Forget Plex, YouTube Music lets you stream your music collection without a home server

Forget Plex, YouTube Music lets you stream your music collection without a home server Credit: Andy Betts / How-To Geek By  Andy Betts Published May 31, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Andy is a senior writer and former Mac editor at HTG. He has over 20 years experience as a consumer tech journalist, and has covered everything from the old Palm Pilots to the original iPhone and Android devices, to the latest gadgets. He has written and edited for UK-based print publications like PDA Essentials and Android Magazine , and online at sites including MUO , Android Tips and Hacks , broadband.co.uk , and Envato . He has a passion for all things mobile and has been a keen Mac enthusiast since 2005. Sign in to your How-To Geek account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Plex is great, but setting up and maintaining a home server is more effort than many people want. If you only want to use it for music and audiobooks, you don't need to go to that trouble. You might already have a simpler alternative that you're ignoring. It's YouTube Music. YouTube Music is the simple Plex server you've already got An account and a browser are all you need Credit: Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek | ArgelisRebolledo/ Shutterstock If all you want from your Plex server is to access your MP3s on any device, wherever you are, YouTube Music's upload feature is a surprisingly effective alternative. It comes as part of your standard Google account, although it's actually somewhat hidden, and you don't need to pay for YouTube Music Premium to access it. It couldn't be easier to use. Google handles all the syncing, storage, and streaming infrastructure. You don't need any server hardware , a NAS, or an always-on PC to access your uploads. There's no setup process or app maintenance, and it needs no troubleshooting. As long as yo