ive been using kodi (xbmc was better moniker) since google killed sagetv. i recall attempting plex, but it seemed to lack some open/extensibility (its been awhile).
i have a side project i want to make as a modular plugin generating a cable layout with original air orders and networks/channels… kodi seems most optimal, but ill admit its been a long while since i looked at plex.
so why plex over kodi?
With Kodi you gotta know a little bit about nginx. I had an old laptop (with arch and no de) always on with nginx running to stream videos from the TV via Kodi… It’s less resource heavy than Plex but a little bit more work to set up. I actually asked chatgpt how to configure ngnix for my purposes and it worked very well. I also didn’t have any automation but I did ssh into the laptop to use rtorrent to add more stuff
So easy answer no it’s not more simple at all but you can keep it always on with few resources used