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Comparison · Collab
Prowlarr vs Radarr
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Prowlarr and Radarr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:self-hosted
Prowlarr vs Radarr: at a glance
What is Prowlarr?
A steady indexer-maintenance cadence: fixes, definitions, translations, repeat.
Prowlarr ships every week or two off the develop branch, and the entries are consistently small: indexer definition corrections, parsing fixes, dependency bumps and Weblate translation batches. The only user-facing addition in this window is showing indexer-specific categories in search. Every entry opens with the same boilerplate about switching update branches, which is the feed's own shape rather than news.
What is Radarr?
Radarr is in steady maintenance, with one new download client the only visible addition
Radarr ships small builds on parallel develop and master branches, typically a handful of commits each. The recent stream is almost entirely correctness work — HTTP request disposal, deferred JSON deserialisation, malformed cookie handling, qBittorrent basic auth, an SQLite busy timeout raised to 1000ms — plus translation updates. The single functional addition is an RQBit download client.
Prowlarr vs Radarr: editorial side-by-side
Prowlarr
5.0COLLAB
A steady indexer-maintenance cadence: fixes, definitions, translations, repeat.
◆ Current state
Prowlarr ships every week or two off the develop branch, and the entries are consistently small: indexer definition corrections, parsing fixes, dependency bumps and Weblate translation batches. The only user-facing addition in this window is showing indexer-specific categories in search. Every entry opens with the same boilerplate about switching update branches, which is the feed's own shape rather than news.
◆ Where it's heading
The value being shipped is upkeep of the indexer catalogue — PreToMe categories, M-Team category updates, MyAnonamouse author name handling, IPTorrents query parameters. That is the actual product for an indexer manager, but it means the release history reads flat: no architectural change, no new integration surface, no shift in what Prowlarr does. Version numbers move faster than capability.
◆ Prediction
Expect the same rhythm — per-indexer definition fixes and dependency bumps cut every one to two weeks — with any notable change arriving as a small search or UI addition rather than a release theme.
Radarr
5.0COLLAB
Radarr is in steady maintenance, with one new download client the only visible addition
◆ Current state
Radarr ships small builds on parallel develop and master branches, typically a handful of commits each. The recent stream is almost entirely correctness work — HTTP request disposal, deferred JSON deserialisation, malformed cookie handling, qBittorrent basic auth, an SQLite busy timeout raised to 1000ms — plus translation updates. The single functional addition is an RQBit download client.
◆ Where it's heading
Version numbers are moving quickly through 6.1 to 6.4, but the changes behind them are patch-sized; the major.minor increments track branch mechanics rather than feature milestones. The work that is happening targets reliability under load and with third-party clients, which is where a long-running background service accumulates problems.
◆ Prediction
Expect the develop-branch build cadence to continue with further download client and indexer compatibility fixes; nothing here signals a larger release in preparation.
Alternatives to Prowlarr and Radarr
Other Collab products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Prowlarr or Radarr.
Readarr
Six releases of small fixes and translations, then nothing since June 2025.
LibrePhotos
Five repos became one, and the authorization model got a public-safe user view.
Komga
A mature media server whose releases are format edge cases and Kobo plumbing.
noVNC
noVNC ships about once a year, and its betas and finals carry identical notes.
Lidarr
Lidarr's release notes still tell you not to update Radarr — the fork's seams are showing.
See all Prowlarr alternatives → · See all Radarr alternatives →
Recent activity from Prowlarr and Radarr
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4d agoRadarrRadarr 6.4.1: RQBit download client support
- 4d agoProwlarr2.6.1.5509 shows indexer-specific categories in search
- 10d agoProwlarr2.6.0.5494 fixes non-ASCII Basic Auth credentials
- 10d agoRadarrRadarr 6.4.0 build 10540: HTTP and JSON handling cleanup
- 15d agoProwlarr2.5.2.5491: logging endpoint and task status icon fixes
- 17d agoRadarrRadarr 6.4.0 develop bump and cookie handling fix
- 17d agoProwlarr2.5.2.5483 improves byte-size parsing precision
- 24d agoRadarrRadarr 6.3.0 master build: translations and CI fix
- 25d agoProwlarr2.5.1.5464 corrects categories for three indexers
- 25d agoRadarrRadarr 6.3.0 develop build: streaming extension probe fix
- 29d agoProwlarr2.5.1.5460 adds leecher sorting for IPTorrents
- 1mo agoRadarrRadarr 6.2.1: qBittorrent basic auth and SQLite timeout fixes
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Prowlarr and Radarr?
Both compete on the same themes — self-hosted — within Collab. Prowlarr and Radarr are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Prowlarr better than Radarr?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Prowlarr and Radarr are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Prowlarr?
Top Prowlarr alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Prowlarr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/prowlarr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Radarr?
Top Radarr alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Radarr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/radarr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.