*Updated For 2018!
I get it. It’s tempting.
I mean…REALLY TEMPTING.
You see dozens of sites screaming that they can deliver stuff like this:
“Experience unlimited entertainment…”
“All the premium channels”
“Hundreds of live sports channels”
“Full HD every time!”
“Access every single PPV event!”
If you’re looking to cut the cable cord and save some of your hard-earned money, they make it sound SO EASY to get all the movies, sports, pay-per-view events and TV shows that you’re used to watching with Cable TV at a fraction of the cost.
But if it sounds too good to be true…
So what aren’t they telling you? What’s the catch?
Stick around and I’ll tell you the stuff they don’t want you to know.
Let’s get clear about something…
To start off, let me get very clear about what I’m talking about.
Paid addons and services aren’t necessarily evil.
That’s not going to make me very popular with many people in the Kodi community or even the open-source community. But it’s a reality of life today. Everyone is in the business of selling something, and I see no problems charging money for your expertise or services…as long as its fair and provides good value for the money.
A good paid add-on or service is something that gives you extra functionality that you wouldn’t have otherwise. For example, if a hardware manufacturer like Logitech or HDHomerun created a premium addon for use with some of their devices to give you extra benefits. On the Plex side of things, each of the Plex player apps has a nominal charge to it, unless you’re a member of Plex Pass.
All that is OK.
What I get fired-up about is when the sellers misrepresent the value to the end user. Many will over-promise based on things they simply cannot control. Worse yet, they may put the customer at risk. That’s pure evil.
What I’m going to talk about here is specifically those paid Kodi\XBMC addons and “premium IPTV subscriptions” that offer to give you access to stuff that you would normally have to shell out a lot of money for.
So what’s the problem?
Here are five things that they don’t want you to know about their paid Kodi addons and IPTV subscriptions. But I’m not just going to tell you what they don’t want you to know, I’m going to tell you why you should care.
1. It’s not easy to setup
Think for a second how easy it is to use your television when you have cable TV.
- Turn on TV
- (optional) Press the Guide button to find a real-time description of what is available to watch
- Enter channel number or scroll through the available channels until you find what you want
For the past eighty years television has been pretty easy to use. I mean, the worst we’ve had to put up with has been fixing the “rabbit ears” to get the right signal or running up to the TV to change the channel by hand.
Using these paid services isn’t easy, and they’re certainly not “set it and forget it.”
Even setting up your cable TV isn’t difficult. Someone comes to your house to install it for you. They are famous for their crappy customer service, but once you have it installed, it generally works without an issue unless there’s an outage affecting your entire area.
Remember the three step setup process above? Simple, right?
Now think about paid Kodi addons.
Because of their nature, many Kodi addons aren’t going to be in the official Kodi repository. What this means for you is that you’ll need to install them manually.
If you’re a techie, this isn’t a big deal. Admittedly, there are hundreds of YouTube videos telling you how to install the Kodi flavour of the day addon. The paid addons are no exception.
But if you’re not a techie this can be pretty daunting.
Let’s take a look at the installation process of one of the more popular Kodi addons: Exodus. This isn’t a paid add-on, but it will illustrate just how complicated the installation can be if you’re not used to it.
- Turn on your TV and Android box
- Launch Kodi
- Select System and then File Manager
- Select Add Source
- Select None
- Enter the following repository exactly: http://fusion.tvaddons.ag
- Click Done
- Enter a name for the media source.
- Go back to the Kodi home screen
- Select System
- Select Add-Ons
- Select Install from zip file
- Select whatever you named your media source back in step 8
- Select Kodi-repos
- Select your language
- Select repository.exodus-x.x.x.zip
- Wait for the system to enable the add-on
- Select Install from repository
- Select * Exodus Repository*
- Select Video Add-Ons
- Select Exodus
- Select Install
- Wait for the system to enable the add-on
Are you tired yet?
Is this hard? No. Not if you know what you’re doing.
Is it cumbersome? Absolutely!
2. It’s not easy to use
Even if you have something that will set it up for you, you’re not off the hook. You still have more work to do to every time you want to watch TV.
They’re certainly not “set and forget.”
Channel surfing has become the norm. If you want to watch something, you just flipped through the stations until you found what you were looking for. Or better yet, you went to your Channel Guide and which told you exactly what was on every single channel.
Not so in the Kodi world.
It’s funny to me that the same people who complain about having to open a different (official) app to watch different content are the same ones that swear by these complicated add-ons.
Why do I say that?
Think about this. When you turn on your TV, how many options do you have to watch the same show?
One, right?
Take a look at how many different streams there are for these sporting events. Some of them may work. Some may not. Some may be better quality. Some may be garbage.
Do you really want to spend your TV time looking for something that works and actually looks good?
So why should you care?
If you’re not a techie, or just don’t want to put the effort into constantly tweaking your setup…if you just want it to be simple and easy, then you might want to look at other options.
The bottom line is that watching TV with a paid Kodi addon or a sketchy IPTV subscription service takes a lot of work.
3. They’re almost always illegal
Stay with me here, because this isn’t going where you think it is.
This isn’t about me taking some “moral high ground.” This is about your privacy, security and how much you’re willing to risk them.
The fact of the matter is that streaming content that you don’t own is illegal, or will become illegal in the very near future. Piracy will always be around, of course. It’s been around for hundreds of years in one form or another, and will continue to be for hundreds more. More on this in my article that looks at Is Kodi Legal?
What’s different now is that it’s becoming easier and easier for the authorities to track who is participating in it.
The UK’s Digital Economy Act (see link above) doesn’t directly go after the people streaming the content, it goes after the people providing the content. Once the news of possible fines and imprisonment spread, multiple streaming sites voluntarily shut down. Even Navi X, one of the longest running Kodi add-ons, closed it’s doors forever. See more shutdowns here, here, here, and here.
According to TorrentFreak.com, the Navi-X team “says that the main reason for discontinuing the addon and its underlying service is the current legal climate. Hosting Navi-X playlists is something that TV Addons no longer feels comfortable with due to the potential liability that comes with it.”
So what, you say? With this flurry of activity, what does this mean for you?
End users of pirate streaming sites could be in legal trouble themselves. You may remember Popcorn Time? Several of their end-users were sued by the filmmakers for damages up to $150,000. Recently a British university student was caught torrenting a movie and faced retribution from her school.
Even if you personally take precautions to keep yourself safe, it may not matter. Several fully loaded Kodi box sellers have been jailed in the UK, recently.
Tell me…what do you think happens to their customer records when they get arrested?
The names and addresses of all of those people who purchased those devices are now in the hands of the police. Which means that those people can now be easily observed for pirating content themselves.
Easiest. Investigation. Ever.
Why should you care?
Make no mistake: You’re the one at risk if you use an illegal service. If you do so, use an anonymous form of payment, like Bitcoin and I recommend using a VPN for Kodi. But just understand, if Big Brother wants to find you, they will. No defense is foolproof.
4. They can take your money and run
But wait…there’s more!
Because most of these paid Kodi addons and IPTV subscription services are illegal (or legally grey), there’s even more risk.
Our friends over at KillTheCableBill.com have a huge list of IPTV Scams that they’ve uncovered over the past few years. And the list is only growing?
You see, it’s easy for someone to set up a paid IPTV subscription service and charge for access to their servers.
But what happens when they get more attention than they bargained for and they decide to close up shop.
If you paid by credit card, which puts you at risk (see point #2 above), then you can try to charge-back the purchase. If you paid by Bitcoin or some other secure method of payment, don’t hold your breathe on getting a refund.
These services were on shaky legal ground to begin with, which means you have absolutely no recourse when things go wrong.
You see, there’s something called the Clean Hands Doctrine which basically says that if you’re engaging in illegal activity, you can’t reasonably expect someone to act within the bounds of the law. Basically, if you tried to sue someone who steals the money you paid them to get illegal access to premium channels and PPV events, then your case will be thrown out of court.
Why should you care?
If you do decide to go with a paid Kodi addon or IPTV subscription, go with a month-to-month plan using a secure method of payment like Bitcoin. That way it will limit your exposure if they decide to go belly-up.
5. All those SD streams are going to look like crap.
You bought a 4K TV, right? If not, you’ve at least got a 1080p HD TV?
So why are you satisfied with Standard Definition (SD) streams?
Many of the streams you’ll see on these IPTV services are in SD, which is around 480p. (Side note: Technically this is “enhanced definition” not “standard definition”, but the term “enhanced definition” has gone away over the past few years).
Simply put: You’re not getting your money’s worth out of that TV if you’re using it to play crappy streams at low resolution.
Why should you care?
You bought your TV for a reason. You were impressed by those attention-grabbing video loops that were playing on it at the store.
So why are you satisfied using only a fraction of its potential?
Paid Kodi Addons and IPTV subscriptions: The Verdict
Bottom line is that you can get something good, or you can get something free. It all depends on what matters to you.
There are other options for streaming that can give you the quality and security that you need, while still cutting a huge chunk out of your cable bill. Stay tuned. The next article in this series will lay out some of those options for you.
Thanks Tim. I guess it’s a time of self reflection for many, myself included. From your article I’ve learned that the subscription price I pay for “Sports” may not be above board. I was under the impression that paying the subscription price, the company in turn, was paying for a legal right to broadcast the content. This begs the question: How can I check this out? Is there a list of providers that legally broadcast content, specifically 3rd party and aside from the obvious Neflix, Hulu, and others? Appreciate the wake up call. 🙂
I first thought this article was a warning from the authorities. Turns out, it’s pretty honest.
But there ARE legal options out there and they are a pretty cheap bargain for a clean conscience.
However, there are some ethic issues not discussed here.
In example, I would love an alternative to Spotify. It’s cheap and all but I heard the artists are not getting what they should. So, is that service legal? In the eyes of the authorities, absolutely. In the eyes of the original content creators, no.
I think the content creators should have a larger say in most of these online services, but I guess they negotiated their share with the companies already.
You can always buy your albums (CD, itunes, bandcamp, amazon, whatever) and upload it to Play Music. A single album purchase is equivalent to quite a bit of streaming.
Heres the thing, based on your comment on spotify Night clubs and such that operate perfectly legally also don’t pay the owners of the material for the rights. They pay the artists union instead. Does that mean we persecute or ban a club or a professional DJ for doing something perfectly legal?
Ive been the Owner of a Mobile DJ company for almost 3 decades until recently. I paid my yearly license fees so that my systems could operate playing at partied weekly (and yes I had to pay as though each system played to an aidience of a fee hundred at least once a week, which was seldom the case). The actual artists never recieved anything from any of the license fees I paid. Instead the local APRA( Australasian Performing Right Association) and PPCA (public performance company of Australia).
This isnt new and never has been. But interestingly plenty of money is still made by artists from their material being streamed. Not just diirectly by streaming either. Justin Bieber got his start from the internet. U2 made a fortune from a song they launched free online. Psy has made almost 900k from gangham style playing on youtube alone.
Sounds like Dish Network or Direct TV wrote this article. They really dont want u to use Kodi or paid addons cause they are going to be out of business eventually.
Personally,if I’m going to pay someone for my content, I’d rather pay someone who actually has the rights to show it rather than some scammer trying to make a quick buck stealing it and selling it to unsuspecting people. I’m not saying you have to pay for what you watch. If you are going to do it, you might as well pay someone who won’t get you fined or arrested if they get caught.
Dish and other networks etc have every right and lets be honest without a change to how media works without them footing the bill for the production of TV shows and movies etc we won’t have anything to watch
yes there will come a day when someone will wake up and decide, I can just make this show and put it straight online and be paid by people watching it through the advertising the way YouTubers make their fortunes. That day however isn’t here yet and until it is we shouldn’t be smashing the Networks for trying to protect what they paid to have produced in the first place. Why would anyone spend a small Fortune producing a television show or movie if they can’t even recoup what they actually spent making it let alone a profit.
Third party Kodi addons are ridiculous to even attempt to use when there is so many viable easier to use and affordable options to stream the same media from with a small payment.
I subscribe to setv, I even bought their box, on the grounds that they advertise internationally and appear legit. I have discussed their legality with them and they say that they have operated legally for 20yrs and that my subscription gives me the right to watch their content, quote: “100% legal” unquote. I am trying to be a legitimate user of IPTV and see no reason to suspect that I am acting unlawfully. I have asked setv if I should use a VPN and they said, quote: “definitely not” unquote. Am I being stupidly scammed? I am not bothered about the costs, the programs I want to watch are not screened in the UK.
There’s a difference between “100% legal” and legitimate. Right now, streaming content you don’t have the rights to is illegal, but only because of a loophole in the laws. Sooner or later that loophole is going to be closed and all the IPTV and addon developers know it. That’s why they’re trying to make as much money now while they can.
Here’s a good way to tell if something is truly legitimate: try to find a review by a major media outlet. I’m not talking about guys like me with a blog or a YouTube channel. We’ll go into more depth than the big guys like CNET or Techradar will, but you’ll also find a lot of junk as well. If you go to setvnow.com and scroll down to the reviews section…there’s not a single major media outlet on the list. That should tell you something.
Cablecompanies are the criminals doing the same thing. Most of the tv channels you pay for are actually free. Look up FTA and on air broadcasts. Lookup chamnels you like and see they provide their chsnnels free. Why? Tv is free
Cable companies trick you into thinking you need to pay to watch your favorite tv channels. You can actually get a cheap $20 receiver and watch all the legal free tv. Cable companies might own some premium channels they make but also show on their websites free. Cable is a scam. The biggest scam in history. Nobody needs cable. So they should stop complaing. And consumers should be suing the cable companies for fraud.
First off, you are wrong about quality. Yes, there are a few bad feeds, channels may drop one in a while. Its still better than 100.00 a month for cable!
Don’t want your service resold, make it affordable. Not what you think is affordable, what is actually affordable. Would you rather have 20.00 and stay in business? Or charge 100.00 and loose customers?
I have a class every week showing users how to set up and maintain IPTV on kodi. You can pass laws, but we always find ways around them.
We are winning.
First off…LOVE the name. My best friend’s hockey team in Nashville is named the Fluffy Bunnies. I’ve even got a jersey. 🙂
I’m going to disagree that they’re better. The benefit of any legit service (whether its cable or a streaming service) is that it’s easy, reliable and good quality. The reason I pay $25 a month for Sling TV is that it’s always there when I need it without needing to mess around finding streams that don’t work anymore.
And speaking of which…that’s right: $25 a month for a legitimate, legal streaming service. Someone DID make it affordable.
Set tv is wayyyy better. $20/mo and that comes with all movie channels plus on demand service. Only down side is no pause/rewind on live TV
i have players club 5.00 a month with all the sports channels and NFL sunday ticket
OMFG I NEEEED HELPPPPP…..IMA N00B
ok ive tried to do everything you said to get Exodus and I got lost halfway through.
Has kodi changed? Because I can’t find a lot of stuff of what you’re referring to. I got halfway down your list to where it says Select System
Select Add-Ons, Select Install from zip file…… there is no addons in System. ?. Not in the new kodi… Please rewrite this thread based on newer kodi interface. Thanks sir.
?…what is this man? It doesn’t make sense. ?………
you’re not a techie this can be pretty daunting.
Let’s take a look at the installation process of one of the more popular Kodi addons: Exodus. This isn’t a paid add-on, but it will illustrate just how complicated the installation can be if you’re not used to it.
Turn on your TV and Android box
Launch Kodi
Select System and then File Manager
Select Add Source
Select None
Enter the following repository exactly: http://fusion.tvaddons.ag
Click Done
Enter a name for the media source.
Go back to the Kodi home screen
Select System
Select Add-Ons
Select Install from zip file
Select whatever you named your media source back in step 8
Select Kodi-repos
Select your language
Select repository.exodus-x.x.x.zip
Wait for the system to enable the add-on
Select Install from repository
Select * Exodus Repository*
Select Video Add-Ons
Select Exodus
Select Install
Wait for the system to enable the add-on
Are you tired yet?
Is this hard? Your effing Gdam right it is lol. Not if you know what you’re doing. Effff you techies lol.
Kodi Shoulda been based off of netflix interface and looks. So effin easy to navigate. NOT THIS BS KODI CRAP. I wanted to hulk smash kodi fir so long. Please donate so I can reach my hulk smashing goal.
Is it cumbersome? Absolutely! Effin NOT!
Hi Hulk…or should I call you Bruce? 🙂
That section on how to install Exodus was taken directly from another site, so I wasn’t including it as a how-to guide. It’s meant to show how complicated the instructions are. Considering it made you go all Hulk-smash, I think it worked.
There’s a choice between simple, good quality and free. You can usually pick two of those. Trying to get all three will just lead to ripped jeans and smashed televisions.
PS. I loved this comment, if you couldn’t already tell!
I thought this was going to be about actual IPTV services, that aren’t illegal. What a waste of time. Most of these are just “if you aren’t good with computers, you wont like it”.
Has anyone heard of EZE TV.Supposely if you pay $20.00 a month you can get everything. I saw this box in Myrtle Beach and thinking about buying it.
This box?
https://www.ezmediaboxes.com/
It took me a while to scroll down through the Google results, even just by searching on “EZE TV box”.
Problem 1:
The box is only worth about $70. If you do a search for the T95Z, you’ll find it for sale from a lot of different sellers. Here it is on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/EASYTONE-T95Z-PLUS-Android-Android-Ethernet-Bluetooth/dp/B06XD1LMCK
Problem 2:
The $20 monthly subscription is exactly what I’m describing in this article. You’re paying them just so they can keep the links updated. It’s the same problem that happened with StreamSmart and SmartKodi and will happen with DragonBox. Once the company goes under, those links start to fail. And that just leaves you with an overpriced Android box that you paid 4 times too much for.
I’d recommend buying an EZ Stream Ti8 (same hardware as the EZE TV box) or a SkyStream Two (upgraded hardware for similar cost). Both have a similar service where they take care of the links for you, but they don’t charge you anything extra for it. Or…you could get an NVIDIA Shield TV which is the best hardware on the market, but it requires you to configure it yourself.
Such a good impartial review, and all factual. It is so hard to find any Kodi build that actually works well now. The links are all down or you need to “Pair” another device every 2-4 hours to keep the link up. Even though this isn’t guaranteed, you need a VPN, even though this isn’t guaranteed. All the good build providers seem to have shut down, and we are left with the dregs who are providing a really crap service. As you point out 480p on a 1080p/4K TV is grossly under powering the potential of your equipment. I’m sick of watching sports as the links are now equivalent to watching on a 56k modem pre 2001.
Thank you for letting others in on this.
Here’s how it works for me. Kodi on Windows machine and on FireStick. Custom selected free addons. I watch everything and anything I care about in pristine quality. Run all my services thru a trusted VPN, all my networks are behind hardware firewalls, my computer uses professional (non-US) cryptographic software to hide and store all sensitive info and whatever is on my phone – it’s Blackberry. Short of a miracle, no agency in the world could track me or reach me, and in the hypothetical case they do, they won’t be able to retrieve definitive proof of illegal activity. And I gladly pay the price of Kodi being slightly inconvenient in terms of set up and initial operation!
And what about 3pm premier league games not broadcast in this country? How do you get to watch these legally then,?
I have over 200 1080p live links. I watch all sports in HD (at least 720p). Almost every Video on Demand for movies and TV I watch in 1080P. According to Trakt.tv, I watched over 2,000 hours of TV last year. All without a glitch.
If you get the right setup, you can truly enjoy your tv and watch what you want, when you want.
It’s getting the right setup that can be challenging for some people. Most people don’t have the time or technical expertise to devote to it.
There is a reason that Kodi has been around since 2002 and nobody has been able to stop them. The thing is people can complain all they want about the ones taking advantage of streaming tv, but it won’t do you much good. I have been using Kodi since its start and have had no problems. I also use multiple facets of IPTV, no problems. Keep complaining, until you yourselves see the benefit and jump on board. OTA antenna here gets 60+ channels alone. Cable and satellite have been over-charging people for years. It is like Uber vs. Taxis. You can fight it all you want, but it is reality.