Credit: u/No-Refrigerator9154
Opening Notes (important stuff, please read)
This configuration of the Stremio app will allow you to stream movies/TV from most devices, with the exception being IOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. If you want to stream from those devices, this guide is not for you.
You can use this Stremio configuration to stream movies/TV on most other platforms, including Windows, Mac, Android, FireOS (includes Fire Stick and Fire TV), Linux, AndroidTV, and even the Steam Deck.
However, the Stremio setup guide will require that you use a Windows, Mac, Linux, or Android device. Please don't attempt the setup steps on another device.
Additional information for FireOS (includes Fire Stick and Fire TV) and Linux devices is located below the Stremio setup guide, but you need to go through the Stremio setup guide beforehand with a required device (Refer to previous bullet point).
Stremio Setup Guide
Part 1: Stremio
For Windows/Mac users - Go to https://www.stremio.com/ and download the relevant client for your platform
For Android users - Install Stremio through the Google Play Store: Stremio - Apps on Google Play
Open Stremio and sign up with email or Facebook
Part 2: Real Debrid
Go to https://real-debrid.com/
Sign up
Go to Premium Offers
Choose a package and subscribe. I found that using Amazon Pay as the payment method is the most convenient (if you have an Amazon account)
Part 3: Torrentio
Go to Torrentio Lite - Stremio Addon
Towards the bottom of the page, select the "Debrid Provider" option and select "Real Debrid" from the drop-down menu. This will cause a new text box to appear underneath.
Copy the API key from this link https://real-debrid.com/apitoken and paste it into the "RealDebrid API Key**"** box
In the Debrid Options menu: Check the box "Don't show download to debrid links" and leave the other boxes unchecked.
Click "Install" at the bottom. It should open the Stremio app and prompt you with an "Install Addon" window. Click the green install button at the bottom.
Optional but highly Recommended - In Stremio, click the puzzle piece in the top right to view your addons. Click "My Addons" and uninstall the "WatchHub" addon. It's an eyesore and it clutters your streams list.
Now that you have completed the setup, you may install Stremio on any device of your choice (excluding IOS) and log in to your account to start streaming Movies/TV. Refer to the section below for Stremio installation on FireOS devices (Fire Stick, FireTV).
FireOS devices (Fire Stick, FireTV)
After you have gone through the setup on another device, watch this video on how to install Stremio on your FireOS device https://youtu.be/U1o-scADuIg and then log into your account in the Stremio app. At this point you’re good to stream. It will download everything that you just set up and sync your shows across all devices. However, some FireOS devices may not be capable of 4k streaming.
Edit 10/16/2023 - if you are on firestick, make sure to download the Android TV apk from the Stremio downloads section. The youtube video linked above was created before Stremio had an Android TV version. The UI is much improved over the base android UI for use on a smart tv.
Linux
At the time of making this guide, I had issues in the setup process on Linux but I’m pretty sure that was my fault for having weird defaults on my Arch install. You should be able to complete the setup process on Linux without issues and streaming is guaranteed to work. In the case that you run into issues, Just complete the setup steps on a recommended device first, then install and log into the Stremio app on your Linux device.
Additional information
YOU DO NOT NEED A VPN.
Account sharing: You should only share your Stremio account with people who are connected to the same WiFi network as you. If you do not follow this rule, your Real Debrid account may be suspended.
Bugs/Glitches:
Sometimes, an episode of a show or a movie will display "No streams found" even though it should be available. This has only happened to me a handful of times, but the problem will resolve itself eventually.
If the picture is black but the audio is still playing, you should go back and select a stream with a different resolution.
Issue: No streams are appearing at all, or none of them work. Here are the possible explanations:
Your Real Debrid Subscription has expired. Go to Real-Debrid and check your account status.
Real Debrid servers are down/undergoing maintenance. Wait an hour or so, and then try again.
You made a mistake while following the guide. My DMs are open if you can't figure it out. I'll probably try to help.
Credit to u/OnlyTheCruxes for most of this stuff because I kinda just copied their guide and added more detail based on my own personal experience with the setup process (Original guide: Installing Stremino + Torrentio + Real Debird )
Fuck subscriptions
Step 2:
Buy a subscription
You’re right. The title says “subscriptions” not a subscription. So one subscription is fine. /s
I miss the days where you didn’t have to spend anything to pirate, of course you don’t have to now but it’s much tougher to get large files from file hosts. And the video quality on most streaming sites is mostly 720p and if a website does have higher quality there’s just a lot of buffering
I miss the days where you didn’t have to spend anything to pirate
Nothing changed with torrents afaik. Never tried streamio tho
Your title should be “fuck subscriptions, except subscriptions from this site pulled from 1998” since everything in your guide relies on a paid debrid sub.
Sorry, you can use RD subscription or you can use it for free with torrentio add-in.
Please do not use Stremio without RD - you’d be a freeloader on the torrent ecosystem. Stremio doesn’t seed back.
If you are using torrentio, you are downloading via torrent on your home network. Depending on what country you are in, it’s not safe to do that without a VPN. If you are trying to watch on a TV via Fire stick or Chromecast, setting up a VPN is not easy.
If you are using torrentio, you are downloading via torrent on your home network.
Because you can configure Torrentio to work with an RD API, this is not true. That’s the point of the setup – the end user is neither seeding nor leeching any torrent files. They are using the add-on to access a cache elsewhere, providing them with a simple and encrypted DDL.
Yeah I’m not really so sure running Real-Debrid without a VPN is much of a genius move:
“Files links that Users download are stored in a database for legal concerns and our internal use. All saved links are erased within 1 month for security reasons and service needs. However all requests made on our site are stored for 1 year, the legal retention period.”
“We may be required to disclose Users personal data in order to protect our legal rights or where disclosure of Users personal data’s are required of us by the judicial authorities only when legal procedures are followed.”
“Our servers can detect the IP Address of Users connection through the Internet. These IP addresses (public) and their approximative geolocations are recorded by our servers for internal use only (registration on the site, optimal use of downloads, protection against thieves, etc.).”
All from Real-Debrid Privacy information
It’s a question of whether they would ever get subpoenaed really, and then whether they’d comply. I’m not sure it’s worth it from the copyright holders’ perspective. The individual users are getting DDL links, so they’re not uploading – i.e. “sharing” – anything. These days, if holders go after anyone, it’s for the sharing not the downloading. As for compliance, I don’t think we have any evidence one way or the other, as (afaik) they are yet to be subpoenaed (despite running for a long time).
It’s also worth noting if you do want to do this totally privately: when you buy an RD subscription, you cannot use a VPN during that process (they block known IPs). So, you would want to use a public WiFi connection somewhere, and choose an anonymous payment method like paysafecard.
I’ve been trying to figure out what realdebrid actually does to no avail, and it doesn’t help that the website is likely purposefully unhelpful.
From what I can put together, realdebrid will run torrents for you, on their machines, and provide you with a download link? What are the torrent sources? Also, what about seeding ratios?
And then another comment points out that streamio is meant to work directly with torrents, which leaves me confused as far as how all the pieces fit together.
The sites are purposefully obtuse to not draw attention.
A debrid service generally has 2 purposes: caching files and unlocking premium file hosting sites for cheap.
The latter is self-explanatory and not relevant for this thread (basically imagine unlocking premium for sites like mega and rapidgator but only paying 1 site for all of it).
The former is what’s important. When you give a site like real debrid a torrent/magnet link, it will download the files in that torrent and cache them so that anyone who later wants to access that same torrent, instead of having to rely on seeders, can just download it directly from the debrid website.
What are the torrent sources?
It doesn’t have any, users are the ones who manually (or automatically with their API) provide the site with torrents, which the site then caches for anyone who later wants them.
Also, what about seeding ratios?
There aren’t any. Most debrid sites only leech and don’t seed, that’s why even among piracy communities they can be controversial.
And then another comment points out that streamio is meant to work directly with torrents, which leaves me confused as far as how all the pieces fit together.
Stremio doesn’t do anything on its own, the add-ons built for stremio are what do the work.
There is an add-on called torrentio which can pull torrents from several popular trackers and show them in stremio, where you can pick one and start streaming (or, more specifically, the stremio app downloads the torrent sequentially, which allows you to watch it while it’s still downloading). That’s what we’re using here.
This add-on can additionally be configured with your real debrid account’s API key so that when you select a torrent in stremio, instead of stremio downloading the torrent normally from the available seeders, it instead pulls the cached file from real-debrid, dramatically increasing download speed and more or less eliminating buffering altogether (since real debrid can provide the file at much faster speeds). Using real debrid also solves the issue of torrents with no/few seeds, since the file is always cached regardless and can be provided at fast speeds always.
Hope this helped.
YOU DO NOT NEED A VPN.
Depends on the country. Some countries don’t give a flying fuck about people pirating
Canada’s in a weird place with this. You can get a notice from your ISP if they receive a complaint from a copyright holder, but it’s basically just your ISP telling you to knock it off (and to be smarter about how you do it). For all the shit we give our ISPs, they really don’t care what you’re downloading.
Well, on the other side of the pond, the French telecom Free has a full fledged torrent and Usenet client right in their router control panel haha
In most countries that actually penalize pirating, what is illegal is sharing a file, not downloading it. You don’t need a VPN in this case, as what you’re doing isn’t illegal.
In this case you are given a real debrid link for the stream which cannot be opened without am account. Meaning people can’t really tell what it is
Im a cavewoman who downloads with torrents and just opens them on my pc when needed
what reasons would there be to not…do that
The difference is that with this kind of setup you have a somewhat similar experience to streaming services. You browse directly from the app and directly play the movie.
Torrent tip : if you make the download sequential you can start watching the movie using a player like VLC without it having to fully download. you start the download, wait a bit for it to load a few pourcentages and you can start watching while it’s still loading.
It depends on your internet speed, the file size and the movie length but if you’re internet is fast enough then no worries.
why would i want the streaming experience when pirating kinda goes against that?
There is nothing inerrantly wrong with streaming, it is the fact that all the streaming services suck. The experience to watch a show through streaming is:
- Look up what streaming service its on.
- Realize you don’t have it, pay $25 a month for a subscription.
- Watch the show in 480p even though you paid for 4k.
- Realize you are using the “wrong” browser & try chromium
- Realize chromium doesn’t work either and install their proprietary app.
- In the time that you were getting their app working, they lost the rights to the show. Restart on new streaming service.
If it were instead:
- go to any streaming service of your choice
- Pay $35 a month
- Watch on Firefox on Linux in 4k, a lot fewer people would pirate.
convenience mostly. Having a streaming like UX is pleasant and It’s easier to browse directly from the app instead of looking for a movie to watch , search for it on torrent sites and then download it to watch it.
I mostly watch in 720p and This is why I watch directly on pirate streaming sites instead of torrenting. It’s more convenient for me.
Also, I don’t think piracy is against anything, it’s about making people’s life easier. At least, that’s what piracy is for me.
Eh paying for debrid(paying for access to pirated content) goes against being a pirate, not streaming. I pay for a seedbox and torrent/stream all my content. Its beautifully automated and worth the $20 a month for the online storage. Dont have to use a vpn, and i can easily download anything from the seedbox locally
Stremio works on android TV. I use the Stremio + RD + Torrentio setup, it’s great for essentially mimicking the Netflix experience in that you can sit down and browse movies/series, watch trailers then just select something to watch right then and there. It’s intuitive so my family can use it easily.
If you mainly watch movies on your PC/laptop then there may not be that much material gain from the above setup - but it is a good option if wanting to fully replace the Netflix-esque experience.
A Seedbox running jellyfin and an *Arr stack running on torrents work much better for this than streamio. It’s like having a pirate dvr. Notifications goto my private discord channel when content is added or applications need updating, and i just open Jellyfin on my android tv box(or literally any smart device) to stream my downloaded content. I tell people its like having my own Netflix server.
That’s more complicated than Stremio to setup though, and still requires you to download the movie/show before watching, correct? Stremio just requires adding Torrentio in the app and linking your RD account once - then it’s easy times.
Listen, I think Jellyfish is great - but it really is a horse’s for courses scenario. The Stremio + Torrentio + RD triad just works for a lot of people that need a wife proof solution (pardon the sexism) and don’t want to store all this content.
Out of interest, does Jellyfish have ability to list Netflix, HBO catalogues? That’s a convenient add-on in Stremio where you can essentially browse a specific streaming service’s catalogue, or at least their most popular items.
If you have decent internet…zero. why would you start to pay for services to get the same content you are already getting with a tiny bit less effort.
