Finding good Kodi addons can be tricky. After all, the official repo might not have everything you’d like to watch, and working out which third-party addons are trustworthy takes a lot of work. The problem is that many forum users (and major Kodi sites) fail to distinguish between legal addons and ones that facilitate piracy.
That’s why you’ll often see Seren recommended alongside other high-profile piracy addons like Exodus, The Crew, and Magic Dragon. The good news is that there are plenty of official addons packed with content that don’t come with the same risks. We’ll cover a few of these below and explain why using Seren is a bad idea.
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.
Remember to use a VPN with Kodi
Normally, when you browse the internet, torrent, or use Kodi, your internet service provider (ISP) can see exactly what you’re doing. That’s how they’re able to throttle your connection and sell details of your activities to advertisers. However, you can prevent this type of surveillance (and the buffering arbitrary speed limits can cause) with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Good VPNs work by encrypting your data and shielding your browsing habits from hackers, service providers, and hotspot owners. That said, some services are too slow or insecure for HD streaming, so it pays to choose wisely.
We recommend NordVPN. It works with every Kodi addon we’ve tested, offers its own Firestick and Android apps, and boasts one of the most comprehensive security toolkits we’ve seen. Best of all, it’s extremely fast and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it completely risk-free.
Want to know more? Check out our detailed NordVPN review.
What is the Seren Kodi addon?
The Seren addon lets users stream movies and TV shows, but you’ll notice many of these haven’t even become available for home viewing yet. This is a big red flag and strongly suggests that Seren pulls from unlicensed sources.
One thing that sets Seren apart from competitors like Exodus is that it only uses links vetted by third-party services like Real Debrid and Premiumize. This minimizes the chance of dead links but means Seren users have to pay a monthly fee. If you’re going to be paying anyway, you might as well just use legitimate streaming services.
There’s another issue to consider: addons like Seren are almost always taken down sooner or later. Copyright holders have been aggressively pursuing Kodi developers recently, and they regularly remove their addons to avoid major legal trouble. Even if you install Seren and subscribe to a premium links provider, there’s no guarantee it’ll work (or remain safe to use) for any significant period of time.
The best alternatives to Seren
Seren might have a large content library, but first and foremost, it’s designed for pirates. Even putting aside the legal and ethical issues, these addons are frequently hijacked, with malware previously found in the popular Bubbles, Gaia, and XvMBC repos. These are now gone, but until the malware was discovered, thousands of people were unknowingly allowing crypto miners to use their system’s hardware.
Luckily, there are plenty of legitimate Kodi addons to choose from. These might not offer quite as many titles as Seren, but they are legal. Besides, there’s an addon for just about every major streaming service these days, so it’s easier than ever to view all of your subscriptions in one place. Here are the best alternatives to Seren in 2024:
Crackle
Crackle is one of the best free Kodi addons, period. It’s a fully-legal streaming service with thousands of movies and TV shows, and there really is something for everyone. For instance, you can watch full seasons of Hell’s Kitchen, take a break to stream classic anime like Case Closed, and finish up with Forensic Files if you’d like.
It’s worth noting that this addon does have slightly different content from one country to another. Still, it’s free and can be installed straight from the official Kodi repo, so there’s no harm in trying it out.
Adult Swim
Adult Swim has quickly become unavoidable over the last few years. It’s now home to a huge range of TV shows and actually broadcasts currently-airing anime shortly after new episodes air in Japan. What’s more, you can stream this network’s content for free using the Adult Swim Kodi addon.
Now, due to regional restrictions, you will have to be in the US to actually watch anything. This addon is included in the official Kodi repository.
Plex Live
If you’ve ever used Pluto.tv, you’ll be immediately familiar with Plex Live. This service has more than 300 live-streaming channels available free of charge, with the only catch being that you can’t rewatch previously-aired content. This is supposed to mimic the experience of watching TV back in the day, and honestly, since there’s always another live sporting event, movie, or game show, there’s really no need to worry about the ones that you might have missed.
You can find Plex Live in the SlyGuy repository.
iPlayer WWW
BBC iPlayer is the biggest free streaming service in the UK, with thousands of on-demand TV shows and live broadcasts of around a dozen BBC channels. You do have to create an account (and have a TV License) to use this service, but that’s a small price to pay for such a huge amount of content. The library is always growing too, with new episodes being added just hours after they’re broadcast.
iPlayer WWW is region-locked, so you’ll have to be in the UK or using a British VPN server to access it. This addon can be found in the official Kodi repo.
Kodi addons: Frequently Asked Questions
What streaming services can I link to Kodi?
It used to be pretty difficult to access your streaming subscriptions through Kodi, but the community has made great strides in this area recently. Now, there are dedicated addons for a huge range of services, including:
- Netflix
- Sling TV
- Hulu
- Paramount+
- HBO Max
- Disney+
- Discovery+
It’s worth mentioning that you’ll still have to actually be subscribed to these services in order to watch via Kodi. Any addons that offer unrestricted access to these platforms’ content are likely to be using third-party sources.
Will my Kodi addons work on any device?
Kodi is available on a huge range of different platforms and works in largely the same way from one device to another. In other words, most addons will work properly no matter whether you’re using an Amazon Firestick, iPhone, PC, or tablet.
There are exceptions, but these are few and far between. For instance, for a while, the Netflix addon didn’t work on LibreELEC systems. This is already a very niche use case, however, and problems like this are usually resolved fairly quickly.
Is Kodi legal?
Kodi is just as legal as Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or VLC. It simply collects and categorizes your media so you can access it all in one place. The Kodi Foundation has actively spoken out against pirates and made sure to only include official addons in its repository.
While it’s true that there are addons like Seren that facilitate piracy, anyone hoping to use these has to actively search them out. This is not Kodi’s fault and would be near-impossible to prevent without stopping law-abiding users from creating their own custom addons as well.