Sonarr — Free open-source TV automation: watches the shows you follow, fetches quality releases, feeds your media server.
What it is
Sonarr is a free, open-source personal video recorder for TV series under GPL-3.0. It monitors shows you follow, searches configured indexers, picks releases by quality rules and sends downloads to clients such as qBittorrent or SABnzbd.
Editor's review
Long-form introduction by the BetterPicker editors · checked against the official site · Oct 29, 2026
Sonarr automates the boring half of running a media library: noticing that Tuesday's shows exist, finding a good release, and moving it into your server's naming scheme. TechHut's full walkthrough (706,721 views) is the modern reference - part three of a home-lab series that wires Sonarr into Prowlarr, qBittorrent and Gluetun inside one Docker compose, and it opens with an on-screen warning that nothing shown excuses piracy under local law. Tom Spark's Reviews builds the same stack twice for different audiences (456,242 and 292,914 views), Byte My Bits covers the Unraid path (138,422 views), and Unrote's slower step-by-step (52,358 views) still sends viewers on to Radarr and Jackett afterward. The project itself is a free, open-source C# application under the GPL, a 17,000-star codebase on GitHub, currently shipping version 4 releases. The version 4 line completed a long-planned migration from the older v3 codebase, and existing setups move over with a backup-and-reinstall step. It runs on Windows, Linux and macOS or in the official container, serves its web UI on port 8989, and connects to download clients and indexers you configure once. Inside, the flow is deliberate: a series is added with a quality profile, monitored seasons are chosen once, and interactive search only appears when automatic rules cannot decide between releases. Custom formats grade releases on edition, source and language, failed downloads get re-searched, and the built-in calendar answers what airs this week.
What it does well
Set-and-forget season tracking: add a show once and Sonarr monitors for new episodes, applies quality and custom-format rules, and upgrades later when better releases appear. An upgrade rule can replace a standard episode with a proper Blu-ray rip when one shows up months later.
The stack fit is excellent: Prowlarr feeds it indexers, qBittorrent or SABnzbd do the downloading, and Plex, Jellyfin or Emby receive cleanly renamed, organized files.
Practical extras earn loyalty: a calendar of upcoming episodes, failed-download handling, and per-series quality profiles that keep archives consistent.
Who it's for
Self-hosters running Plex, Jellyfin or Emby who want television handled without weekly manual effort. Seasonal anime watchers and sports-show archivists are a visible share of the user base. It assumes comfort with Docker or at least with services, port numbers and folder permissions. Movies belong to its sibling project Radarr, not here.
Where it falls short
It only does TV: movie collectors run a second app and duplicate most of the configuration work on a second container.
Setup punishes newcomers: reverse proxies, paths and indexer quirks are the reason the longest tutorials exist.
The tool automates downloading, which shades into legal gray areas depending on indexers and jurisdiction - the biggest reviewers keep disclaimers on screen for a reason.
Specs at a glance
Facts from the official site · not editorial opinion
| Latest version | v4.0.20.3014 (version 4 line, current) |
|---|---|
| Price | Free and open source (GPL-3.0); 17,400+ GitHub stars |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux, macOS, Docker; web UI on port 8989 |
| Open source | Yes - GPL-3.0, C#, developed on GitHub |
| Core capability | Season monitoring, release search and grading, quality and custom-format rules, automatic renaming, failed-download handling |
| Integrations | Prowlarr, Jackett, qBittorrent, SABnzbd, NZBGet, Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, calendar feeds |
| Best for | Self-hosted TV libraries that want episodes to appear, renamed and organized, without weekly attention |
Frequently asked questions
▸Is Sonarr free?
Yes. It is a free, open-source project under GPL-3.0, funded by donations and developed in the open on GitHub.
▸Does Sonarr handle movies?
No. Sonarr is TV-only; its sibling project Radarr does the same job for films and shares the same configuration style.
▸Is Sonarr legal?
The software itself is a legal automation tool. What it downloads depends on your indexers, content and local law - reviewers keep piracy disclaimers in their guides.
▸Is there a Docker image?
Yes. The official documentation includes a Docker guide, and most home-lab stacks run Sonarr in a container alongside Prowlarr and a download client.
Video reviews
4 review videos aggregated · praise and criticism included alike · click through to the original video
the NEW Automated Torrent Media Server - Full Walkthrough Guide Pt. 3 (Gluetun, Sonarr, Radarr)
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