Stremio + Torrentio + Debrid: A How-To Guide
Guide
Stremio: the All-in-One Insanely-Affordable Streaming Service
What is Stremio?
Stremio, on its surface, is a simple media player and aggregator. When combined with the right addons and a debrid service though, it becomes my favorite on-demand video streamer currently in existence. Following this guide, you'll have a simple yet aesthetically pleasing app that will combine Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and so much more all in one unified app.
Stremio itself is free to download and use, though the debrid part of this service costs a nominal monthly fee (about USD2.60/month, more details below).
Stremio can be used on Android mobile, Android TV, Fire devices (needs sideloading not covered here), PC, Mac, and Linux. It is possible to use it on iOS, though some workarounds are needed (not covered here).
You can also use Stremio without installing any application from your browser at
web.stremio.com.
Sign Up & Download Stremio
Head to
stremio.com, sign up for a free account, and download the software. I recommend doing this guide from PC/Mac/Linux, though any device should work with the exception of web.stremio.com -- that cannot manage external addons, which we'll need later.
Once you have Stremio installed, opened, and you're logged in, navigate to your installed addons found in the top right (it looks like a puzzle icon) and then click on My Addons.
Uninstall anything it may have came with, with the exception of the following:
- Cinemeta- built in, can't uninstall, shows the following homepage categories: Movies Popular, Series Popular, Featured Movies, & Featured Series
- OpenSubtitles- built in, can't uninstall, downloads subtitles
- Local Files - built in, can't uninstall
Sign Up for a Real-Debrid Account
The real magic behind making this work is a debrid service. If you're curious to learn the details of what debrid is & how it works, here's a
fantastic guide.
There are a number of debrid services, but my personal favorite for its stability, number of sources, speed, and longevity is Real-Debrid (RD for short). It's also extremely affordable. Plans are about USD4.00 for a month, but 6 month plans can be purchased for ~USD2.60/month. You can pay directly with credit card or crypto.
If you'd like to support me, you can sign up for Real-Debrid with my referral link.
Once you've created an account, click Premium Offers on the top menu bar and choose the plan that's right for you.
When you buy an RD plan, you get fidelity points. When you get 1,000 fidelity points, you can redeem them for 30 free days. For example, when you purchase two 6 month plans, you'll net you 1,400 fidelity points. This means that every year you get 1 month free with 400 fidelity points leftover.
Be sure to mark in your calendar for your RD expiration date. They don’t send emails or notices.
Once we're all set up with RD premium, lets return to Stremio to install our addons. We'll install 2 addons and then we're ready for frictionless streaming!
Installing Torrentio: Stremio's Link Aggregator
Torrentio is the true powerhouse behind Stremio and it's what populates the links we need to stream. To begin, head over to
Torrentio's config page to manage the addon.
Torrentio has a lot of options and it can be overwhelming at first. Below I've listed my recommendations and my personal configuration:
- Providers: I have them all checked.
- Sorting: By quality then size
- Priority foreign language: Torrentio defaults to pulling English audio content regardless of origin source, so only change this if you prefer another language to display first.
- Exclude qualities: If checked, the quality types selected will be excluded and suppressed from your search results. I only exclude screener and cam sources, therefore the only boxes I have checked are screener and cam. If you have slower internet, you may want to exclude 4K sources.
- Max results per quality: I leave this blank.
- Debrid provider: Choose Real-Debrid.
- RealDebrid API Key: Click find it here. This will link to RD displaying your API key. Copy that and paste it into Torrentio.
- Debrid options: I check the first two options and leave the third option unchecked.
Now we're done configuring Torrentio. The next step is to click install. Doing so should automatically open Stremio prompting you to install once again.
If all went well, then congrats, you can now populate links for endless streaming! Technically, you could leave it here and be done with the guide, but we're going to install one more addon to populate popular and new results from the major streaming services.
Note: It is possible to use Stremio + Torrentio without a debrid service completely for free. Torrentio without debrid, as its name implies, streams torrents directly. Torrentio with debrid streams cached torrents via HTTPS and
does not need a VPN. The experience IMO is far superior with a debrid service
