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Comparison · Collab
Radarr vs Readarr
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Radarr and Readarr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:self-hosted
Radarr vs Readarr: at a glance
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.
What is Readarr?
Six releases of small fixes and translations, then nothing since June 2025.
Readarr's last six entries run from March to June 2025 and are uniformly small: a truncated root-folder path, remote image links for posters and covers, NLog message templating, disabled SelectInput options, Weblate translation batches. Every entry opens with the same instructions about switching to the develop branch and not updating inside a running Docker container. Nothing in this window adds capability, and no entry has appeared in over a year.
Radarr vs Readarr: editorial side-by-side
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.
Readarr
0.0COLLAB
Six releases of small fixes and translations, then nothing since June 2025.
◆ Current state
Readarr's last six entries run from March to June 2025 and are uniformly small: a truncated root-folder path, remote image links for posters and covers, NLog message templating, disabled SelectInput options, Weblate translation batches. Every entry opens with the same instructions about switching to the develop branch and not updating inside a running Docker container. Nothing in this window adds capability, and no entry has appeared in over a year.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is a project in caretaker mode: auto-generated commit lists, incremental UI corrections, and internal work like using ReflectionOnly types to avoid loading assemblies unnecessarily. Volume held steady at roughly one release every one to two weeks until it stopped entirely. The entries themselves give no reason for the halt.
◆ Prediction
The changelog offers no signal of resumed development; without new entries there is nothing here to project forward beyond the fact that the feed went quiet after 0.4.18.
Alternatives to Radarr and Readarr
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 Radarr or Readarr.
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.
Prowlarr
A steady indexer-maintenance cadence: fixes, definitions, translations, repeat.
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 Radarr alternatives → · See all Readarr alternatives →
Recent activity from Radarr and Readarr
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4d agoRadarrRadarr 6.4.1: RQBit download client support
- 10d agoRadarrRadarr 6.4.0 build 10540: HTTP and JSON handling cleanup
- 17d agoRadarrRadarr 6.4.0 develop bump and cookie handling fix
- 24d agoRadarrRadarr 6.3.0 master build: translations and CI fix
- 25d agoRadarrRadarr 6.3.0 develop build: streaming extension probe fix
- 1mo agoRadarrRadarr 6.2.1: qBittorrent basic auth and SQLite timeout fixes
- 1y agoReadarr0.4.18.2805 avoids loading unnecessary assemblies
- 1y agoReadarr0.4.17.2801 returns remote image links for posters and covers
- 1y agoReadarr0.4.16.2793 fixes a truncated root folder path
- 1y agoReadarr0.4.15.2787 switches log messages to templates
- 1y agoReadarr0.4.14.2782 fixes adding an author before root folders load
- 1y agoReadarr0.4.13.2760 improves author status and loading-error display
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Radarr and Readarr?
Both compete on the same themes — self-hosted — within Collab. Radarr is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Radarr better than Readarr?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Radarr is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
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.
What are the best alternatives to Readarr?
Top Readarr alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Readarr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/readarr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.