Sonarr
Automatic TV Shows downloader and manager for Usenet and BitTorrent. It can grab, sort and rename new episodes and automatically upgrade the quality of files already downloaded when a better quality format becomes available.
Best self-hosted Media Management software in 2026
Digital media management tools and software.
We track 30 open-source, self-hosted Media Management apps. 29 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 26 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are GPL-3.0 (9), AGPL-3.0 (9), MIT (9). The most-used languages are Python, C#, Nodejs. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.
Top 5 by GitHub stars
| # | App | Stars | Health | Last activity | License | Language | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonarr | 17.6k | Active | 2026-11-03 | GPL-3.0 | C#, Docker | ✓ |
| 2 | MeTube | 15.2k | Active | 2026-11-06 | AGPL-3.0 | Python, Nodejs | ✓ |
| 3 | Radarr | 14.7k | Active | 2026-11-08 | GPL-3.0 | C#, Docker | ✓ |
| 4 | Seerr | 13.2k | Active | 2026-11-09 | MIT | Docker, Nodejs | ✓ |
| 5 | Lidarr | 5.8k | Active | 2026-11-08 | GPL-3.0 | C#, Docker | ✓ |
- Sonarr — Automatic TV Shows downloader and manager for Usenet and BitTorrent. It can grab, sort and rename new episodes and automatically upgrade the quality of files already downloaded when a better quality format becomes available.
- MeTube — Web GUI for youtube-dl, with playlist support. Allows downloading videos from dozens of websites.
- Radarr — Automatically download movies via Usenet and BitTorrent (fork of Sonarr).
- Seerr — Manage requests for your media library, supports Plex, Jellyfin and Emby media servers (fork of Overseerr).
- Lidarr — Music collection manager for Usenet and BitTorrent users.
Head-to-head comparisons
All 30 self-hosted Media Management apps
Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.
MeTube
Web GUI for youtube-dl, with playlist support. Allows downloading videos from dozens of websites.
Radarr
Automatically download movies via Usenet and BitTorrent (fork of Sonarr).
Seerr
Manage requests for your media library, supports Plex, Jellyfin and Emby media servers (fork of Overseerr).
Lidarr
Music collection manager for Usenet and BitTorrent users.
Ombi
Content request system for Plex/Emby, connects to SickRage, CouchPotato, Sonarr, with a growing feature set.
tubesync
Syncs YouTube channels and playlists to a locally hosted media server.
Medusa
Automatic Video library manager for TV Shows. It watches for new episodes of your favorite shows, and when they are posted it does its magic.
Youtarr
Download videos from YouTube channels on a schedule via yt-dlp, with a web UI to browse and selectively download videos. Integrates with Plex Media Server and generates NFO metadata for Jellyfin, Kodi, and Emby.
Watcharr
Add and track all the shows and movies you are watching. Comes with user authentication, modern and clean UI and a very simple setup.
HomeTube
Web UI to download videos and playlists from 1700+ sites into a Plex or Jellyfin library, with quality selection, SponsorBlock sponsor removal, subtitles, clip cutting and resilient playlist sync.
nefarious
Automate downloading Movies and TV Shows.
MyTube
Downloader and player for yt-dlp-supported sites with channel subscriptions, cloud upload support, and local library organization.
Pinchflat
Download YouTube content built using yt-dlp.
Lingarr
Automatically translate subtitle files in your Radarr and Sonarr media libraries, using LibreTranslate, local AI models, or SaaS translation services.
Downtify
Download Spotify music with album art and metadata.
Reaparr
Cross-platform Plex media downloader that seamlessly adds media from other Plex servers to your own.
Lidify
Music discovery tool that provides recommendations based on selected Lidarr artists, using Spotify or LastFM.
PodFetch
Sleek and efficient podcast downloader.
LidaTube
Finding and fetch missing Lidarr albums via yt-dlp.
Deleterr
Automated media cleanup tool that removes watched and stale content from Plex, Sonarr, and Radarr based on configurable rules.
ChannelTube
Download video or audio from YouTube channels on a schedule via yt-dlp.
YoutubeDL-Server
Web and REST interface to Youtube-DL for downloading videos onto a server.
Houndarr
Scheduled backlog searches for Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, Readarr and Whisparr. Works through missing and cutoff-unmet items in small rate-limited batches with per-item cooldowns and hourly caps, to avoid overloading indexers.
ydl_api_ng
Simple youtube-dl REST API to launch downloads on a distant server.
youtube-dl-nas
Authenticated yt-dlp download queue for video, audio and subtitles, with history, mobile sharing and NAS file management (fork of youtube-dl-server).
MKVPriority
Selects preferred audio and subtitle tracks using configurable priority scores and sets the appropriate default and forced flags.
Elengrab
Fast cross-platform video and audio downloader and media viewer with flexible format and quality options. Supports 1000+ websites including YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch and more.
TrackWatch
Automated music release tracker for Spotify with email notifications, discography generator, and ghost track cleaner (alternative to Release Radar).
Ratelog
Movie tracker and rating app (alternative to Letterboxd).
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted Media Management software in 2026?
By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted Media Management apps are Sonarr (17,630 stars), MeTube (15,231 stars), Radarr (14,742 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.
How many self-hosted Media Management apps are actively maintained?
29 of the 30 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days and 1 more in the last 12 months.
Which self-hosted Media Management apps can I run with Docker?
26 of the 30 apps can run with Docker; 2 publish an image on Docker Hub, including MeTube and TrackWatch.
Which licenses do self-hosted Media Management apps use?
The most common licenses in this category are GPL-3.0 (9 apps), AGPL-3.0 (9 apps), MIT (9 apps).
How much does it cost to self-host Media Management software?
The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $3.5/month (median $5/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.
Related categories
AutomationMedia Streaming - Audio StreamingMedia Streaming - Multimedia StreamingMedia Streaming - Video StreamingMedia Management
Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.