The best Cinecat alternative in 2026
Cinecat is the site many people still know as Z-Stream, or before that as XP-Stream and P-Stream (Fork). It is running at cinecat.eu, and zstream.mov now redirects there.
By the Rotten Brains team · Updated 23 September 2026 · 3 min read
The short answer
Cinecat is up. It is the same site that was called Z-Stream until September 2026, and it has had three names and three domains in six months. If you want a backup whose name and address stay the same, Rotten Brains is free, needs no account to watch and sits at rotten-brains.com.
What happened to Z-Stream? (Now Cinecat)
The site started out on FMHY on 11 March 2026 as 'P-Stream (Fork)' at pstream.net, a starred fork of the P-Stream (movie-web) streaming frontend, linked to a GitHub project from XP Technologies. On 28 May 2026 FMHY renamed the entry XP-Stream.
A week later, on 4 June 2026, a community status page announced a new domain, zstream.mov, and on 9 June FMHY switched the link and renamed the entry Z-Stream. That name stuck long enough to get big: Similarweb's August 2026 figures show zstream.mov at about 20.8 million visits over three months, up about 52% on the month before.
On 24 August 2026 the project's GitHub repository was archived, and its maintainers say the code that fetches the video sources is not open source. Z-Stream was briefly taken off FMHY's video page on 30 August 2026 and put back, starred, on 1 September.
Then came the latest name. A pull request on 13 September 2026 told FMHY: 'As per their Discord, Z-Stream has been renamed to Cinecat. Visiting the old domain will redirect you to the new website, https://cinecat.eu'. FMHY made the change on 14 September. When we checked on 23 September 2026, zstream.mov redirected to cinecat.eu and pstream.net no longer resolved.
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What people like about Cinecat, and what Rotten Brains does
Z-Stream trying the next source by itself when a stream would not start
On Rotten Brains: the player finds a working source by itself →Watch lists and history that Z-Stream kept in sync
On Rotten Brains: pick up where you left off →Auto-next on Z-Stream rolling a show forward without a click
On Rotten Brains: every season and episode, with up next →
Cinecat vs Rotten Brains
Status
Cinecat: Running; renamed from Z-Stream, September 2026
✓Rotten Brains: Online and updated every day
Address
Cinecat: Three names and domains in six months: pstream.net, zstream.mov, cinecat.eu
✓Rotten Brains: One address: rotten-brains.com
Ads
Cinecat: Pop-ups unless turned off under browse > ad status (FMHY grading)
✓Rotten Brains: Banners, and at most one new-tab ad every 4 minutes; Premium removes all ads
When a server fails
Cinecat: Switches source automatically (FMHY grading)
✓Rotten Brains: Switches source by itself
| Cinecat today | Rotten Brains | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Running; renamed from Z-Stream, September 2026 | ✓Online and updated every day |
| Address | Three names and domains in six months: pstream.net, zstream.mov, cinecat.eu | ✓One address: rotten-brains.com |
| Ads | Pop-ups unless turned off under browse > ad status (FMHY grading) | ✓Banners, and at most one new-tab ad every 4 minutes; Premium removes all ads |
| When a server fails | Switches source automatically (FMHY grading) | ✓Switches source by itself |
A look around Rotten Brains
Real screenshots from the site, in the order that matters most to someone coming from Cinecat.
01
The player finds a working source by itself
Every title is checked against several sources before you press play, and the player starts on the one that answers first.
If a source stalls, the player tries the next one and picks up where you were. You can still pick one yourself from the settings menu, with a note on which ones carry extra audio languages or subtitles.
02
Pick up where you left off
With a free account, every movie and episode remembers the second you stopped, on every device. Continue Watching sits at the top of the home page, next to what is new in the shows you follow.
You never need the account to watch. It only adds the memory.
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03
Every season and episode, with Up Next
Shows open on a watch page with every season beside the player. The episode you are on is marked, and Up Next sits right above the list, so finishing an episode is one tap from the next.
Anime is here too, with sub and dub where both exist.
04
Subtitles in dozens of languages
Subtitles come from more than one source, so most titles have several versions per language. If the first one is out of sync with the video, the next one usually is not.
Many get lined up with the dialogue automatically when you pick them, and there is a delay slider for the rest.
05
Watch parties with friends anywhere
Start a party from any movie or episode and send the link. Everyone who opens it watches the same second of the same video, with a chat alongside, and the player keeps them in sync.
Any free account can start one. Friends can join and watch without an account at all.
06
Built for your phone too
The site works the same on a phone as on a laptop: the player pins to the top, the episode list scrolls underneath, and the controls are sized for thumbs.
Add it to your home screen and it opens full screen, like an app, with no store and no install.
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Questions
Where did Z-Stream go?
It was renamed Cinecat in September 2026. According to the note passed to FMHY from its Discord, the old zstream.mov domain redirects to cinecat.eu, and it did when we checked on 23 September 2026.
Is Cinecat the same as P-Stream?
It is a fork of P-Stream, not P-Stream itself. It was listed as "P-Stream (Fork)" at pstream.net, then renamed XP-Stream, then Z-Stream, then Cinecat.
Does Rotten Brains switch sources when one breaks?
Yes. Each title is checked against several sources, and if the one you are on stops working the player moves to another without you picking one.