Free streaming stack ➜ live TV + movies + anime + sports ⟶ open-source, any device, $0
Free streaming stack ➜ live TV + movies + anime + sports ⟶ open-source, any device, $0Live TV, movies, anime, sports, radio — every paywall rebuilt from open-source repos. No card, no signup.
free · streaming · iptv
A pile of people on GitHub already built what Netflix, cable, and your IPTV plug all charge for — auto-updating, open, free. This is the full shelf: vaults, players, guides, on-demand, anime, sports, self-host, and the tricks that make janky lists behave like real cable.
Quick term, used everywhere below: M3U / M3U8 = a text file listing
channel → stream link. Any player reads it and streams live. You don’t download channels, you point a player at the list.
📡 the vaults — every channel on earth in a text file
Static lists rot. The upgrade is auto-pruned repos that rebuild on a timer and delete dead channels for you.
| Vault | What | Refresh |
|---|---|---|
| iptv-org/iptv | The firehose — thousands of channels, every country/category/language | Daily, via Actions |
| Free-TV/IPTV | Curated HD, dead links pruned — fewer but they work | Active |
| world_ip_tv | 50+ sources merged, every URL tested, dead ones purged | Every 6 hrs |
| LiveTVCollector | Country/category collector, deduped, outputs m3u + txt + json | Every 8 hrs |
| YouTube_to_m3u | Turns YouTube live channels into an M3U | Every 3 hrs |
Paste-anywhere links:
- iptv-org all →
https://iptv-org.github.io/iptv/index.m3u - iptv-org by country / category / language →
.../index.country.m3u·.../index.category.m3u·.../index.language.m3u - Free-TV curated →
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Free-TV/IPTV/master/playlist.m3u8 - YouTube_to_m3u →
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/benmoose39/YouTube_to_m3u/main/youtube.m3u
🗂️ the master index — bookmark this one
iptv-org/awesome-iptv — the directory of everything: players, web players, checkers, EPG tools, and other playlist repos. Also worth a look: Justryuz/m3u (converts arbitrary YouTube/Dailymotion live streams into one auto-updated .m3u8).
Channel says “live” but won’t load = geo-locked (region-locked). VPN to that country opens it. (Why some VPNs fail anyway → see the mechanics section.)
📅 FAST channels + a real TV guide (EPG)
FAST = Free Ad-Supported TV (Pluto, Samsung, etc. — linear channels, no account). These repos pump them into an M3U with a program guide attached.
| Generator | Pulls | Note |
|---|---|---|
| app-m3u-generator | Pluto · Samsung · Plex · Roku · Tubi, with EPG | Rebuilt daily, proxy-fixed so streams keep working |
| i.mjh.nz (matthuisman) | Pluto / Plex / Samsung FAST feeds | Long-running; some endpoints route through a proxy |
EPG = the channel guide (the “what’s on now/next” grid). It’s a separate XMLTV file you bolt onto a playlist.
| EPG source | Covers |
|---|---|
| iptv-org/epg | Thousands of channels, hundreds of sites — run it, get guide.xml daily |
| epgshare01 | Big ready-made XMLTV by country (e.g. epg_ripper_UK1.xml.gz) |
| epg.pw · open-epg.com | Free XMLTV/JSON, daily, plus a free editor |
| Freeview-EPG | UK free-to-air, 7 days, logos + episode numbers; raw epg.xml |
| XMLTV-EPG-Tools | Merge multiple feeds + time-shift channels (East/West) |
x-tvg-url="<epg-url>"to the#EXTM3Uheader line of your playlist, or add the XMLTV URL as a guide provider in your player. Matching is bytvg-id— clean IDs = a working guide.
🌍 don't wanna touch a link? spin a globe
Famelack (ex–tv.garden) runs the same streams in a browser. 1,000+ channels, 130+ countries, no signup, no ads. Phone, laptop, smart TV, Fire Stick. Can’t install anything? Any browser-based M3U player from the awesome-iptv list plays a playlist on a locked-down machine.
▶️ players — paste M3U and go
Open-source (pick these first):
| Player | Platforms | Why |
|---|---|---|
| VLC | Everything | Plays a raw M3U, no plugins. Media → Open Network Stream → paste |
| IPTVnator | Win/Mac/Linux + web + Docker | Best open-source GUI — M3U, Xtream, Stalker, EPG, favorites, catch-up |
| Jellyfin Live TV | Server + all clients | 100% free, no license. Add M3U tuner + XMLTV guide |
| Kodi + PVR IPTV Simple | Everything | M3U + XMLTV inside Kodi |
| Megacubo · Hypnotix | Cross-platform / Linux | Recording + miniplayer / dead-simple M3U+EPG |
Free tier, great on Android TV / Fire Stick: OTT Navigator (timeshift, multi-view), Televizo, Sparkle TV (DVR-style, free guide), Perfect Player (~8 MB, runs on old 1 GB sticks). (Base stack already has TiViMate + IPTV Smarters.)
🎬 movies, shows & anime on demand
| Tool | Does | Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Streambert | Desktop app — stream + download movies/series/anime | Zero ads/trackers, IMDB, subtitles, AniList sync, offline |
| hdmovix.cc | Browser — movies, TV, live, sports, music | 4K where available, 10 languages |
| anivix.cc | Browser — anime only | Full library, syncs AniList progress |
| Stremio + addons | App — one clean UI, content via addons | Add MediaFusion, Torrentio (torrentio.strem.fun), Comet, AIOStreams, Trakt sync |
| CloudStream | Android/TV/Firestick app — ships empty, add repos | Movies + TV + anime + live; add MegaRepo etc. inside the app |
Streambert builds → GitHub · Codeberg mirror · Arch AUR (.exe Win · .dmg Mac · .AppImage/.deb/.pacman Linux)
🆓 legit free libraries — zero shady, often ad-free
Free, legal, no torrents. Worth having even alongside the rest.
| Service | What |
|---|---|
| Tubi | 50k+ movies/shows + 260+ live channels — biggest free library, lightest ads |
| Pluto TV | ~425 live channels + on-demand, cable-style guide, no account |
| Plex free | 50k+ on-demand + 1,100+ live channels, no Plex Pass needed |
| Samsung TV Plus · Roku Channel · Xumo · Crackle · FilmRise | More FAST + on-demand, free |
Library card = fully ad-free: Kanopy (30k+ films incl. Criterion/A24) and Hoopla (mainstream + audiobooks/comics, offline downloads). Free with any US public library card.
🍥 anime deep cut — beyond anivix
| App | Platform | Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Aniyomi | Android | Anime + manga, AniList/MAL sync, installable sources |
| Miru | Android/Windows/Web | Extension-based video/comic/novel |
| Dantotsu forks | Cross-platform | ReDantotsu, Dartotsu, AnymeX, Awery — AniList-centric streamer+tracker |
⚽ sports + the geo-unlock
Free & legal (World Cup 2026, Jun 11–Jul 19): several countries air every match free-to-air — VPN there and it unlocks.
| Country | Free on | Note |
|---|---|---|
| UK | BBC iPlayer + ITVX | All 104 matches (TV Licence needed) |
| Australia | SBS On Demand | Every match free |
| Ireland | RTÉ Player | Every match free |
| Brazil | CazéTV on YouTube | Every match, no geo-block, free anywhere |
| US | Tubi + FOX over-antenna | Select matches in 4K free |
Free legal linear sports: Pluto TV carries CBS Sports HQ + beIN Sports Xtra; Plex/Samsung FAST carry sports too.
Unlicensed aggregators — informational, high-churn, real malware/legal risk. DaddyLive M3U forks: ICEZOMBIE-m3u/Daddylive-m3u, aphrodite747/daddylive-m3u; self-hosted proxy that handles the headers for you → StepDaddyLiveHD. These need custom Referer/Origin/User-Agent headers or you get HTTP 403. Treat any single domain as throwaway. (Dead: dtankdempse/daddylive-m3u, thetvapp-m3u, lem85930, tvapp2.)
📦 Android TV box / Fire Stick — fill the empty screen
Cheap box and no clue what to install? TVAPP = an organized index of TV-box apps (movies, live, karaoke, tools, games) + TVBox / Film Warehouse config sources, each tagged 
working / 
broken. Browse it first → app.youhun.com.
Sideload anything onto a Fire Stick: install Downloader (by AFTVnews) → Settings → My Fire TV → About → click “Fire TV Stick” 7× → enable “Apps from Unknown Sources” → paste an APK URL in Downloader. Loads IPTVnator, Kodi, Stremio, CloudStream, OTT Navigator.
Ad-free YouTube on TV: SmartTube (Android/Fire TV), TizenTube (Samsung Tizen).
Cheap → media center: a Raspberry Pi 4 or used mini-PC (~$120–200) running the self-host stack below = your own cable box.
🖥️ build your own cable — self-host stack
Turn your own files + messy playlists into a polished, guide-driven setup. All free, all Docker-able.
| Tool | Plain-terms job |
|---|---|
| Jellyfin | Free media server (movies/TV/live) — the base everything plugs into |
| Tunarr | Makes custom channels from your own library — plays your stuff on a schedule like a real station |
| ErsatzTV | Same idea + hardware transcoding + scheduling; outputs M3U + EPG |
| dizqueTV | Older channel-builder with filler/commercial padding |
| Threadfin | Cleans/filters/re-serves a messy playlist so the server sees tidy channels |
| Dispatcharr | Newer IPTV manager: filter, proxy, failover, auto EPG matching |
| TVHeadend | TV server/DVR for tuner cards + IPTV → feeds Jellyfin |
📻 radio & music bonus
radio-browser.info — open community database of internet radio, free public API. RadioDroid — open-source Android client for it: sleep timer, alarm, stream recording, Chromecast.
🔧 the mechanics guides skip
The stuff that separates a working stack from a frustrating one.
- Why a VPN fails on a stream → residential vs datacenter IP. Services blocklist known datacenter IP ranges (where cheap VPN servers live), so the VPN “connects” but the stream still blocks. Residential-IP endpoints succeed. It’s IP reputation, not VPN brand.
- Clean dead links → freearhey/iptv-checker (CLI, ffprobe), kristofferR/IPTVChecker (fast desktop, exports alive-only), peterpt/IPTV-CHECK (OCR catches login/geo screens a ping check misses).
- Combine playlists → concatenate M3U files but keep only the first
#EXTM3Uheader; or merge via Threadfin/Dispatcharr for de-dup + group order. - Restream a connection-limited playlist → put Threadfin or StepDaddyLiveHD in front so many devices share one upstream connection (kills “max connections reached”).
- Stubborn streams (403) → set custom headers:
#EXTVLCOPT:http-referrer=/http-user-agent=in VLC, the User-Agent field in Jellyfin’s M3U tuner, or a proxy. - Don’t lose your channels →
wgetthe remote M3U to disk and point the player at the local copy; schedule EPG refresh ~3 AM (XMLTV files run 50–200 MB).
where it actually wins
Long flight, no wifi → Streambert (or Stremio + debrid) downloads the season for offline.
Abroad, want home news/sport live → pick your country off Famelack’s globe.
World Cup match free in another country → VPN there (residential IP), it unlocks.
Mid-season anime → Aniyomi/Miru sync your AniList progress across devices.
Old movies on a schedule → Tunarr spins your own library into a 24/7 channel with a guide.
Playlist half-dead → run it through iptv-checker, export the alive-only list.
A paywall is just a lock bolted to a door that was never theirs to close.
!