If you get a lot of “No Stream Available” error messages or buffering issues when using Kodi streaming add-ons like, you’re not alone.
Kodi streaming add-ons have been notorious for making people try source link after source link until they find one that works. At times, it can become quite tedious and starts to make you wonder if all this Kodi streaming stuff is worth the hassle. Or, if you use Auto-Play like most of the add-ons support, you end up getting served the first source link that “works”… but not always works well.
Well, there’s a solution to all this, and it’s called Real-Debrid.
Reasons for Kodi Stream Buffering and “No Stream Available”
So what is the problem that Real-Debrid solves? Why are Kodi unofficial streaming add-ons riddled with bad source links?
One thing to keep in mind is that the developers of video streaming add-ons do not actually host the videos that you can find in the add-ons. All they do is aggregate video streaming sources from websites around the Internet to make them easy to browse and search for within Kodi.
These add-ons and their developers have no control over the servers that actually host the videos, and sometimes those servers get overloaded or even go offline.
The Rise and Fall of Popular Kodi Add-ons
When Kodi unofficial video streaming add-ons become hugely popular, like Genesis did way back in 2015, the servers that are aggregated in the add-on become completely bogged down from the enormous demand caused by Kodi streamers using the add-on.
In the example of Genesis, its popularity peaked in the Fall of 2015 after the last update in October. By the end of the year, the plugin was plagued with bad source links because server hosters started blocking Kodi users to alleviate their bandwidth congestion.
Around that time, lambda (the developer of Genesis) started telling people that Real-Debrid was the way to go and he was abandoning Genesis to build a new add-on that would make use of Real-Debrid. Other add-ons like SALTS were already out and were supporting Real-Debrid, and lambda came out with his next add-on Exodus in February 2016 which was focused on taking advantage of Real-Debrid.
Nowadays, just about all of the Kodi streaming add-ons support Real-Debrid.
What is Real-Debrid?
Real-Debrid is actually just one brand of “debrid services”. Throughout this post, it just refer to it as Real-Debrid because that’s the one I use. There is another option called Premiumize.
So, these debrid services are basically an umbrella subscription over a large group of “hosters”.
You see, back when hosters were blocking Kodi users due to demand caused by Genesis, their primary reason for doing so was to offer their paying subscribers premium access with full bandwidth.
The problem with the model of a hoster trying to get paying subscribers is that there are tons of hosters, and people are not going to go around to each hoster signing up for a premium access subscription, and how would a person pick from the hosters to know who is good?
So, Real-Debrid banded together with the hosters to offer one single subscription which gives you access to all of their partnered hosters. That way, it’s one simple subscription for the user, leading to the ability to achieve mass, leading to the hosters getting paid what’s fair to maintain their servers.
From a technical standpoint, Real-Debrid is a URL resolver which uses authentication to your paid account to unlock URLs for premium video content access.
Why Real-Debrid is the Future of Kodi Streaming
As a Kodi user, the only way to get reliable video source links is to sign up for Real-Debrid. It is a MUST if you are wanting to watch most of your TV shows on Kodi streaming add-ons.
Once you setup a Real-Debrid account and pay for some days, you simply authorize it in Exodus, SALTS, or whatever other add-on you use that supports it, and then you’ll have reliable, high quality HD streams!
From the Kodi streaming community, it’s also a great model that pays hosters fairly and everyone can get behind.
Real-Debrid Pricing
You can sign up for an account for free, but the only access you’ll get is during their morning happy hours from 6am to noon. I suggest you get it and just try it out one morning to see the difference.
When you’re ready to buy, you’ll find the pricing on the “Premium” page in your account. The price varies depending on region, but from what I see in the USA, it costs under $5/month if paid monthly, and as little as $3/month if you pay for 6 months. These prices are also approximate since I’m converting Euros to US Dollars.
How to Install Real-Debrid in Kodi
To set up your Real-Debrid account in your favorite Kodi streaming add-on,…
- Go to that add-ons settings area (possibly by selecting “Tools” or “Settings” in the add-on’s main menu)
- Go to a tab called “Accounts“
- There, you should find “Real-Debrid” or a link to “Debrid Services” or “URLResolver Settings”, or “ResolveURL Settings”
- Select “Authorize Real-Debrid“, and it will open a popup with instructions and a code
- The instructions will say to go to https://real-debrid.com/device, enter the code, and login to your account if you aren’t already. You can simply do this on your phone. It doesn’t need to be done from the same device that Kodi is running on.
- When you finish, the popup in Kodi will go away signifying that the Kodi add-on has been authorized to use your Real-Debrid account.
Enjoy Reliable Stream Sources in Kodi!
I hope you found this post helpful for you. I know when I first did this, it was a night and day difference!
If you liked it, please consider sharing it with a friend who could benefit from this.
Also, if you have any comments or questions, please leave me a comment below. Thanks!
Hi Nathan, what a great explanation of how KODI works with the add ons. thanks for the tip. Question if
you join real debrid will it work with all of the addons on only one like Exodus. Thanks again for taking the time to explain how this works.
Real-Debrid will work with all the add-ons that support it. You will have to authorize each of the supported add-ons with your Real-Debrid account one by one.
I set my Real-Debrid account on my iPad and authorized it. I use Kodi for my streaming. What do I do next? I am assuming that I need to pay for a subscription first.
Yes, in your Real-Debrid account you’ll need to pay for a subscription.
I set up a Real-Debrid account for 15 days. I set it up like your info
Said. One of the shows I watch I got 123 Premium sources and 44 Normal sources, but none of the Premium sources are playing back. I am thinking I have a setting wrong on Kodi (Exodus) or I need to do something in Real-Debrid.
First, I would try reauthorizing your Real-Debrid account in the Exodus settings. The, I would try another add-on like Seren to see if that works.
Lately, Real Debrid is the issue I’m having. Only on Real Debrid sources or providers do I get No Stream Available error. My shows and movies work on every other source aside from it.
Check your Real-Debrid account to make sure your subscription is still active.
It is, as far as I know. I only just set it up recently. And I checked my code again on the website and re-entered it into Exodus. RD is literally the only thing I’m having issues with.
Sorry, by “subscription” I meant a Real-Debrid Premium plan. When logged in at real-debrid.com, click on Premium at the top, and select a plan based on how many days you want to purchase. Did you do that?
I am gonna try free plan first, will I still get my regular streams with thisinstalled??
Yes.
I’m sorry, but I disagree with everything you just said. Yes, you do have to subscribe to Real-Debrid. The URL you gave is what you will be prompted to go to to authorize your account. If your account is not subscribed, and it’s not “happy hour”, then yes, none of the Real-Debrid streams will play.
Specto is a fork of the old Genesis add-on that was abandoned by its developer, lambda, because lambda moved on to make the next gen add-on called Exodus. I use Exodus exclusively and it works perfectly (because I subscribe to Real-Debrid).
But they do play on Specto, just fine. And they used to play on Exodus with absolutely no problems. Not once did I ever have to pay a subscription. I got my code through RD and everything worked great, and continues to work great on Specto. No subscription required.
I have RD links in both Specto and Exodus, and never had to pay a dime to use them. Not sure what I can tell you. I don’t know, try it yourself. Kill your login to Real Debrid and go to the link and get a new code. Enter that code, then try the RD links in Exodus or Specto again without being logged into RD. I bet you my $1300 income tax return that it works.
Jivefly, I see 2 possibilities for that…
1. You could be watching TV during Real-Debrid’s happy hour. I forgot what time that is, but that could be why.
2. Maybe they have a free trial period after you sign up. It’s been a while since I started using it, so I’m not sure, but again, a possibility.
I do know for sure that you have to have a subscription in order for Real-Debrid links to work (outside of the above scenarios) because family members of mine experienced having all Real-Debrid links stop working after their subscription lapsed.
I never signed up. It’s no “happy hour” thing or trial, because I never signed up, and it works all of the time now. But I do have proof in the form of a screenshot on Google Drive that I’m not allowed to post here, but I’ll try it this way: drive[dot]google[dot]com/open?id=0BztS5R_cAaXONmVVQWxlN3hMQ0E
Jively, this is very interesting. Thank you for sharing.
So, all those links labeled Real Debrid work? In Exodus > Settings > Accounts > Real Debrid, does it have a username shown there that is authenticated? After I do the activation thing, it shows my username.
Also, what do you mean that you’ve never signed up? The activation requires you to sign into an account. Did you setup a free account, but you just didn’t upgrade to premium?
Let me check to see if username is shown. And yeah, all of the links work. Though, they’re much faster in Specto because it doesn’t try to load so many sources. It only loads a few of the best ones, which is why I prefer it.
Oh, that’s interesting. However, you know you can uncheck providers in Exodus to do the same thing.
I’ll have to do that.
So does,this work for everyone?
It should. I don’t see why not.
All it shows under Accounts is “Real Debrid Authorization: ************” No username in sight.
Yeah, I signed up, which I think I must have forgotten I did (things like that become muscle memory after so long, especially when going through something like setting up Kodi addons, considering all of the steps needed), but I don’t pay anything, and I only had to use the real-debrid[dot]com/device URL to get the code after signing up.
I used these steps, and by “reauthorize my account” in this step, all I did was copy and paste the code:
Select SYSTEM
Select Add-ons
Select System
Select Dependencies
Select URLResolver
Select Configure
Select Universal Resolvers
Scroll down to Real-Debrid
Select Priority
Change priority to 90 and select Done
Select OK to save your changes (we need to do this before authorising otherwise the changes may not save)
Select Configure (again)
Select Universal Resolvers
Scroll down to Real-Debrid
Select (Re)Authorize My Account
You will now get a popup asking you to go to the Real Debrid website
Open a web browser on your device (or your phone/computer or anything) and go to real-debrid[dot]com/device (you must be logged into Real Debrid for this to work) and enter the code and select Continue
You should now see a popup telling you that your account is authorised
Real Debrid is now setup
Hey just wanted to give you an update, I just installed this and had some quirky issues (all of my own doing) but it may help others. I already had Kodi 16 and Exodus that I’ve been using for many months. I signed up at Real-Debrid for the free account. Didn’t realize I had to go back in and re-authorize inside Kodi/Exodus to get the code… missed that step (I will paste the setup steps below again for anybody looking) None of the links worked, and its 9AM.. happy hour should be available. So I upgraded to Kodi 17, still no go. The light bulb finally went off, I’m in the US the happy hour time zone for me would be more like 1AM-7AM. SO…I paid the premium and boom, everything works wonderfully with Exodus. So there is no “free” when its not happy hour.
**set up steps**
Select SYSTEM
Select Add-ons
Select System
Select Dependencies
Select URLResolver
Select Configure
Select Universal Resolvers
Scroll down to Real-Debrid (you don’t need to put your user/password in other other Debrid’s listed, only the one listed Real-Debrid)
Select Priority
Change priority to 90 and select Done (or it won’t search any other links)
Select OK to save your changes (we need to do this before authorizing otherwise the changes may not save)
Select Configure (again)
Select Universal Resolvers
Scroll down to Real-Debrid
Select (Re)Authorize My Account
You will now get a popup asking you to go to the Real Debrid website
Open a web browser on your device (or your phone/computer or anything) and go to real-debrid[dot]com/device (you must be logged into Real Debrid for this to work) and enter the code and select Continue
You should now see a popup telling you that your account is authorized
Real Debrid is now setup
That’s absolutely right, Lori. Real-Debrid happy hour is based on the timezone in France, I believe.
I can’t get an account with real debris the won’t accept my email address I’ve also tried my Facebook account I just want to get a premium account for REAL DEBRIS
Really? Are you going to https://real-debrid.com/ to sign up? After you sign up for your free account, then once you’re logged in, click on “Premium” at the top.
Thank you Nathan I had logged in as you said and the last thing was free account after pressing that nothing happened there is no way it will log me in so there is no premium to press st the top I’ve been trying for 2 days on and off I have the real debris as an app but it comes up log in a d password but of course I haven’t either im 83 years young and don’t like things to beat me but think ive lost out on this one
You do not need the Real-Debrid app. Instead, just go to the website https://real-debrid.com/ and click the login or signup. Once logged in there, you will see a “Premium” link at the top. I’m not sure what else to say. Maybe you were trying to use the app instead of the website.
Thank you Nathan I’ve just tried again on my smartphone this time and it said my email address is wrong I did go on their website but no luck
Could it be because im in Australia obviously I’m not going to get it but thank you for your time and trouble
If it says your email address is wrong then can you sign up with that email address? It sounds like you never signed up. It should working fine in Australia.
Hi Nathan at last real debris has accepted my email address and I’m signed up thank you for your help
One last thing on the page it says enter your links here
One link per line
Could I bother you once more and tell me what that means and what I put in there
Thanking you once more
Yours sincerely
Denis Facey
You can ignore that area. Just authorize your account in the Covenant settings, and you’re all set!
Thank you very much for your time and trouble it has been appreciated everything going well
Sincerely
Denis Facey
Excellent! You’re welcome!
These articles keep telling people how to improve their experience by subscribing on a paid basis to this app and that service. Just go to the movie dl site and pay for it there then, or buy the movie. I get to watch all I want and I don’t subscribe to any services trakt or real debris or otherwise. Just get a high speed internet connection.
Most people don’t want to manually browse to dozens of different websites on a browser, nor do people want to pick one provider to subscribe to. Real-Debrid is nice because it’s an umbrella subscription that gives access to all the servers that they partner with. People don’t have to pick and choose which is the best server at the time.
Maybe so but again its just another means to an end and you want to take my money
It can be free. You don’t NEED to use Real-Debrid. Plenty of people do without it.
But, if you are sick of dealing with the low quality of “free” hosters, Real-Debrid is an option to get a more premium experience, and it only costs a few dollars per month (WAY less than cable or satellite).
By the way, I’m not taking your money. I don’t get any money from you signing up with Real-Debrid.
Funny, I believed when I bought the Fire Stik and to download Kodi that it was a free service but it doesn’t appear so. You want my money no different than the cable or satelite companies….
Kodi is free and always has been. You have to know how to set up your Fire Stick. This is for a program that is a support to Kodi.
Most side loaded programs have gone away now and Kodi of today is not the Kodi of 2 years ago, thanks to lawsuits by those greedy cable companies. They were upset that people were cutting the cord and stopping paying for the programming they did before and were now watching television shows for free. So they sued those who had developed the programs who were hosting TV shows and movies. That led to most disappearing overnight.
You showed up to the party WAY too late if you just bought your Firestick.
Why are you blaming programs that are attempting to provide a low cost alternative to Cable companies that are charging upwards of $200/month for television, much of which we pay for is free? You’re welcome to go back to Cable and pay for 18 Spanish channels, 30 nature programming channels just to get your favorite TV show that is on A&E.
I installed RD and paid for 15 days as a test. I went through all the motions to authorise etc and now my device will not search for available streams. It permanently says “working”. Any ideas?
Weird. Which add-on are you using? Was it working before you paired RD?
Yes was working prior. I’m using Exodux. Does rd only work on non copyright streams? Sometimes it loads available streams, sometimes it freezes part way through searching. If it does load a list and I choose one kodi crashes and reboots. I’ve had to disable it as hubby has the sky box in his man cave upstairs. I only have fire stick, pi (uses kodi) and netflix.
Sorry for the late reply, and sorry for the confusion that led to multiple comments. No, Real-Debrid is not only for copyrighted material. It sounds like at least one of your Kodi boxes (the one that reboots randomly) is in need of help. If it’s just Kodi that reboots, then probably try a wipe and fresh install. If the whole box reboots, that’s an issue with the box.
Thanks for your replay. I only have 1 box, the Pi which I use for kodi. This only happens when I try to use RD. When I disable it the box works fine. It’s the whole box that’s rebooting but as I said only when I try to watch a link from an RD search (if it completes the search that is). I did buy another box because I was struggling to upgrade the software on my original PI. The new box (one from china) wouldn’t connect via ethernet (I think broken ethernet socket) so I went back to my PI and managed to upgrade via my laptop and a completely fresh install onto the sd card. It’s frustrating because if I could get this to work I’d be happy to pay to use premium links. Based on this only happening when I try to use RD link do you still think this is a prob with the box? Sorry to keep on!
Wendy, make sure your subscribed to Real-Debrid and that your subscription hasn’t expired.
I dont see my reply so I’ll do it again. I have kodi on my pi with the exodus add on. Exodus working fine before pairing and after I disabled it. Sometimes it searches sometimes it freezes on “searching”. Sometime it freezes part way through search. If it does populate a list and I choose one it reboots my kodi box. Can you inbox me I have another q not for public. Eblama at gmail dot com. Thanks
Nevermind about inbox both comments there now XD
I guess that’s the problem then.
Subscribed and authorized to get exodus working better but exodus doesn’t seem to have the ability for this as I cant get the add on to display any windows to give me the chance at a code????HELP!!!!
I’m not following this. You authorized, or you’re trying to authorize? The window doesn’t pop up to show you the code? If so, try another add-on.