Overseerr
Overseerr is a free, open-source media request and discovery app. It centralizes user requests for Plex/Emby/Jellyfin and automates delivery via Radarr/Sonarr. It is a UI-first request and approval workflow designed for discoverability, request tracking, and automation.
It targets individuals, households, and small community groups that run self-hosted media servers. Overseerr reduces friction for users requesting new shows or movies, centralizes approvals, prevents duplicate requests by syncing libraries, and automates handoff to Radarr/Sonarr to reduce manual admin work; it also provides roles, limits, notifications, and localization for governance.
Use Cases
- Family household: members request shows; parents approve via the queue.
- Curate a shared 4K movie library with controlled requests.
- Automation hobbyist: requests trigger Radarr/Sonarr downloads and organization.
- Small team watch parties: central request tracking for event content.
- Community group moderation: approve or decline submissions before download.
- Side project curators: control intake for specialty collections and formats.
Strengths
- Library sync with Plex/Emby/Jellyfin prevents duplicate requests.
- Structured request forms plus an approval queue for predictable intake.
- Radarr and Sonarr integration automates acquisition and library growth.
- Granular roles, permissions, and request limits for governance.
- Mobile-friendly UI, notifications, and localization improve response rates.
- Modern UI with tight integrations compared to older alternatives.
- Self-hosting works well (assume easy on Coolify); you control data.
Limitations
- Focused on media request workflows; not suitable for broader business needs.
- Self-hosting required; no first‑party hosted offering noted (Unverified).
- Installation caveats exist, including port configuration limits in some methods.
- Image caching and media metadata can consume notable disk space.
- Managing multiple 4K or separate libraries can require extra Radarr instances.
- Migration of request history and reconfiguration takes effort despite open source.
Final Thoughts
Try it now if you run a self-hosted Plex/Emby/Jellyfin server and want automated Radarr/Sonarr handoff and simple approval controls.
Choose managed cloud when you require SLAs, enterprise compliance, or want to avoid hosting maintenance.