Yes, with a caveat you should read before anything else. Roadly opens in a Tesla's built-in browser and plays Plex's own free catalogue — no app, no install, nothing changed on the car — and it keeps playing for passengers while the car is moving. What it cannot do is play your own Plex Media Server: a personal library is not a supported source today, so if that is what you searched for, the answer is no.
1Can Roadly play my own Plex library?
No. A personal Plex Media Server is not a supported source in Roadly. This is the first thing on the page because it is the opposite of what most people hope for when they search for Plex in a Tesla.
When you link a Plex account, Roadly can see that the account owns servers, and it will show you their names. That is the whole of it. There is no playback path from a home server to the car screen — the names are metadata the account hands over, not a library Roadly can open.
No date has been committed to for changing this, so please read it as a no rather than a not yet. If your own files are what you want in the car, Roadly's Google Drive source is the honest answer instead: you link Google, you play videos you put there yourself.
2What you can actually watch
Plex's own free catalogue — the films and series Plex itself offers at no charge. Roadly wraps it in a proper browsing interface rather than a list of links: a hero at the top, poster rails by category, search, genre filters, continue-watching so a film picks up where you stopped, and a personal list you can add to.
The catalogue belongs to Plex, and so do its terms. It changes over time, so nothing here promises that a particular film or series will be there when you look. Roadly is an independent product and is not affiliated with Plex.
3What you need before you start
Less than most people expect. There is no software to install and no modification to the car — Roadly is a website, and the car already has a browser.
- A Tesla with the built-in web browser.
- A Plex account, which is free to create. You link it once.
- An internet connection: the car's own connectivity, or a phone hotspot.
- A Roadly access pass — 7, 14 or 30 days.
You do not need a Plex Media Server, and you do not need one running at home. Nothing has to be switched on anywhere for this to work.
4How to open it, step by step
Four steps, and only the third is done once. Everything happens in the car's browser.
- Park, or hand the screen to a passenger. Open the car's browser and go to roadly.it.
- Sign in to Roadly and open the Plex section.
- Link your Plex account. Roadly shows a short code; you confirm it on your phone, and the car is authorised.
- Browse the catalogue and start something. Playback resumes across sessions, so a film you left half-watched is waiting on the home row.
The link step happens once per account. After that the Plex section opens straight into the catalogue.
5Does it play while the car is moving?
Yes, for passengers. Video keeps running when the car is in motion, and this is the part of Roadly that took real engineering.
A Tesla's browser blanks an ordinary HTML video element once the car starts moving — you get audio and a black rectangle. Roadly does not hand the stream to that element. It decodes the video itself and paints each frame onto a canvas — the same surface a web page uses to draw graphics — and the picture stays. Nothing about the car is altered to achieve this; it is how the page is written.
To be blunt about who this is for: the driver must not watch video. This is for passengers, or for a car that is stopped or charging.
6Quality, data and what to expect
Playback is capped at 720p, and that is a deliberate choice rather than a shortcoming. Decoding frames in a browser and drawing them by hand costs processing, and the car's connection is rarely the steadiest one you own. A stable 720p picture on a screen at arm's length looks better than a higher resolution that stalls every few minutes.
Audio comes through the car's speakers as normal. If you are on a phone hotspot, remember that a feature-length film is a real amount of data.
7Where Plex fits among Roadly's other sources
Plex is one source among several, and the differences between them are mostly about who supplies the content. Roadly supplies none of it.
| Source | Plays in the car | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|
| Plex free catalogue | Yes | Plex, to your linked account |
| Your own Plex server | No | Not a supported source |
| Google Drive | Yes | Files you uploaded yourself |
| IPTV | Yes | Your own subscription and credentials |
| YouTube, Twitch, radio | Yes | The public services themselves |
8Access, and what Roadly is not
Roadly is sold as access passes lasting 7, 14 or 30 days, arranged manually through Telegram or PayPal. There is no subscription that renews behind your back and no card left on file.
Roadly is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Tesla, Inc., and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Plex. It installs nothing in the car, changes no vehicle setting, and touches nothing beyond the browser tab you opened it in.
9Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Plex Media Server at home?
No. Roadly plays Plex's own free catalogue, which needs only a linked Plex account. Nothing has to be running at your house.
So I really cannot watch my own films through Plex?
Not through Plex, no. A personal Plex server is not a supported source in Roadly, and nothing has been promised about that changing. For your own files, use Roadly's Google Drive source instead.
Can the driver watch?
No. Video is for passengers, or for a car that is stopped or charging. Roadly is built so the picture survives motion for the people who are not driving.
Does the Plex account cost anything?
A Plex account is free to create, and that is all Roadly asks you to link. Roadly does not require you to buy anything from Plex.
What video quality should I expect?
Up to 720p. The cap is intentional: the picture is drawn frame by frame in the browser, and a steady 720p stream holds up far better on a moving car's connection.
Is Roadly made by Plex or by Tesla?
Neither. Roadly is independent, with no affiliation with or endorsement from Plex or Tesla, Inc. The catalogue and its terms belong to Plex.