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MovieClaw vs. the *arr stack
How Sonarr + Radarr + Prowlarr + Bazarr + Jellyseerr + Jellyfin compares with MovieClaw, the trade-offs, and how to switch without starting over.
Last reviewed 2026-10-04
The classic self-hosted media setup is a stack: Sonarr for TV, Radarr for movies, Prowlarr or Jackett for indexers, Bazarr for subtitles, Overseerr or Jellyseerr for requests, and Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin for playback. Each piece is mature, but you're running six or seven services with six or seven configs, and keeping them in agreement about one library. MovieClaw folds all of that into one app.
Side by side
| The *arr stack | MovieClaw | |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Six or seven containers wired together with API keys | One container, no separate database |
| TV, movies, upgrades | Sonarr and Radarr, with a mature rule system | Subscription and upgrade rules. Grabs only the missing episodes when a season is nearly complete |
| Indexers | Prowlarr / Jackett: hundreds of sites, Torznab, Usenet | 23 built-in Chinese private trackers. No Torznab, public trackers, or Usenet |
| Download clients | qBittorrent, Transmission, Deluge, SABnzbd, and more | qBittorrent, Transmission |
| Subtitles | Bazarr, downloading from subtitle sites | OCR for image subtitles and AI translation of existing ones. No subtitle-site downloads |
| Release-name parsing | Rule-based | A built-in model, with uncertain matches sent to you |
| Metadata | TMDB, TVDB, and others | TMDB and Douban |
| Requests and permissions | Overseerr / Jellyseerr | Member accounts with per-person libraries, request rights, and age ratings |
| Playback | Plex, Emby, Jellyfin with apps everywhere | Web and iPhone apps. Infuse and others connect through the Jellyfin API |
| AI and automation | Each service's own API | Built-in AI agent. Every feature is exposed over MCP and the CLI |
| Interface language | Many | Chinese only |
When to stick with the stack
- You mostly use public trackers, non-Chinese sites, or Usenet.
- You need a download client MovieClaw doesn't support, like Deluge or SABnzbd.
- You need an English interface.
- Your household watches on TV or Android and relies on Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin apps. (You can keep those just for playback, as described below.)
Switching over
- Follow Install with Docker and mount your existing media and download folders.
- Point a new library at your existing folders. MovieClaw doesn't rename or move files by default, so scanning only matches and adds metadata. Your folder structure stays as it is.
- Connect your existing qBittorrent or Transmission, add your trackers, and re-subscribe to the shows you follow.
- Once MovieClaw is working, stop Sonarr and Radarr so both don't grab the same episode.
- Want to keep Jellyfin or Emby for playback? Leave them running and turn on import notifications. See Apps and players.