If you‘re a cord-cutter looking for free streaming options beyond the usual suspects like Netflix and Hulu, Tubi TV should definitely be on your radar. With over 20,000 movies and TV shows available for free streaming, it‘s one of the largest ad-supported platforms out there.
In this guide, I‘ll walk you through how to install Tubi TV on Kodi so you can directly access all that great content right within your favorite media center.
Overview of Tubi TV
For those not familiar with the service, Tubi TV has been growing rapidly since its launch in 2014. The San Francisco-based company has licensing deals with major studios like MGM, Paramount and Lionsgate as well as smaller independent studios. This allows them to offer an eclectic mix of both popular mainstream movies and lesser-known indie films.
In terms of size, Tubi‘s catalog surpasses many subscription services:
- Over 20,000 movies and TV shows available
- In comparison, Netflix has just 3,673 movies in the US
- Far more content than free services like IMDb TV, Crackle and Popcornflix
Some of the highlights of Tubi‘s library include:
- Classic films: The Shining, Total Recall, Platoon, Silence of the Lambs
- Recent hits: Frozen, Gravity, Selma, The Martian
- Popular TV series: 3rd Rock from the Sun, Hell‘s Kitchen, My Little Pony
- Anime: Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, Naruto Shippuden
- British series: The Office, Skins, Luther
- Kids content: LeapFrog, Teletoon, Thomas & Friends
- Cult favorites: Kung Fu, Donnie Darko, Napoleon Dynamite
- Reality TV: The Bachelor, Survivor, Kitchen Nightmares
Tubi TV is available on the web as well as iOS and Android mobile devices. The service earns revenue by showing ads – usually 30 second to 1 minute spots that play before the movie/show begins and several ads throughout the programming. This ad-support allows Tubi to offer such an extensive library for free.
How to Install Tubi TV Kodi Addon
The process of installing Tubi TV can be boiled down into just 3 simple steps:
- Enable Unknown Sources in Kodi settings
- Add the Kodil repository
- Install Tubi TV addon from the repository
I‘ll walk through each of these steps in more detail:
1. Enable Unknown Sources
Since Tubi TV is not an official Kodi addon, we need to enable installation from “unknown sources”. This just allows you to install Kodi addons that are distributed outside of the official Kodi repository.
Here are the steps:
1. Open Kodi and click the Settings icon (looks like a gear)
2. Click on System Settings
3. Select Add-ons from the menu. On the right side, enable the option for Unknown Sources
4. When you get the warning prompt, click Yes to confirm
And that‘s it, you just need to enable this one option to allow installation of third-party addons like Tubi TV.
2. Install the Kodil Repository
Now we need to install the repository that actually hosts the Tubi TV Kodi addon.
The addon is contained within the Kodil Repository, so we‘ll need to install that first.
Here are the steps to add Kodil:
1. In Kodi, access the File Manager from the Settings
2. Click Add source
3. Enter http://repo.kodil.org/ and name it Kodil
4. Return to Kodi‘s main menu screen
5. Access Add-ons and select Install from zip file
6. Select the Kodil source you just added
7. Install the repository.kodil-1.5.zip file
Once installed, you‘ll get an “Addon enabled” notification for the Kodil Repository. This contains the Tubi TV addon.
3. Install Tubi TV Addon
Now that we have the Kodil Repository installed, we can go ahead and install Tubi TV from it.
Here are the installation steps:
1. Return to the Add-ons menu in Kodi
2. This time choose Install from repository
3. Select the Kodil Repository
4. Go into the Video add-ons section
5. Choose TubiTV and click Install
6. Wait for the “Tubitv Enabled” notification. And that‘s all there is to it! Tubi TV Kodi addon should now be successfully installed and ready to use.
Configuring the Tubi TV Addon
Once installed, you‘ll want to make a few tweaks to the Tubi TV addon settings to get the best performance:
- Set Cache to 0 (zero) to prevent buffering issues.
- Enable Update on Startup to ensure you have the latest addon version.
- Set Select Action to “Play” for quick one-click playback.
- Check Enable subtitles if you need captions while viewing.
- Set Preferred quality if you want to limit bandwidth usage.
Adjusting these settings helps avoid problems and ensures the smoothest streaming experience.
How to Use the Tubi TV Kodi Addon
Now that you have Tubi TV installed and configured, let‘s briefly overview how you can start watching free movies and TV shows:
Browsing the Tubi TV Library
- From the Kodi home screen, select the Tubi TV addon.
- Here you can browse categories like Movies, TV Shows, Kids content.
- Or browse by genre, search TOP content, or find stuff expiring soon.
Adding a Movie or Show to Your Kodi Watchlist
- When you find something you want to watch later, bring up the context menu.
- Select “Add to watchlist” and it will be saved to your Kodi watching list for later.
Resuming In-Progress Movies or Shows
- If you only partially watched a video earlier, bring up the context menu.
- Choose “Play from start” to start over or “Resume from…” to pickup where you left off.
Using Universal Search to Find Titles
- You can find Tubi TV content via Kodi‘s universal search feature.
- Just search by movie/show name and results from Tubi TV will be included.
And that‘s all there is to it! The Tubi TV addon makes it almost as easy to access and watch free content as Kodi‘s own local media library.
Why Install the Tubi TV Kodi Addon?
Given that Tubi already offers apps and web access, why go through the trouble of installing an addon within Kodi? There are several key benefits:
Seamless Experience
Rather than having to open the Tubi app separately, you can access all of the Tubi content directly within the Kodi interface. Browsing Tubi‘s movies alongside your local media library creates a much more seamless streaming experience.
Unified Watchlist
When you “Add to Watchlist” for a Tubi title in Kodi, it gets added to the global Kodi watchlist. This unified watchlist is much easier to manage than having multiple watchlists across different streaming apps.
Finding the content you want is often easier with Kodi‘s navigation and filtering compared to the native Tubi TV interface. You can quickly sort Tubi movies by genre, year, title, etc.
Playback settings like preferred quality and subtitles are shared across all of Kodi, including Tubi. This prevents having to configure each app separately.
Automatic Updates
The Tubi addon will automatically update whenever a new version is available along with your other Kodi addons. The Tubi app requires manual updates.
Accessibility Features
Visually impaired users can take advantage of Kodi‘s accessibility features like text-to-speech across all addons, including Tubi.
So in summary, installing the Tubi TV addon provides a much more tightly integrated streaming experience. Now let‘s go through the quick and easy setup.
Legal Status of Tubi TV Kodi Addon
Whenever installing third-party addons, it‘s reasonable to be concerned about the legality of the addon itself.
In the case of Tubi TV, rest assured that the Kodi addon is 100% legal to use.
The key facts:
- The movies and shows offered by Tubi TV are licensed to them for legal distribution.
- Tubi has the full rights to make this content available on their platform.
- The Tubi TV Kodi addon simply taps into the catalog that Tubi already offers on their own website and apps.
- At no point does the addon distribute or stream any unauthorized pirated content.
So in short, the Tubi TV addon provides access to the same properly licensed content that Tubi offers officially. Think of the addon as just tapping into Tubi‘s legal content catalog, similar to their mobile app.
Recommended Kodi Addons for Free Streaming
The Tubi TV addon opens up a wealth of great movie and TV show options for Kodi users. Here are some other top-notch addons that offer free, legal streaming:
Pluto TV
Pluto TV operates on a similar ad-supported model as TubiTV, offering free movies and TV shows. Their Kodi addon also provides 100+ live TV channels.
The Roku Channel
Roku launched its own free streaming service with 1000s of ad-supported movies. The Kodi addon taps into this same massive content library.
Plex
The Plex addon connects to your personal Plex media server and also Plex‘s free ad-supported content catalog with 1000s of titles.
YouTube
The official YouTube addon makes it easy to watch all your favorite YouTube channels, videos and playlists directly in the Kodi interface.
Crackle
Owned by Sony Pictures, Crackle offers an extensive catalog of free ad-supported Hollywood movies.
PopcornFlix
This service specializes in free ad-supported indie and B movies. The addon provides quick access in Kodi.
Shout Factory TV
Specializing in cult classics, offering free movies like Mystery Science Theater 3000 and cult TV shows.
For more great options, check out my in-depth guide covering over 30 of the best free and paid streaming addons for Kodi.
Final Thoughts
I hope this guide has shown how quick and easy it is to install Tubi TV on your Kodi setup. With the massive catalog of free movies and shows, it‘s a must-have addon for any cord-cutter.
The Kodi integration makes consuming that free content incredibly seamless. You can now ditch expensive cable and streaming subscriptions in favor of free offerings like Tubi. Saving money has never been so enjoyable!
Let me know if you have any other questions about getting Tubi TV up and running in Kodi. I‘m always happy to help fellow cord-cutters get the most out of their streaming setup!
