Sonarr
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 5 media automation tools
Free app that automates finding and organizing TV episodes, and people say it is convenient once running. The most common caveat is that setup is fiddly and hard to configure.
Free app that automates finding and organizing TV episodes, and people say it is convenient once running. The most common caveat is that setup is fiddly and hard to configure.
42 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 38
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 9 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: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 38 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 9.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Automates TV collection once configured
“You can also automate 99% of it with the *arr stack and completely forget about it.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Someone on Torrent Sites Kept Fucking with My Sonarr” “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” “you add a show in Sonarr or a movie in Radarr.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros” - Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Disney Raising Prices Days After Confirming Ads Will Now Show Up on Every Tier”
Convenient to use day to day
“it's amazing how much my tv usage went down, simply due to having to actually choose”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Disney Raising Prices Days After Confirming Ads Will Now Show Up on Every Tier” “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” “I literally use all of these now daily.”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What self-hosted apps do you use daily?” Works with Plex and Jellyfin
“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” “Now I torrent everything using Transmission, Sonarr and Plex stack and couldn't be happier.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Disney Raising Prices Days After Confirming Ads Will Now Show Up on Every Tier” “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” Hardlinks create organized library
“it will make a second library directory for you comprised of hardlinks organized in the right structure”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Jellyfin founder Andrew leaves team” “try out sonarr/radarr with hard links”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “The Corporate Creep of Plex: Why it may be time to move to Jellyfin”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Fiddly, hard setup and configuration
“I found it extremely fiddly to set up”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” “Gosh config of radarr and sonarr seemed impenetrable to me.”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SonarrThis page | 38 | 4 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Radarr | 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
32 of the 45 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“They make the collection process seamless.”
“Now I torrent everything using Transmission, Sonarr and Plex stack and couldn't be happier.”
“it's amazing how much my tv usage went down, simply due to having to actually choose”
“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.”
“you could put in the work and end up with a system that will let a non-technical family member type the name of a show”
“I havent been able to find a way to stop sonarr from grabbing releases before their official releas”
“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”
“You can configure sonar better”
“they aren't especially heavy to run and are not fragile”
“You can also automate 99% of it with the *arr stack and completely forget about it.”
“it's just a long-standing problem in Sonarr and Radarr that even when it detects that a torrent is bad, it just sits there holding onto a virus”
“Really it's a thing Sonarr have to do, as evidenced by the multiple PRs they have to try and finally do it.”
“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”
“sonarr is tied to a single metadata provider which sometimes makes very unpopular decisions”
“try out sonarr/radarr with hard links”
“it will make a second library directory for you comprised of hardlinks organized in the right structure”
“avoid the hodgepodge of 8 different streaming services and rotating availability”
“a whole Rube Goldberg machine”
“I could also give them the Radarr / Sonarr UI.”
“I haven't touched the webinterface of Radarr and Sonarr in weeks. I just ask the model.”
“Then you'll set up radarr/sonarr, and ensure they can talk to prowlarr.”
“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”
“If you can get a private tracker or sonarr running, pretty much no ads.”
“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.