27 best Kodi Addons for August 2019: 133 tested, only these few passed inspection

IMPORTANT SECURITY NOTICE: We’ll take you through some the best, safe Kodi addons but will also draw your attention to one VERY popular Kodi addon which has been hijacked and should be removed immediately if you have installed it.

There are hundreds of Kodi addons on the market and dozens of lists declaring the best Kodi addons available. However, we’ve fully tested over 130 Kodi addons, from unofficial addons like Seren, Venom, 13Clowns, Incursion, Exodus Redux, and Real Debrid, to official addons like YouTube, Fite.tv, USTVnow, Xumo, Pluto TV, Viewester and more.

Whether you’re looking for movie or TV addons to stream online, we’ve got you covered.

Our list sifts through the junk to help deliver the top 26 best Kodi addons still working in August 2019. Check back next month as well for more updates!

Quick links:

• JUMP STRAIGHT TO BEST OVERALL ADDONS FOR AUGUST
• JUMP STRAIGHT TO BEST MOVIES ADDONS
• JUMP STRAIGHT TO BEST SPORTS ADDONS
• JUMP STRAIGHT TO BEST ADDONS FOR TV SHOWS

Warning: Kodi should only be used for content to which you have the legal right to access. Neither the Kodi Foundation nor Comparitech advocates the use of Kodi for piracy.

Beware: New laws mean your internet provider can sell and share your browsing data

Your internet provider could sell and share details about the websites you visit, videos you download or stream and social media sites you use. By using a VPN whenever you connect to the web, you can encrypt your connection so your broadband provider doesn’t know what you’re doing. All your web activity will be hidden and can’t be shared, sold or stolen.

We’ve tested the top VPNs for security, privacy and speed and IPVanish is our #1 choice for Kodi users.

Top unofficial Kodi addons (and the risks they present)

Please note these are the top unofficial Kodi addons based on popularity. It’s important to be aware of these addons and understand the risks they present as they populate many lists of so-called best Kodi addons.

Unofficial addons are more likely to contain malware, are less reliable and will often carry pirated content. For these reasons, we recommend you avoid these and instead pick from our list of best official Kodi addons.

1. Covenant – A once-popular movie and TV show addon
2. Seren – A current addon that requires other integrations
3. Exodus – One of the first, widely popular movie and TV show addons
4. cCloudTV – A former and popular live TV streaming addon
5. Genesis Reborn – A revised version of the Genesis addon
6. Gurzil – Another Exodus/Covenant/Genesis clone (now dead)
7. Incursion – A once-popular and short-lived on-demand addon
8. Placenta – A once-popular addon with a questionable name
9. Gaia – A once-popular addon that infected users’ machines with malware
10. Orion – An on-demand addon that requires additional integrations
11. Reaper Builds – A current build that has a few infringing addons
12. Venom – An addon for streaming movies and TV shows on-demand
13. Masterani Redux – A mostly-dead addon for on-demand content
14. Exodus Redux – A revised version of Exodus that is not maintained
15. Real Debrid – A multi-hoster service that requires payment
16. Premiumizer – Another multi-hoster service that requires a subscription
17. Yoda – An on-demand movie and TV show addon
18. 13Clowns – A recently hijacked addon
19. Venom – An Exodus fork that scrapes multiple sites for on-demand content
20. Scrubs v2 – Another Exodus fork used to scrape on-demand movies and TV

Over the course of 2018 and 2019, a large number of once-popular Kodi addons shut down for good, with their developers leaving the scene. Most of the addons that are no longer available are already ones we tend to recommend users avoid, anyway, which include Exodus, Covenant, Genesis Reborn, cCloud TV, Gurzil, and others in those families.

Meanwhile, a few have taken their place, namely Seren (nixgates), Exodus Redux, Placenta, Venom, Magicality, Placenta, and Scrubs v2, which are all popular but also ones we don’t recommend.

27 best Kodi addons

There are the best official Kodi addons as of March 2019. Some have regionally restricted content which can be bypassed with IPVanish.

1. YouTube – On-demand and live content addon for YouTube
2. Tubi TV – TV and movies on-demand and completely free
3. iPlayer WWW – Live TV and on-demand content for the BBC iPlayer
4. Crackle – TV and movies on-demand and completely free
5. FilmRise – Movies on-demand and completely free to use
6. BigStar Movies & TV – TV and movies on-demand (mostly B-ranked movies)
7. Viewster – TV and movies on-demand, completely free with lots of anime
8. Snagfilms – Movies on-demand and completely free to use
9. Black and White Movies – Movies on-demand and free of charge to use
10. Netflix – TV and movies on-demand directly from Netflix thanks to Kodi DRM
11. Shout Factory TV – TV and movies on-demand and broadcast live
12. HGTV – TV on-demand for the popular HGTV channel’s content (free)
13. Comet TV Live – Live TV focusing on action and sci-fi content
14. Xumo – Live TV covering a large number of genres and completely free
15. Pluto TV – Live TV covering a massive number of genres and completely free
16. PlayStation Vue – Live TV with direct access to your PS Vue account
17. NewsOn – Live TV focused on local news from across the US
18. USTV Now – Live TV and completely free, with a paid option
19. DAZN – Sports content, including fight sports. Requires account
20. Fite.tv – Sports content for fight sports. Free to use
21. Sling TV – Live TV from major US networks.
22. PBS Kids – Kids TV shows and cartoons, free to use
23. Documentary Storm – Documentaries from across a number of genres, and free
24. Indigo – Maintenance addon for maintaining your Kodi addon settings
25. Trakt – Watchlist tracking for TV shows and movies
26. Indy Darlings – A hot new option for wrestling fans, including AEW broadcasts
27. National Geographic – A Kodi addon scraping directly from the NatGeo website with free content available

This month, we’ve retested our addon list to ensure the options we’ve listed are still running smoothly. There are numerous legally-available Kodi addons that you may be interested in. We’ve also updated our list of overall addons that tend to be popular in the Kodi scene, including those we don’t recommend for Kodi users, with some notes on each addon that we’ve found.

Lastest Kodi developments

Things have been quiet on the Western Front of Kodi, and that’s actually a good thing.

Last month, Kodi 19 got its codename (« Matrix »), while Kodi v18 continues to settle in. We’ve found users are slowly getting used to the small changes, including the need to update some older addons. There are also a few Kodi addons that will only work with Kodi v18 Leia, such as the Netflix addon.

In fact, Kodi has avoided making many headlines recently. Much of the downturn in attention is thanks to the efforts of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) in going after pirate third-party addon developers.

We’ll continue to monitor the scene for any new and interesting updates. For now, be sure to check out some of the add-ons we’ve covered this month.

Before we start: Always use a VPN with Kodi

Although virtual private networks (VPNs) are often used by people trying to hide their illegal activities from their ISP, there are many valid reasons law-abiding Kodi users should use one too.

If a Kodi addon were to be hijacked, the user’s computer would be at the mercy of the attacker. By using a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack, hackers have access to all of the victim’s internet history, saved browser information, and even login credentials.

Also, several internet service providers (ISPs) have been known to deliberately limit the download speeds of their customers in an effort to combat online video streaming. This could leave you with speeds far below those that you pay for.

A VPN can help secure your computer against corrupted addons used for spying purposes. You will also find a solid VPN will help eliminate spying from your ISP and reduce instances of buffering and speed throttling.

We recommend using IPVanish. It’s not only fast with top-level security and no-logging policies in place, but it also is one of the few that have working apps for the Amazon Firestick.

BEST VPN FOR KODI:IPVanish is our top choice. Has a large uncongested network of servers and achieves good speeds. Strong security and privacy features make IPVanish a favorite for Kodi and Amazon Fire TV Stick users. Try it risk-free with the 7-day money-back guarantee.

IPVanish includes a 7-day money-back guarantee so you can cancel if you are unhappy for any reason.

Our favorite new Kodi addon: National Geographic

Outside of the BBC, with its hand-crafted nature documentaries, nobody does nature docs like National Geographic. Kodi users who love Nat Geo’s content can now enjoy it directly through Kodi thanks to developer Fraserc.

This addon works immediately after download, no login required. There’s a load of free content available, although you may need to go back to your web browser if you want to log in with your streaming provider’s credentials.

This addon is available to download from the official Kodi addon repository.

Best Kodi addons for movies

Some of the most popular Kodi addons are the ones that offer a wide selection of movies and TV content.

The official Kodi repository offers addons that not only allow you to browse a large collection of free movies but also expand that collection by integrating with your other streaming subscriptions.

While testing, we’ve found many of the movie addons offered only offer content in a select few countries. In cases where geographic content blocking exists, you can use a VPN to bypass those blocks and access all of the content library available.

Crackle

Crackle is a streaming service that has a varied selection of films and TV shows. It’s free to use and offers some better-known titles, like 2003’s Underworld. Crackle region-locks their content, so to watch, you’ll need to connect your VPN to an American server.

Location: eracknaphobia Addon Repo

FilmRise

FilmRise is a distributor of TV shows and independent films. This company offers two addons: FilmRise, which contains six of their TV shows, and FilmRise – YouTube, which also includes free to watch movies.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

BigStar Movies & TV

BigStar Movies have a collection of award-winning independent and foreign films and the BigStar Movies & TV addon lets you watch these directly through Kodi. This service is completely legal to use and unlike when using the BigStar online service, you don’t have to keep a credit card on file. This is only used for purchasing specific films. Since this can’t be done via the addon, payment it isn’t required.

Location: MetalChris Addon Repository

Snagfilms

Snagfilms offers a collection of documentaries and independent films. There are over 5000 free-to-watch movies, and they’re all organized by genre. While most of these films aren’t well known, some, like 2007’s Nanking, are critically acclaimed.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

TubiTV

TubiTV is one of the largest streaming video-on-demand websites around. The service boasts a library of over 50,000 titles, from movies to TV shows. Additionally, there is no fee to use TubiTV. It offers the service as a free, ad-supported option.

You can stream TubiTV on Kodi without a login required and without the ads. Due to the way it works, Kodi automatically blocks advertisements, letting you enjoy your streams quite easily and without interruption. If you want to unlock TubiTV’s full library, you will need a VPN, however. The service has different content in the US, UK, and Canada, meaning you’ll need to bypass its geographic content blocking to gain access gain access to everything.

Location: Kodi1 Github Repository

Shout Factory TV

{Perhaps one of the best addons to come around in a long time, Shout Factory TV provides users access to dozens of cult classic TV shows and movies. This free addon is completely legal to use and offers up a huge load of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes, Rifftrax episodes, movies and TV shows across a dozen genres, and even stand-up comedy routines.

Location: Official Kodi Addon Repository

Black and White Movies

Classic movies are available for streaming and downloading using the Black and White Movies addon. This addon focuses purely on classic movies that are made free thanks to expired copyright licenses. The quality and speed of the streams are also top-notch

Location: MetalChris repository.

Netflix

Netflix users can now access their Netflix streams directly through Kodi. As of Kodi 18, Kodi offers Digital Rights Management support (DRM), which is essential to allowing account logins for subscription-based services like Netflix.

You can install this Kodi addon directly from the Kodi addon repository.

Viewester

A quality, free streaming service, Viewster has a ton of TV shows and movies. What’s more, Viewster is one of the best, free addons for anime lovers. It has a huge library of anime content and does not impose geographic content blocks for any of its content.

Location: Official Kodi Addon Repository. 

Best Kodi addons for TV shows

When it comes to watching TV shows, Kodi users have several options. There are several legitimate content providers that offer collections of well-known shows. These are usually free to watch, although there are a few that have additional costs.

TV show addons often pull from sites that use geographic content blocking, so be sure to check out whether it makes sense to bypass content blocks to help access your streams.

USTVnow

USTVnow is a service that provides access to live American TV channels. A free subscription provides streams from seven network TV stations. For $20 a month, you can unlock and additional 21 channels and DVR functionality.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

iPlayer WWW

The iPlayer WWW Kodi addon takes content from the BBC’s iPlayer streaming platform. It offers live and on-demand TV shows, radio stations, and movies. iPlayer WWW is free to use but requires a valid UK TV License. Additionally, its content is region-locked, so to watch from outside of the UK, you’ll have to connect your VPN to a British server.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

NewsON

NewsON is the best Kodi addon for US news. It groups its live streams by state and shows which regions each station covers. Streams load quickly and while it’s a US-only news addon, there’s no region-locking. This means that it can be watched from anywhere in the world.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

PS Vue

PS Vue is intended as a replacement for a traditional cable subscription. Plans start at $45 a month and include at least 50 channels. More expensive plans that offer access to sports and movie channels are also available, and there’s no annual contract. You can try it out and leave if you find it unsuitable.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Pluto TV

A premier live TV service that offers up over 100 channels for free, Pluto TV is one of the best Kodi addons available. It’s also one that any Kodi user should have installed, as it’s just that essential to a good Kodi build. You’ll find every type of content imaginable here: sports, entertainment, movies, news. Much of the content comes from major TV networks and content providers as well.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Xumo

Similar in style and scope to Pluto TV, Xumo has over 100 completely free channels you can watch on your web browser or via an app. It’s also 100 percent legal, making it a great IPTV option for Kodi. The addon is brand new as well from developer Lunatix, making it a solid entry in the official Kodi addon market.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Comet TV Live

Comet TV Live is a unique and free live TV addon that offers up a host of movies. From cult classics to some really high-quality gems, you’ll find a lot of interesting sci-fi TV shows and movies streaming live to your Kodi installation.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

HGTV

HGTV stands for Home and Garden Television, and the network hosts full episodes of its shows online. These episodes can also be viewed from within Kodi using the HGTV addon. There are 17 different shows available, all in high-definition, so you can watch DIY programming to your heart’s desire.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Best Kodi addons for sports

There are many Kodi addons aimed at sports fans. These provide live and on-demand sporting coverage, however, a VPN may be needed since this content is almost always region-locked.

This is not our full list of sports Kodi addons. For more, check out our longer guide on the 20 best Kodi addons for sports, updated March 2019.

Fite.tv

Featured as our favorite addon for December 2018, Fite.tv is a streaming service that offers 10,000 hours of free fight sports video. You can install this addon directly from GitHub.

DAZN

DAZN is a subscription service that costs $20 a month. It covers a wide range of different sports but is currently only available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and Japan. As such, you’ll need to connect your VPN to a server in one of these countries in order to watch anything

DAZN launched in the US on September 10, 2018. It’s so far provided a solid option for US fight fans.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Sling TV

A perfect addon for those who want US TV, the Sling TV addon connects to your official Sling TV account, even when you’re using the free trial period. Major networks are available, including ESPN, Fox Sports, HGTV, AMC, and more.

You’ll find the Sling TV addon in the official Kodi addon repository, and you’ll need to connect it to your account using your username and password.

Indy Darlings

A new Kodi addon for wrestling fans, Indy Darlings is your best option on Kodi for professional and amateur wrestling broadcasts. The addon currently features live and on-demand streams from AEW, CWF Worldwide, Defiant Loaded, MLW Fusion, Ohio Valley Wrestling, Reality of Wrestling, and West Coast Wrestling Connection.

You can install this addon using the following instructions:

• Click here to download the Indy Darlings video plugin zip file
• Open Kodi
• Go to Addons
• Click on the package symbol (top left)
• Click on Install from zip
• Locate your download folder in the file explorer
• Find the plugin.video.indydarlings Kodi addon and click to install

Best Kodi addons for cartoons and anime

Whether you’re into anime or are just looking for something to keep the kids occupied, there is a Kodi addon that provides most of what you’re looking for. Below, you’ll find the best, most popular Kodi addons for cartoons and anime in 2017.

PBS Kids

PBS Kids offers on-demand access to a wide selection of high-definition children’s TV shows. It’s completely free and legal to use, and no registration is required. PBS’s content is only available from within the US, so overseas Kodi users will have to connect to an American server in order to watch.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Funimation Now

Funimation is one of the best official sources of dubbed anime. It costs $7.95 a month, but there’s a 14-day free trial so you can see if it’s right for you before committing. A premium account is required to use the Funimation Now Kodi addon, but once you sign up you’ll have access to hundreds of classic and newly released anime.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Best Kodi addons for general video

The following addons provide access to libraries of content that don’t fit neatly into one of the classifications above. They cover everything from vlogs to viral content to cutting-edge documentaries, so they’re great for when you can’t decide what to watch.

YouTube

Everybody knows YouTube – it’s the largest video sharing platform on the internet. The YouTube Kodi addon maintains most of the functionality of the website and allows you to access your playlists, watch history, and channel subscriptions.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository

Documentary Storm

What’s life without some quality documentaries? You can get great documentaries if you install and load up Documentary Storm from MetalChris’s repository. This addon gives you access to all of over 100 documentaries available online, for free. You’ll get everything from sports to war to sexuality documentaries. There’s a good chance you’ll get lost in all of the free, legally-available content here, so we recommend an extra large bag of popcorn.

Location: MetalChris’ Repository

Best miscellaneous Kodi addons

The addons below don’t contain any of their own content. Rather, they provide additional functionality to Kodi or enhance the user’s experience in some way.

Trakt

Trakt is an online service that keeps track of your media consumption. When you use the Trakt Kodi addon, it automatically adds movies and TV shows you’ve watched to your Trakt profile. This allows you to easily find the last episode you watched, even when using Kodi on a different device.

Location: Kodi Addon Repository (program addons)

Third-party addons for miscellaneous

The following addons are popular but are not contained in the official Kodi repository. This means that they may provide access to unlicensed content in some way, or provide functionality that has not been sanctioned by the Kodi development team. We advise our readers to use the following addons at their own risk.

Indigo

Indigo (previously known as Fusion) is an addon that allows you to install additional addons and perform maintenance, similar to the Ares Wizard. However, since TV Addons relaunched with its new legally-focused addon policy, it only contains non-infringing addons. Indigo also has a dedicated section for Kodi skins, so it’s a good choice for people looking to change the way Kodi looks without installing a build.

Click here to read our interview with TV Addons following their intense legal battle.

Location: Fusion Addon Repository

Keeping up with Kodi addons

Sometimes, quiet is good. For the Kodi community, things have been relatively quiet for several months now. No new addon takedowns. No new shake-ups. The biggest thing we’ve noted, however, is a huge ramp-up in addon development from one dev named fraserc.

In the past few weeks, fraserc has released a slew of new addons scraping from half a dozen different unique websites, including National Geographic and Curiosity Stream. It seems this dev has a special place in his heart for educational programming and classic films, as that appears to be the core theme from his addon releases in the past few weeks.

To find more of his releases, check out the Kodi forum’s Video Add-ons page.