This is without any ongoing fees but since it's a third party application, it does require the extra step of installing it. I never subscribed to their Plex Pass paid service but after installing the free Plex server and pointing it at my media directories on my desktop and NAS, it's worked great. The ability to transcode was particularly useful because the 360 wouldn't play some formats and it was easier to install Plex than to transcode them all.
Either way, this isn't meant to dismiss your legit complaint. Just hoping my experiences can be of use to you or others in the same situation. If you used WMC to handle OTA television viewing and recording, you may be better served by Kodi or some other application.