What's the catch with Stremio + Torrentio + Real Debrid
What's the catch with Stremio + Torrentio + Real Debrid
After my last post on here asking about convenient streaming options at higher resolutions, I got a few comments recommending Stremio with Torrentio and Real Debrid.
I ended up going through with that and streamed a 4k movie. That said, what's the catch? I'm a little paranoid because I'm not sure if this still counts as torrenting, and if I should be using a VPN while watching something from RD.
No such thing as free lunch, so I'm assuming there's other downsides to this solution, could someone let me know what they are?
You don't need a VPN with Torrentio + Real Debrid. You are not torrenting - they already torrented it for you, and you are streaming the cached file directly from the RD servers. I think the only "catch" is that it's not free (obviously) so I don't think you can call it "free lunch" lol. Torrentio addon specifically scrapes the debrid service - now, if you were to install, say, TPB addon for Stremio, it would be torrenting, so you don't want to do that without a VPN.
21This is what I understand as well. I have been using it (well, specifically streamio + Rd with torrentio addon) for half a year so far and it's fantastic. Definitely seems too good to be true, but there's no catch imo :)
There's only 3 cons which for me aren't big deal breakers unless it's important to you
- No auto renewal
- Not free, it's like $6 for 6 months or something which imo is insanely affordable and an incredibly good deal
- If you watch on multiple devices but at the same time, you get banned
EDIT: As I was corrected below, bullet 3 only applies when
under the same IPusing different external IP addresses5real debrid scraping has gotten way worse after rarbg's downfall. it doesnt scrape torrentgalaxy correctly and i have no idea how to fix it
4you don’t want to do that without a VPN.
It depends on the country. Here in NZ it's not a problem to torrent, they're not actively going after pirates. This may change of course.
2
Paying for Real Debrid puts them in a legal grey area/they do log your IP. So use a VPN.
7You can't pay anonymously for real debrid so if law inforcements asks real debrid to identify you they would 100% be able to even if you use a vpn so what is the reason to use one? to slow down your internet speed? Maybe?
-1
Real-debrid is already doing what a VPN does for you - it downloads the files on your behalf then sends them to you via an encrypted connection. Your ISP will see you’re downloading from RD, but they won’t know what. If you’re doing regular torrenting via another client then of course use a VPN, but it’s not necessary with solely Torrentio+RD.
4That sounds like seedbox not VPN.
2Well if we're strictly talking about the ability to hide what you're downloading from your ISP then the end result is the same.
Except debrid services also gives you premium access to dozens of file hosting sites as well (megaup, 1fichier etc.) - in the case of file hosters the download is streamed to you immediately so there's no waiting for RD to download first.
Seedboxes will also impose storage limits. In the case of real-debrid you're limited to 2TB per torrent, or 72 hour download time.
2
RD honours takedowns, so sometimes content vanishes from them.
4Definitely use a VPN. My roommate got us DMCA'd for Transformers of all things when he used a stream from Torrentio (not Real Debrid). Brought him onto my VPN and Real-Debrid after that.
3Was he using another debrid service? Because from what I understand you can only stream if the file is cached by the service, otherwise torrentio just gives you the torrent. Without a VPN it makes sense why he got DMCA'd
3torrentio just gives you the torrent
If it's not cached there'll instead be links that makes RD start a new download of that torrent (this can be disabled in Torrentio settings). The reason not to use those links would just be because you have to wait for RD to finish the download, but in either case you're never torrenting yourself. You'll see "RD+" above the quality label of streams which tells you it's from real-debrid, so you'll always know if it's not.
2
The only DMCA I've ever received was also from Transformers. Wtf Universal lol.
The VR version no less! You literally can't even buy it!
2Edit: didn't mean to send this as a reply
0fucking first world shit.
0You can't pay anonymously for real debrid so if law inforcements asks real debrid to identify you they would 100% be able to even if you use a vpn so what is the reason to use one? to slow down your internet speed? Maybe?
-1I use All Debrid, and I can't even connect to the download servers when I turn on Mullvad
1
I use it and don' care much but it's definitely Torrenting so if you are in a country with bad laws and very paranoid you whould probably use a VPN but just know that the few actual lawsuites that came from this bs are at best symbolic and your chance to get hit by a lightning is probably a lot higher.
3Using a debrid service is paying for a third party to do the torrenting, so your IP is not in the torrent swarm. Your ISP knows you're using the service, but they don't know whether you're streaming illegal content, which means there are no grounds to subpoena neither the ISP nor the debrid service logs.
a VPN is probably not needed imho.
I am not a/your lawyer.
10
I used to use it without real debrid. It just torrents the stream so yeah vpn would be needed for that method.
Personally I'd still use a VPN with realdebrid.
2You can't pay anonymously for real debrid so if law inforcements asks real debrid to identify you they would 100% be able to even if you use a vpn so what is the reason to use one? to slow down your internet speed? Maybe?
-1Idk don't use real debrid so idk. Tbh my VPN doesn't lower my speed by anything noticeable. Maybe it would be different if I had better internet but I max out at 10mBs or MBs idk what the right one is.
3
I would say the only potential issue (and it's a remote one without any irl consequences as far as I know) is this: your IP is logged, and you can't use a VPN to create an account or buy a subscription either, so potentially that information is all there. Plus, there is a download history for every file – I've no idea what they keep on record or how long. So in theory with the right subpoenas, information such as your IP, your bank details (if you didn't choose an anonymous method), and the exact files you pirated are available.
I've no idea how much of that could be realized in practice. And I would like to be wrong about it all.
That said, the likelihood of all this is probably very slim indeed. I would describe this as the only potential catch. It's worth noting that you wouldn't be able to be penalized for an action such as "sharing" copyrighted content though, since you'd only be downloading, not seeding.
2Could anyone comment on how these compare to usenets?
1Interested myself as a usenet user.
1Interested myself as a usenet user.
1
I can't see any downsides. I've switched recently from an *arr stack to Stremio and can't be happier. Even with all the automation, I found it annoying that I first had to download something before I could watch it, after which Bazarr had to download subtitles (which only happens every couple of hours) and Kodi had to be updated before it was visible there. And downloading obvious requires storage.
Stremio also works across devices which is awesome. I bookmark shows on the go and watch it in the evening on my CCWGTV.
We've already noticed that we enjoy watching media more.
1