You have set up your IPTV service and the channels work, but the program guide is blank. Every channel shows “No information available.” Without a functioning EPG, watching IPTV feels like flipping through channels blindly.
What a free EPG source URL actually is
An EPG source URL points to an XMLTV file containing television schedule data: channels, program names, times, and descriptions. Your IPTV player downloads this file and matches it to your channel list.
URLs typically look like http://example.com/epg.xml.gz. The .gz means compressed. Most players handle decompression automatically.
Working free EPG source URLs for 2026
The most reliable community project is iptv-org/epg on GitHub. It aggregates data from dozens of countries and updates automatically, organized by country.
For US channels, it covers major networks, cable, and many regional stations. To verify which channels your provider should include, our IPTV channels guide has a comprehensive breakdown.
WebGrab+Plus is a tool that scrapes EPG data from websites and generates an XMLTV file you host locally. More setup, but full control.
How to add a free EPG source URL to your player
TiviMate: Settings > Playlists > select playlist > EPG source. Paste URL. Auto-matching attempts channel pairing.
IPTV Smarters: EPG section in settings. Add URL. Refreshes every 24 hours by default.
Perfect Player: Settings > General > EPG URL field. Supports multiple EPG sources.
Common EPG problems and how to fix them
“No information” after adding a source: channel IDs do not match. Manually map channels in player settings.
Wrong time zones: most EPG sources use UTC. Check time zone settings in player and device.
Slow loading: large EPG files can be 50 to 100 MB. Reduce the EPG range from 7 days to 2 or 3.
Keeping your EPG working long-term
Set your player to refresh every 24 hours during off-peak times. Bookmark the source project page. Have two EPG sources for redundancy. If you need help with the technical side, our guide onhow IPTV works covers the fundamentals.
FAQs: Free EPG source URL
What is a free EPG source URL and why do I need one
A free EPG source URL is a web link pointing to an XMLTV file that contains television schedule data. This data includes channel names, program titles, start times, end times, descriptions, and sometimes thumbnail images. You need a free EPG source URL when your IPTV provider does not supply program guide data, or when the built-in EPG is incomplete or inaccurate.
Without a functioning EPG, your IPTV experience is essentially channel surfing blind. You see channel names but have no idea what is currently playing, what comes on next, or when a specific show starts. Adding a free EPG source URL to your player app transforms the experience by giving you a structured, browsable program guide similar to what cable TV provides.
Where can I find a reliable free EPG source URL
The most reliable source is the iptv-org/epg project on GitHub. This community-maintained project aggregates EPG data from publicly available sources across dozens of countries. The free EPG source URL files are updated automatically and organized by country and region, making it straightforward to find data for your specific channels.
Other sources include epg.best (which offers both free and premium tiers), WebGrab+Plus (a tool for generating your own EPG data from web sources), and various IPTV community forums that share working free EPG source URL links. The iptv-org project remains the most consistently maintained and widely compatible option.
How often does a free EPG source URL update
Most community-maintained free EPG source URLs update every 12 to 24 hours. The iptv-org/epg project updates multiple times per day for most countries. Each update pulls fresh schedule data covering the next 3 to 7 days of programming.
Your IPTV player should be configured to refresh the free EPG source URL data at least once every 24 hours. Most players let you set an automatic refresh schedule. Setting the refresh to happen during off-peak hours, like 4 AM, avoids any impact on your viewing experience.
Why does my free EPG source URL show wrong times
Incorrect times in your EPG almost always come from a time zone mismatch. Most free EPG source URL files use UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) as the baseline. If your IPTV player or device is not correctly converting from UTC to your local time zone, all program times will be shifted by the offset between UTC and your location.
To fix this, check the time zone settings in both your IPTV player app and your streaming device. Make sure both are set to your correct local time zone. In TiviMate, there is an EPG time shift option that lets you manually adjust the offset if automatic detection is not working with your free EPG source URL.
Can I use multiple free EPG source URLs at the same time
Some players support multiple free EPG source URLs simultaneously. TiviMate allows you to add an EPG source per playlist. Perfect Player supports multiple EPG sources and merges the data. OTT Navigator also handles multiple sources.
Using multiple free EPG source URLs is useful when one source covers US channels well but misses UK channels, and another covers the UK but lacks US data. The player combines the data from both sources, filling gaps and providing more complete coverage across your entire channel list.
My free EPG source URL is not matching my channels
Channel matching failures happen when the channel identifiers in the free EPG source URL file do not match the identifiers in your IPTV playlist. Each channel in an XMLTV file has a unique ID. Your playlist also assigns IDs to channels. If these IDs do not match, the player cannot connect the schedule data to the correct channel.
Most players offer manual EPG channel assignment. In TiviMate, long-press a channel, select EPG source, and manually search for the matching channel from the free EPG source URL data. This is tedious for large channel lists but only needs to be done once per channel.
How large are free EPG source URL files
Free EPG source URL files vary in size depending on how many channels and how many days of data they include. A file covering 500 channels with 7 days of programming data can be 50 to 100 MB in compressed .gz format. When decompressed for parsing by your player, the file may be 200 to 500 MB of raw XML.
Large files cause slow loading on devices with limited RAM. If your Firestick or Android box struggles with a free EPG source URL, try a source that covers fewer channels or reduce the EPG data range to 2 or 3 days in your player settings. This significantly reduces the data your device needs to process.
Can I create my own free EPG source URL
Yes. Tools like WebGrab+Plus let you scrape schedule data from websites and generate your own XMLTV file. You configure which channels and which sources to scrape, run the tool on a schedule (typically on a computer or home server), and host the resulting file at a URL that your IPTV player can access.
Creating your own free EPG source URL gives you complete control over channel coverage and update frequency. The trade-off is setup complexity and the need to maintain a device that runs the scraper on a regular schedule. For most users, the community-maintained iptv-org project is easier and sufficient.
Does a free EPG source URL work with all IPTV players
Most popular IPTV players support XMLTV format, which is the standard used by free EPG source URL files. TiviMate, IPTV Smarters, Perfect Player, OTT Navigator, Sparkle TV, and XCIPTV all support external EPG sources. If you are looking for a player that handles EPG well on Firestick, check our guide on free IPTV players for Firestick.
Some players handle free EPG source URL data better than others. TiviMate is widely regarded as having the best EPG integration, with fast loading, accurate matching, and an intuitive guide layout. Simpler players may support the free EPG source URL but display the data in a less user-friendly format.
What do I do if my free EPG source URL stops working
Free EPG source URLs can stop working if the maintainer abandons the project, the hosting changes, or the data sources they scrape become unavailable. When this happens, check the project page (usually on GitHub) for announcements or updated URLs. Community forums and IPTV subreddits often share working alternatives quickly.
To protect against downtime, configure a backup free EPG source URL in your player if the app supports multiple sources. Bookmark two or three EPG projects so you can quickly switch if your primary source goes offline. The IPTV community is active, and working free EPG source URL alternatives are usually available within days of a popular source going down.