Pros and Cons of Kodi

Isa Aliu

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Updated: November 18, 2024

Since its release in 2002, Kodi has grown from being merely operated by volunteers with a large community to becoming the most popular media player in the world. What makes Kodi so great, and are there any downsides to the media player? Let’s find out:

• Price

Kodi is everything you want, and what’s more, it’s completely free! Also, the streaming media server isn’t freemium, where you have to pay for more advanced features, as is common with most competitors.

That said, Kodi accepts donations from people and sells merchandise on its site; the proceeds are used to maintain the app and also for the Kodi Foundation Developers Conference, which holds annually.

• Content

Kodi offers premium content. According to OpenSource,  although the base app does not offer much, the sheer number of add-ons makes up for any lapses. At the moment, you can access more than 1,000 add-ons, and the best part is that there’s no limit to the number of installations available. Also, all the add-ons are entirely free.

The add-ons serve various purposes and are well categorized for easy reach and use. With the add-ons, you can stream movies, watch live TV shows, listen to music and radio, play games, watch TV catalogs, and so much more.

However, it’s important to note that the add-ons are user-made, and some are illegal.

• Customization

Kodi is an open-source app with many developers volunteering and constantly developing and adding new features and add-ons to the library. These add-ons and features ensure flexibility and customization. You can change any part of the user interface to suit your need. From screensavers and GUI sounds to skins and language, Kodi lets you make changes for more personalized use.

• Compatibility

Kodi is known to support a wide range of devices. Kodi app runs on several platforms, including Linux, Windows, macOS, and even on a PC. The multimedia player is also compatible with IOS and Android devices as well as Raspberry Pi.

These devices have similar functionalities and ensure a user-friendly interface with just a bit of difference between them.

Interestingly, users can download old builds; there are also development builds that give an insight into future builds.

• Privacy

This is the part that has most people worried. There are no privacy uncertainties with the base apps and no doubt about using the Kodi app exclusively with local files. The problem is with using community-made apps.

Many users have raised concerns regarding the privacy and security of the streaming tool. For instance, Kodi keeps track of every video you watch in the app, which is quite worrisome. The app keeps a record of your streaming activities even after deleting the files. There’s no way to prevent this, nor are there options to delete the records.

• Security

Asides from privacy concerns, there are also security concerns. To start with, it’s generally known that community add-ons are not trustworthy. These add-ons are often dormant, dead, or outdated. However, Kodi constantly tries to update them with boots, thus exposing users to MitM attacks.

A Man-in-the-Middle attack refers to a situation when a hacker intercepts a communication and then tweaks what is being sent or received. Since Kodi often sends an unnecessary request, hackers are given a chance to intercept data and even install malware rather than update the add-ons. This is of great concern for users looking to use the Kodi app for sports, TV shows, and movies, especially when there’s no whitelisted add-on available.

• Support

Kodi does not offer any customer support; you are left to solve any issues yourself. This is not surprising, though, as it’s a free, open-source app, yet, it’s disappointing that there’s no help coming anytime something goes wrong.

However, the media player has a robust and excellent community where you find support and answer to questions. There’s a forum setup where members are always willing to help each other. There are also in-depth how-to articles, along with troubleshooting.

Conclusion

Kodi is worth your time and energy. Despite being free, the media player offers excellent possibilities in terms of feature customization and robust content.

And although there are some privacy and security issues, these can be easily resolved using a VPN. With a VPN, you never have to worry about your online activities, and hackers won’t get a hold of your data. You can also bypass geo-blocks and content to enjoy all the videos you love.

Kodi has an overwhelmingly positive review, confirming that Kodi is an excellent media server, one you should check out.