Is it even worth it?

Saw some posts here, and to make full use of the service (not just using your own pc), you seem to need to:

  1. Purchase a Lifetime plex pass membership ($120)
  2. Purchase a lower power system that leverages hardware transcoding ($100+)
  3. Buy large trusted brand hard drives ($100+)

And then in your own time:

  1. Torrent/Copy over media (Tens, if not hundreds of hours)
  2. Set up the server, with software and installation

Is it even worth it in the end? I'm thinking about getting into Plex or one of the alternatives, but this seems like a lot of effort just to stream movies on your devices at home.

I've been looking at possibly getting an old refurbished NUC or something that I can find for dirt cheap, but this all seems like a big headache. Has it been worth it for you guys? How much have you spent and how has it worked out for you?