# Streaming Sites

# Popular Sites

Anitaku (previously Gogoanime)
Self-hosted site with a vast library. Majority of scraper sites will source from here
AniWave (previously 9anime)
Self-hosted site with one of the largest and oldest anime libraries. Releases are often updated to include fansubs and BD releases for older content
HiAnime (previously Aniwatch/Zoro)
Self-hosted site with quality similar to AniWave while maintaining an extensive library. One of the only unofficial streaming sites with soft subtitles

See The Index for a more comprehensive list of unofficial anime streaming sites.

Looking for official streaming sites? See r/anime's list of legal streams.

# Picking a Site

The best way to pick a streaming site is to choose one that suits your needs and preferences. These are some factors that you may want to take into consideration:

# Self-Hosted vs. Scrapers

A self-hosted site is a streaming site that hosts the content on their own servers.

Typically, self-hosted sites allow for significantly better video quality compared to scrapers or other sites. They also generally pick good BD releases or fansubs for some shows. However, some self-hosted libraries can be more limited.

Examples of self-hosted sites: animepahe, Anitaku, AniWave, HiAnime

A scraper is a site that grabs content hosted on existing self-hosted sites and uses it for their own site, similar to how manga aggregator sites operate.

This allows for anime libraries equivalent in size to self-hosted ones, without the need for the scraper to host content themselves. Additionally, site owners can implement their own UI or features, which may be preferred over the original site.

Majority of sites will scrape from Anitaku, a popular self-hosted streaming site.

Examples of scraper sites: AllAnime, Anix, Genoanime, YugenAnime

# Video Quality

While streaming sites will offer worse video quality compared to alternatives such as torrenting, DDL, XDCC, or even legal streaming, not all streaming sites are made equal.

You can see for yourself in the quality comparisons linked below:

Show Sources
Demon Slayer Anitaku (Gogoanime), AniWave (9anime), animepahe, HiAnime (Zoro), torrents
Dokyuu Hentai HxEros animepahe, Anitaku (Gogoanime), AniWave (9anime), torrents
Fate/Zero animepahe, Anitaku (Gogoanime), AniWave (9anime), torrents
Masamune-kun no Revenge R animepahe, Anitaku (Gogoanime), AniWave, HiAnime (AniWatch), torrents
Oshi no Ko Anitaku (Gogoanime), AniWave (9anime), HiAnime (Zoro), torrents
Senran Kagura Anitaku (Gogoanime), AniWave (9anime), animepahe, HiAnime (Zoro), torrents
Vinland Saga S2 Anitaku (Gogoanime), torrents

# Quality Tier List

  • AllAnime - Scraper site with great video quality when scraped from VRV, making them on par with SubsPlease/HorribleSubs torrent releases. However, not all shows use VRV, resulting in Tier 3 quality
  • animepahe - Quality can be better or worse than Anitaku. However, they offer significantly smaller file sizes and use good BD releases whenever available
  • Anitaku (and its scrapers) - Formerly Gogoanime

# Other Factors

There are a multitude of other factors that may affect your decision in picking a site. Here are some brief recommendations based on some factors that aren't covered in The Index and are often not taken into account:

Animepahe is very consistent at picking good BD releases with fansubs.

AniWave does this too, but typically less often and with slightly worse release choice.

animepahe has some of the smallest file sizes compared to other streaming sites.

Anitaku's are also relatively small when compared to sites like AniWave.

AniWave and Anitaku have some of the largest libraries available.

Additionally, AniWave has one of the best libraries when it comes to older and rarer shows.

HiAnime is one of the only streaming sites that use soft subtitles, with the other alternatives being legal streaming sites.

Users often care about the UI and site features. As this is completely subjective, we suggest you visit and try out the collection of sites from The Index and find what you like best.

Additional factors, like the ability to download, comment, use MAL-Sync, and more can be identified on The Index.