Short answer: Stremio live TV is the live-channels section of the Stremio media center, and every channel comes from an add-on you install — Stremio provides none itself. Since the September 2026 Stremio 5 update, any Live TV add-on that ships schedule data also gets a full program guide (EPG) inside Discover. The safe way to use it: install Stremio, add a Live TV add-on that serves public or licensed streams, and open its catalog in Discover.
Stremio live TV is the part of the free Stremio app that plays linear, live channels through user-installed add-ons. Stremio is only the player: it hosts no channels of its own, and the quality and legality of what you watch depend entirely on the add-on source you connect it to. As of the September 2026 Stremio 5 update, add-ons that provide schedule data automatically display a scrollable program guide (EPG) in the Discover tab.
Stremio is a media center: a single app that organizes movies, series, and channels into a library-style interface. Unlike a traditional IPTV app, it does not ship with a channel list and it does not sell TV service. Everything it plays — including live channels — arrives through add-ons, which are small extensions that connect Stremio to a catalog of streams. If you are new to the underlying idea, our explainer on what IPTV is and how it works covers the model in detail.
That player-first design is the same principle we explain in our Kodi guide: the app is only a player, and the source you connect it to decides whether your setup is legitimate. It also means there is no single "Stremio channel list" — two people using different add-ons see different channels.
The biggest change for live TV arrived in Stremio Tech Update #85, published September 23, 2026. Live TV channels in Discover now come with a full program guide, known as an EPG: you can see what is on each channel right now and what is coming next, scroll through the timeline, and switch between days. Selecting a channel opens a redesigned channel page with the day's schedule underneath it, and pressing play starts the stream live.
One detail matters most: the guide comes from your add-ons, not from Stremio. If an installed Live TV add-on provides a program schedule, the guide appears automatically in Discover under that add-on's TV catalog. Add-ons that carry only a channel list keep showing a plain list — nothing is broken if you see no guide; the add-on simply has no schedule data. Stremio documents this EPG behavior in its official add-on SDK, so it is a stable, supported feature.
The downloads page currently labels the Stremio 5 desktop builds as beta; the older v4.4 builds remain available if you prefer stability.
Stremio live TV is only as good as its source. The cleanest no-cost route is public, free-to-air playlists — channel streams that broadcasters make publicly available. The best-known collection is iptv-org, a public GitHub project that aggregates publicly available IPTV channels from around the world into ready-to-use M3U playlists.
Its documentation states it stores no video files — only links to publicly available stream URLs that, to its knowledge, rights holders published intentionally — and it runs a takedown process for claims. It also publishes EPG utilities in a companion repository, which matters now that Stremio renders guides from add-on schedule data.
To turn such a playlist into a Stremio channel list, you need a Live TV add-on. Public GitHub projects like tsaridas/iptv-stremio do exactly this: they read public iptv-org playlists, filter out inactive channels, and expose the result as a Stremio add-on you install by opening its manifest URL. Add-ons in this category are plumbing, not content — they organize public streams and add nothing of their own.
If you would rather control the list yourself, build a playlist from sources you choose and vet by following our guide to creating an M3U playlist. Our walkthrough on adding channels to PlasmaXs then covers the loading and EPG steps that apply across most player apps.
With a source picked, setup takes a few minutes:
The guide needs no configuration — per the official update it renders automatically whenever an add-on supplies a schedule. If your add-on offers country or category filters, a narrower list usually means fewer dead channels.
Stremio's official downloads page covers a wide range of platforms: Windows, macOS, and Linux on desktop; Android and iOS on mobile; Android TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV, and LG TV in the living room; plus a web player that runs in the browser, and even builds for VR headsets, Steam Deck, and Raspberry Pi. Add-ons and the library follow your account, so channels set up on a computer appear on a TV app after you sign in.
Live TV belongs on the biggest screen in the house. If your TV already runs a full player app, our comparison of the best IPTV player apps in 2026 covers how dedicated players differ from media centers like Stremio. And to test a playlist without installing anything, the PlasmaX web app plays M3U playlists in the browser in seconds.
The overlap confuses people, so here is the short version. Both are media centers that play live channels through extensions, and in both cases the source decides legality. Kodi reaches live TV through PVR back-ends and has a much larger add-on ecosystem — our guide on how to work Kodi walks through that setup. Stremio counters with a more streaming-service-like interface, account sync across devices, and, since September 2026, an automatic EPG for add-ons that carry schedule data. Working Kodi setup? Keep it. Want the lowest-friction experience across a TV and a phone? Stremio is simpler.
The real question is not whether Stremio is legal — it is a legitimate, publicly distributed media player — but where a given add-on's channels come from. Public free-to-air playlists like iptv-org's are the safe category: the streams are ones broadcasters published openly. The risk category is add-ons that advertise hundreds of premium sports and movie channels for free. Those almost always redistribute paid TV without permission, and they bring malware exposure, channels that vanish mid-season when the service is shut down, and legal risk for the viewer in many countries.
Three habits keep a setup on the right side of the line: prefer add-ons that publish their source code and name their data sources; treat any add-on promising premium channels for free as a warning sign, not a bargain; and remember that when a channel is gray, the problem is the playlist — swapping players will not fix it. We apply the same rules across our guides to IPTV legality, and they cost nothing to follow.
No guide, only a channel list. Per the official update, the EPG appears only when the add-on provides schedule data. Verify the add-on actually ships a schedule; no setting in Stremio can create one, and the fix is a different add-on.
Channels missing or grayed out. Public playlists change constantly: broadcasters retire streams, and some streams only work in their home region. Well-built add-ons filter dead channels on a schedule, so a stale list usually clears after the add-on refreshes. If one country's channels never load, regional blocking is the likely cause.
Streams that stutter or fail mid-play. Public FTA streams are typically modest bitrates on volunteer infrastructure, so peak-time congestion is common. Narrowing your add-on's country or category filters, closing background apps on modest hardware, and retrying at a different hour will tell you whether the bottleneck is the source or your network.
Stremio itself is legal software — it is a player that hosts no channels. Legality depends on the add-on source: add-ons serving public free-to-air streams, like those built on the iptv-org playlists, are the safe category, while add-ons redistributing paid TV without permission are not and carry real legal and security risk in many countries.
Yes — since Tech Update #85 in September 2026, Discover renders a full program guide (EPG) with now/next information, a scrollable timeline, and day switching. The guide is automatic and appears only for Live TV add-ons that provide schedule data; add-ons without a schedule still show a plain channel list.
Install a Live TV add-on the way you would any Stremio add-on: open its install or manifest URL, and its channel catalog appears in Discover. For a no-cost, legal starting point, choose an add-on built on public free-to-air playlists such as the iptv-org collection, then browse its TV catalog and press play on any channel.
Public playlists link to streams that broadcasters can retire, geo-restrict, or move at any time, so dead links are normal. Quality add-ons filter inactive channels automatically. If a channel never plays, try its alternatives in the same category, refresh the add-on's data, and check whether the channel is region-locked before assuming your setup is broken.
Stremio live TV in 2026 is genuinely simple: install the player, connect a Live TV add-on built on public or licensed sources, and the new EPG guide in Discover does the rest. Keeping the player-source division clear — and choosing sources deliberately — is what separates a setup that lasts from one that dies mid-season. Pick a clean source today, and the guide will keep tomorrow's schedule waiting in Discover.
