Cineby is shutting down, and a pirate site pulling 160 million monthly visits spent its final screen telling users to go watch Tubi instead.
Below we cover how the shutdown played out, then list the best Cineby alternatives worth switching to.
We covered this operation when an Indian court ordered ISPs to block 248 domains, with Cineby and HydraHD topping the list.
The following list was last updated on Wed, Sep, 02, 2026
Cineby Shut Down on a Published Schedule
Instead of vanishing overnight, the operators posted a timetable and worked through it. “We’ve decided to wind things down in stages,” they wrote, offering no reason for closing up shop.
- Aug 25: Mirror sites Fmovies+ and Cineplay redirect to Cineby
- Aug 26: Anime and sports streams switched off
- Aug 27: File downloads switched off
- Aug 28: Account system taken down, user accounts deleted
- Aug 30: Last day to watch films and series
- Aug 31: Film and series streaming switched off
- Sept 1: Cineby says goodbye
- Sept 5: Every remaining domain taken down for good
We checked the site ourselves on August 31 and the farewell notice was already up, a day ahead of schedule. It reads “The end has come for Cineby” and confirms that “Cineby and all related services have been shut down.”
The notice points visitors to Apple TV and Amazon Prime trials, plus two free picks: “free alternatives like Tubi or Pluto are available.” Cord-cutters are trading more suggestions in a Reddit discussion thread since the announcement went up.
Why Cineby Shut Down
The operators never said why, but pressure had been building for a year. The Motion Picture Association branded it a notorious piracy operation linked to Russia in a report to the US Trade Representative.
Hide Your Digital Fingerprint
Blocking orders followed in the UK, Canada, and India, where a Delhi High Court order obtained by HBO targeted four Cineby domains. Pirate streaming sites have staged their own funerals before and returned under a fresh brand, though there is no evidence of that here.
Best Cineby Alternatives
The apps below come from our full roundup of the best APKs for free movies and TV shows, where we install and test every option on real hardware. Each one runs on Fire TV and Android TV/Google TV devices.
1. Stremio
Stremio is free, ad-free, and syncs your setup across all of your devices. Community addons pull in movies and shows, no debrid service required.
2. Nuvio
Nuvio is the best new arrival we have tested in a long time, with user profiles, Stremio addon support, and a browser dashboard under one free account.
3. Kodi
Kodi remains the veteran pick, a free open-source media center that turns into a streaming machine with third-party addons or a build.
4. STRMR
STRMR combines debrid providers and Stremio addons in one polished interface. A Google sign-in is needed to access the app.
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5. Syncler
Syncler pairs with TorBox, Real-Debrid, or Premiumize for lag-free playback, so plan on a small monthly cost for one of those services.
Legal Free Streaming Options
Prefer to stay fully legal? Tubi and Pluto TV are the two Cineby vouched for, both ad-supported and completely free. The Roku Channel and Plex round out the standouts, while our roundups of free movie streaming sites and the best free live TV apps cover dozens more.
Watch Out for Cineby Clones
After quick research we found the copycats are already winning. A lookalike on a different domain now ranks at the very top of Google, above every news report about the closure.
These clones make their money through aggressive popups, cryptojacking scripts, and phishing pages. Run any unfamiliar file through VirusTotal before installing it.
Final Thoughts from Troy
A site this popular closing on its own published timetable, and steering users toward the legal side on the way out, is not something we see often.
Ironically, the clones borrowing its name will probably outlast the real domains, which go offline for good on September 5.
For more details, view the full report from TorrentFreak.
Did you ever visit Cineby? Let us know in the comments below.
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