How to filter profanity in Plex (2026)

Plex has no built-in swear filter, but parents have real options: free tools, filtered streaming apps, a TV mute box, or CleanCut Suite. This guide explains how each one works, who it suits, and how to set up a Plex profile for your child that only shows clean titles.

A note up front: we make CleanCut Suite, one of the options below. We've tried to be fair to the others, and we link to each one so you can check for yourself.

Why Plex doesn't do this already

Plex lets you limit what a child can see by age rating. It doesn't mute words. Parents have asked for it for years: the "Profanity Filter" request in Plex's Feature Suggestions forum was opened on March 5, 2017, and now runs to several pages of replies. A later request, "Mute/Filter Profanity", was closed as a duplicate. Some replies point out that muting on the fly would add work for the server. Either way, Plex hasn't added a filter, so families use outside tools.

The two ways to filter

Every option below works in one of two ways:

1. It changes the file. A tool saves a clean audio track inside the movie file, so every Plex app on every TV can play it.
2. It filters while you watch. An app or a box mutes words as they come up, but only on the devices that have it.

To find the words, tools read the subtitles (fast, but subtitles sometimes leave words out) or listen to the audio with speech recognition (catches more, but slower and still not perfect).

Free do-it-yourself tools

These are free, made by hobbyists, and suit people comfortable with Docker or the command line.

• cleanvid reads a movie's subtitles, mutes the audio wherever a word on your list appears, and saves a cleaned copy. It can also write an EDL file (a list of mute points that Kodi and some players understand). Take: a solid, long-running tool, but you run it one title at a time from the command line.
• Censorarr listens with Whisper speech recognition and adds a separate clean audio track, keeping the original. Its author says plainly that speech recognition can't catch every word, and the project is new. Take: promising and free; expect some setup and rough edges.
• Cens-arr (a different project with a similar name) also listens with Whisper, then checks the result against the subtitles. It adds a "Censored" audio track for Plex or Jellyfin and can clean new episodes on its own. It's in Unraid's app store. Take: a careful approach; best for people already running Sonarr.

Desktop apps

• DialogSafe is a Windows and Mac app that listens to a video on your own computer and adds a clean audio track. Its sales page lists a one-time $19 price with the first three videos free. Take: simple if you clean the odd movie by hand; it works one file at a time, not on a whole library.

Plex apps that filter while you watch

• Pure Stream is an Android app that plays your Plex library and mutes words using the subtitles. Its store listing describes filter levels, custom word lists and separate settings per profile (AppBrain, APKPure). Take: no server work needed, but the filter only works inside that app, so it won't help on a TV that uses the regular Plex app.

Filters for streaming services (not Plex)

These filter Netflix, Prime Video and similar services. They don't filter the movies on your own Plex server.

• VidAngel filters titles on Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+ and others. Since its 2020 settlement, it no longer filters Disney or Warner Bros. titles. Take: a good fit if your family mostly streams; it's a monthly subscription.
• Enjoy Movies Your Way connects to Netflix, Disney+, Max, Prime Video and more on Roku, Fire TV, phones and Chrome. Its site lists a free plan and a $7.99 a month Premium plan. Take: the widest list of services; it doesn't cover home video files.
• ClearPlay works mainly as a Chrome browser extension for selected titles on some streaming services (review). Take: check its current title list before paying.

A box for the TV

• TVGuardian reads the closed captions and mutes the TV when it sees a word on its list. It has no subscription. Take: no computer needed, but it relies on captions, mutes a whole sentence rather than one word, and only covers the TV it's connected to.

CleanCut Suite

CleanCut Suite is the one we make: an all-in-one media manager and profanity filter for Plex. It's one app that runs on an always-on computer at home, next to Plex (for example a mini-PC or a NAS running CasaOS or ZimaOS).

• What it does: it adds a clean audio track to the movies and shows already on your Plex, with the swear words muted. The original audio stays inside each file as a backup track. It reads the subtitles and can also listen to the audio, on your own server, when the subtitles miss a word. Nothing is uploaded.
• How kids see it: it labels each clean title Kid Safe in Plex, so a child's profile can be set to show only those titles, within the age limit you pick.
• Media manager (Suite): it can also find and add new movies and shows, like Radarr, Sonarr and a download client in one app, with an optional built-in VPN that has a kill switch. It works with sources you add yourself; none are included or enabled by default, and you're responsible for what you download.
• Price: CleanCut Cleaner (just the cleaning, for media you already have) is $2.99 once; CleanCut Suite (everything) is $5.99 once. These are launch prices: the price for new buyers goes up as features are added, and anyone who has bought keeps their license forever. No subscription, and free updates.
• Free trial: 3 movies and 10 TV episodes, every feature, no card needed.
• What you need: an always-on computer, Plex, and Plex Pass if you want to lock kid profiles to clean titles (see below).

Take: the most hands-off option for a Plex family with several TVs. Like every tool here, it can still miss a mumbled word. More on the CleanCut Suite page.

Quick comparison

Set up a clean kid profile in Plex

Muting is half the job. The other half is making sure your child only sees titles you're happy with. Plex calls a child's profile a managed user: a profile for someone without their own Plex account. Plex's managed users and parental controls guides have the details.

1. Put a PIN on your own profile. Otherwise your child can switch to it. Plex notes a PIN is a convenience, not true security.
2. Add a profile for each child. In Plex on the web, open Settings → Plex Home and add a managed user.
3. Choose what they can see. Open the child's Restrictions. The quick choice is a Restriction Profile: Younger Kid, Older Kid or Teen. These go by age rating only, so a Teen profile still shows a PG-13 movie full of strong language.
4. To show only clean titles, set the Restriction Profile to None and save. Plex then shows label boxes (this part needs Plex Pass). Under Movies and TV Shows, put the label your tool uses (for CleanCut, Kid Safe) in the allow box. Plex only shows titles with that label.
5. Test it. Switch to the child's profile on your TV and check that only the titles you expect appear.
6. Pick the clean audio track if your tool adds one: in the Plex player, open the audio settings and choose it.

The honest bottom line

No filter catches every word, every time. If your family mostly uses Netflix and similar services, a streaming filter is the easy choice. If you have a Plex library and like tinkering, try the free tools. If you'd like it to run by itself on every TV in the house, that's why we built CleanCut Suite. Whichever you pick, watch a few titles yourself first.

More: CleanCut Suite · Install guide · All guides