Radarr
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 5 media automation tools by recommenders
Automates searching for and downloading movies for a self-hosted library, and people say it runs light and needs little attention once set up. The most common caveat is a fiddly initial setup.
Automates searching for and downloading movies for a self-hosted library, and people say it runs light and needs little attention once set up. The most common caveat is a fiddly initial setup.
37 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 33
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 33 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 8.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Light, stable, low maintenance
“Sonarr and Radarr idle at 157MB and 159MB of memory and approximately no CPU”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” “they will chug along fine for years with near zero input”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” “they aren't especially heavy to run and are not fragile”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” Easy filters and seamless collection
“the filters in radarr and sonarr make that pretty easy”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “Jellyfin 12.0” “you add a show in Sonarr or a movie in Radarr.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros” “They make the collection process seamless.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Disney Raising Prices Days After Confirming Ads Will Now Show Up on Every Tier” Convenient once it's set up
“Once you set it up with Sonarr and Radarr and Plex/Jellyfin you will never go back”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits” “Pain to set up, but once it's there, it's very convenient to use.”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits” Core of a working media setup
“most of the arr suite (radarr, sonarr, prowlarr, tunarr) has really been the best choice I've made this year”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Skip the Tips: A game to select "No Tip" but dark patterns try to stop you” “I literally use all of these now daily.”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What self-hosted apps do you use daily?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Fiddly, complicated setup
“I found it extremely fiddly to set up”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” “a whole Rube Goldberg machine”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification Is Bringing the Play Integrity API to Desktops” “The *arr stack was a pain.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead” - Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead”
Fixed quality profile per item
“The arrs have extensive and solid capabilities for filtering for the quality you want, but they don't really offer the ability to manage multiple qualities for one specific item.”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” “Currently the profile is fixed. I guess they can delete movies but I can re-downlaod in 5 min so not a massive problem.”
Comment from 2 May 2026 in “Apple Says Mac Studio and Mac Mini Will Be in Short Supply for Months” Bad torrents not detected
“Really, sonarr / radarr should have implemented this a long time ago since they're the ones doing the searching, downloading, and inspecting of files”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Someone on Torrent Sites Kept Fucking with My Sonarr” “it's just a long-standing problem in Sonarr and Radarr that even when it detects that a torrent is bad”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Someone on Torrent Sites Kept Fucking with My Sonarr”
Other media automation tools people recommend
The four most recommended other media automation tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonarr | 38 | 4 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| RadarrThis page | 33 | 4 | 89% | 10 | — | Approved |
| *arr stack | 21 | 6 | 78% | 7 | 1.1 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Overseerr | 11 | 2 | 85% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Bazarr | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
27 of the 40 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“They make the collection process seamless.”
“The arrs have extensive and solid capabilities for filtering for the quality you want, but they don't really offer the ability to manage multiple qualities for one specific item.”
“they aren't especially heavy to run and are not fragile”
“I found it extremely fiddly to set up”
“what fear-mongering and FUD-spread.”
“Sonarr and Radarr opens you up to a plethora of attack vectors”
“they will chug along fine for years with near zero input”
“Sonarr and Radarr idle at 157MB and 159MB of memory and approximately no CPU”
“it's just a long-standing problem in Sonarr and Radarr that even when it detects that a torrent is bad”
“Really, sonarr / radarr should have implemented this a long time ago since they're the ones doing the searching, downloading, and inspecting of files”
“are so convenient that I sometimes feel bad for these content companies”
“Once you set it up with Sonarr and Radarr and Plex/Jellyfin you will never go back”
“Pain to set up, but once it's there, it's very convenient to use.”
“I literally use all of these now daily.”
“the filters in radarr and sonarr make that pretty easy”
“Radarr does this much better with plenty of built-in as well as community guides for configuration.”
“try out sonarr/radarr with hard links”
“Usenet, with radarr as your user interface”
“a whole Rube Goldberg machine”
“Currently the profile is fixed. I guess they can delete movies but I can re-downlaod in 5 min so not a massive problem.”
“I haven't touched the webinterface of Radarr and Sonarr in weeks. I just ask the model.”
“The *arr stack was a pain.”
“Gosh config of radarr and sonarr seemed impenetrable to me.”
“most of the arr suite (radarr, sonarr, prowlarr, tunarr) has really been the best choice I've made this year”
“But when streaming started to really go down the toilet I already had a homelab so I spun up radarr and Jellyfin”
“you add a show in Sonarr or a movie in Radarr.”
“all the sonarr/radarr… apps”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.