Streambert: an Electron desktop app that streams and downloads movies, TV series and anime from third-party sources

What Streambert actually solves, and who it is aimed at

Streambert is a desktop application that puts a single interface over several third-party streaming sources. The README states the app mainly gets video streams from VidSrc, and that you can also stream from videasy and vidking. Metadata for images, info texts, search and the homepage comes from TMDB. Anime is handled differently: the app checks whether a movie or series is an anime and then sources metadata from AniList instead of TMDB, and media files for anime are scraped from AllManga.to. The README credits ani-cli for that mechanic.

The audience is narrower than the tagline suggests. This is an Electron app, so it targets desktop operating systems: Linux packages (.deb, .pacman, .AppImage), a Windows installer, and a macOS universal .dmg. There is no mobile target anywhere in the repository. Someone who wants a browser tab replaced by a native-feeling window, with a local library that tracks what was watched and what is queued, is the intended user. Someone who wants a service that hosts content is not: the README is explicit that Streambert does not host, store or distribute any copyrighted content, and that all content is sourced from third-party providers and websites.

One design decision is worth naming plainly. The download path depends on a separate project, vid-dl-cli-only, plus ffmpeg. The app finds .m3u8 playlist links for the streams, and once you click Download those links are handed to that external program. So Streambert is partly a front end for another binary, and the README treats that binary as a prerequisite rather than a bundled component.

How the streaming, metadata and download paths fit together

The data flow has three distinct legs, and they fail independently.

First, discovery and metadata. The app queries TMDB for images, descriptions, search results and the homepage, which is why a TMDB API Read Access Token is a hard requirement. For content the app classifies as anime, that metadata request is redirected to AniList. This means the quality of a title page depends on which catalogue answered it, and a title that sits on the boundary between the two can look inconsistent.

Second, playback. The app resolves a stream from VidSrc by default, with videasy and vidking as alternates. The README describes the app as streaming faster than a browser can, but it does not publish measurements, so treat that as a claim rather than a figure.

Third, download. The app sources links to .m3u8 playlist files, similar in principle to an m3u8 link finder browser extension, and passes them to vid-dl-cli-only, which does the multithreaded fetching. ffmpeg is required alongside it. Downloaded files can be played in-app or moved to any storage medium. The README does not document what happens when a download is interrupted, whether partial files are resumed, or how to roll back a failed build.

Installing Streambert on Linux, Windows and macOS

Prebuilt binaries are the shortest path. The README points to the Codeberg releases page for the latest builds, and on first launch the app prompts for your TMDB API key, which is saved locally so you only enter it once. A guide for obtaining the token is linked from the README as tmdb-tutorial.md.

On Linux you pick a package format. The README gives these commands for the three variants:

# .deb
sudo dpkg -i streambert_*.deb

# Arch Linux (.pacman)
sudo pacman -U streambert-*.pacman

# .AppImage (you can also do it with Gearlever)
chmod +x Streambert-x64.AppImage && ./Streambert-x64.AppImage

After the .deb or .pacman install you should see Streambert in your application menu; the AppImage runs from wherever you put it. On Windows you download the latest Streambert Setup *.exe and run it. On macOS you download the latest Streambert-*-universal.dmg, open it and drag Streambert to your Applications folder.

Arch users get a specific warning in the README. If you hit a libcrypt.so.1 error, install libxcrypt-compat; if you hit an http-parser dependency error, install http-parser from the AUR:

sudo pacman -S libxcrypt-compat
yay -S http-parser

Building from source is a different route and needs Node.js >= 22.12.0. Install dependencies, then pick a target:

npm install
npm run dist:appimage

That produces an AppImage only. Other scripts cover dist:deb, dist:rpm, dist:arch, dist:win, dist:mac and dist for all platforms at once. For local development the package defines npm run start, which builds with Vite and launches Electron. Remember that downloading anything requires vid-dl-cli-only and ffmpeg installed separately, so a successful install is not the same as a working download setup.

Where Streambert breaks down or is the wrong choice

The most concrete limitation is the dependency chain around downloads. Streaming works through the app alone, but downloading requires a second binary from a different repository and a working ffmpeg install. If either is missing or misconfigured, the Download button is the part that fails, and the README does not describe an in-app check that tells you which one is at fault.

The second limitation is structural. Because streams come from third-party providers, availability is not something the project controls. A source can change its markup, rate-limit, or disappear, and the app's ability to resolve a stream goes with it. The README's privacy disclaimer acknowledges this asymmetry directly: Streambert itself collects no data and has no centralized service, but the streaming sources and GitHub (for in-app update downloads) may still collect your data, and the built-in tracker and ad blocking is described as not perfect.

Third, this is the wrong tool for anyone who wants a mobile client. The repository targets Electron desktop builds only. There is no Android or iOS artifact in the README, the package.json build configuration or the top-level repository entries. Anyone searching for an Android package is looking for something this project does not ship.

Finally, the legal position is not incidental. The README carries a legal disclaimer stating the application is for educational and personal use only, that it does not host, store or distribute copyrighted content, and that users are solely responsible for ensuring their use complies with the law. That is a real constraint on adoption, not boilerplate to skim.

How Streambert differs from Stremio and from ani-cli

Stremio is the closest comparison in shape: a desktop player that aggregates catalogue metadata and resolves streams through add-ons. The difference is where the logic lives. Stremio's sources are add-ons that you install and configure, so the set of available streams is extensible by third parties. Streambert hardcodes its sources in the application: VidSrc by default, videasy and vidking as alternates, with AllManga.to for anime. That makes Streambert more opinionated and simpler to start, and less adaptable when a source stops working.

ani-cli is the other reference point, and the relationship is acknowledged. Streambert's anime path scrapes AllManga.to using a mechanic the README says was taken from ani-cli. The practical difference is the interface: ani-cli is a terminal tool, while Streambert wraps the same idea in an Electron window with a library, subtitle management and in-app playback. If you already live in a terminal, ani-cli is a smaller dependency; if you want a graphical library and poster art, Streambert is the trade.

A third option is simply the browser plus an m3u8 link finder extension, which the README itself references as the analogue for how download links are sourced. Streambert's advantage there is the integrated library and the download pipeline; its disadvantage is that you are installing a full Electron runtime to get it.

Licence, forks and what upgrading costs you

Streambert is licensed under GPL-3.0. The README states that forks may be created but must stay open-sourced. If you plan to modify and redistribute the app, that copyleft obligation is the term that matters most, and it applies to the whole derived work. This is a description of the licence text, not legal advice; read the LICENSE file and the GPL-3.0 terms yourself before shipping anything.

Upgrade cost is low but not zero. The repository shows releases roughly monthly through the 2.4 to 2.6.0 sequence, and the privacy disclaimer notes that the app downloads updates in-app from GitHub. The last push to the repository was on 2026-09-11. There is no documented migration step between versions, no changelog in the README beyond release tags, and the README does not document rollback if an update misbehaves. Practically, the cost of upgrading is the risk of a source integration breaking, since those integrations are the parts most likely to need patching.

There is also a packaging cost if you build yourself. The package.json defines separate build scripts per target, and macOS builds use the --universal flag, so producing a macOS artifact from a non-macOS machine is not something the scripts promise. The README's Arch note about libxcrypt-compat and http-parser is the kind of platform friction that recurs on rebuilds.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Streambert if you want a desktop-only Electron client that streams from VidSrc, videasy and vidking, downloads via the separate vid-dl-cli-only binary plus ffmpeg, and keeps a local library, and if you are comfortable with the legal position the README itself flags. Do not adopt it if you need Android or iOS, or if you expect the app to host or guarantee content: it does not host anything. Verify first that you can obtain a TMDB API Read Access Token, that ffmpeg and vid-dl-cli-only run on your machine, and that the Codeberg releases page has a build for your platform before you touch the source.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. License: GPL-3.0
3. README
4. Releases
5. truelockmc/streambert on GitHub