Stremio

Opal vs Stremio

Both put many sources behind one search box. Stremio does it with add-ons and an account; Opal does it natively, in one binary.

At a glance

The short version

CapabilityOpalStremio
What it isA player for every sourceA streaming aggregator
How sources workBuilt in, plus pluginsCommunity add-ons
Play a torrent while it downloadsYesYes
Jellyfin and Plex librariesBothAdd-ons
Live TVLarge IPTV catalogAdd-ons
MangaYes—
On-device AI copilotYes—
AccountNoneAccount to sync
LicenseGPL-3.0Partly open — the streaming server is closed

Compiled from each project's own documentation and licenses. Out of date? Open an issue.

Which one?

Pick by how you actually watch

Choose Opal if…

  • You want torrent streaming, live TV and manga maintained in the app, not by add-on authors.
  • You want to skip the account and keep watch history in a local file.
  • You care that the whole stack — including the streaming engine — is GPL-3.0.

Choose Stremio if…

  • You live inside its add-on catalog and the community picks for you.
  • You want first-party mobile and TV apps today.
  • Cross-device sync through an account is a feature for you, not a cost.

Stremio's add-on ecosystem is huge and its TV apps are ahead of Opal's. But its streaming server ships as a closed binary and everything routes through an account. Opal makes the opposite trade: fewer platforms so far, and a fully open, local-first stack where the core sources are built in.

More comparisons

Opal against the rest

Opal vs Jellyfin

Jellyfin serves a library you host. Opal plays that library — alongside every other source you use. Many people run both.

Read the comparison →

Opal vs Plex

Plex is polished, proprietary and account-first. Opal is open source, local-first — and happy to play your Plex library.

Read the comparison →

Opal vs Kodi

Kodi can be built into almost anything, one add-on at a time. Opal ships assembled.

Read the comparison →

Opal vs qBittorrent

qBittorrent downloads torrents. Opal plays them — starting while the pieces are still arriving.

Read the comparison →

The cheapest way to decide is to run both

Opal is GPL-3.0, needs no account, and installs in about a minute.

Download OpalFull comparison matrix