subscription. However, the two products have taken very different approaches to how they work, what they support, and how actively they are maintained. This page breaks down the key differences to help you decide.
| Feature | My Media for Alexa | Plex for Alexa |
|---|---|---|
| Current status | Active & Alexa+ Certified | Deprecating June 2026 |
| Music playback (personal library) | Yes | Yes |
| Audiobook playback | Yes | Limited / No |
| Multiroom audio (Alexa Groups) | Yes | No |
| Amazon account linking | Yes | Yes |
| Alexa+ Certified | Yes (Jan 2026) | No |
| Works on Echo Dot, Echo, Echo Show, Echo Spot | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted server (Windows / Linux / Docker / Pi) | Yes | Yes (via Plex Media Server) |
| Free tier available | Yes - free to try | Yes - free |
| Active development / updates | Ongoing | Being wound down |
My Media for Alexa is a lightweight, purpose-built solution for playing your personal media library on Alexa devices. It runs its own small server - no Plex subscription or third-party service required - and communicates directly with the Alexa skill to stream your music, audiobooks and podcasts on demand.
The server can be installed on Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi, or Docker, making it flexible for almost any home setup. Once linked to your Amazon account, you can use natural voice commands to play by artist, album, track, genre or playlist - or even ask Alexa to shuffle your entire library.
Photo by Noom Peerapong on Unsplash
Screenshot courtesy of Plex
Plex is a well-known all-in-one media server platform that has long offered an Alexa skill as a companion feature. The Plex for Alexa skill allows users to control music and some limited media playback via Alexa voice commands on Echo devices.
While the Plex platform itself remains active and popular for video and music management, the Alexa integration was never a core focus for the company. Support and feature development for the Alexa skill has been minimal in recent years, and the feature is expected to be deprecated in June 2026.
Migrating from Plex for Alexa to My Media for Alexa is straightforward. Your actual media files stay exactly where they are - My Media simply points to the same folders on your machine or NAS. You do not need to re-encode, move, or re-tag anything.
Download and install the My Media server on the same machine (or NAS / Pi) where your media library lives. Windows, Linux and Docker builds are available.
In the My Media server settings, add your existing music, audiobook and podcast folder paths. My Media will index them automatically - no re-organisation needed.
Enable the My Media skill in the Alexa app, link your account, and you're done. Say "Alexa, ask My Media to play..." and enjoy your library immediately.
Most users complete the migration in under 15 minutes. If you hit any snags, our support documentation covers the most common scenarios in detail.
Download My Media View Voice CommandsDon't wait until Plex for Alexa is gone. Download My Media today and keep your personal library accessible by voice - with the reliability of an Alexa+ certified skill.