this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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102
Is *arr stack a real Netflix replacement? (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by mittyta@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Hello! I never used *arr stack, and was interested into it, but one thing is stopping me. I see a lot of articles like how it is Netflix (or any other ONLINE theater) replacement, but as I see it is not online. I see two big factors that stops me from trying seerr + jellyfin (and other stuff in between):

  1. You have two switch between those apps to search and then watch.
  2. You can't watch media before it's completely downloaded.

I imagine sitting on coach, searching for show. Then you want to watch some, and then you have to wait half an hour for full episode (or even season?) to download. And then you can realize that you not into it and have to repeat all the steps above. Is my expectation correct? Please don't consider this as negative opinion. Just want to know what to expect. I remember an app called "popcorn time" that does not have that flaws.

UPD: Thanks for replies guys! I read it all. I will deploy the stack some day, but right now I will keep my current setup (which is qbittorent-nox, some public web jackett instance local for my country, and just simple smb shared folder). I also have some selfhosted debris alternative torrserver for times I don't have enough space to download full show.

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[–] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I interpreted their question differently. It sounds like they're taking about Radarr having to download a movie before they can watch it, whereas streaming services have a "complete" (compared to a new *arr setup) library available to stream instantly.

Some bittorrent clients can start playing a video before it's done downloading, and prioritize the torrent chunks in the right order so there aren't any interruptions as long as there are seeders and you have enough bandwidth. But I don't think plex or jellyfin can do it, and I don't know of any alternatives that can.

[–] French75@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Ah, I see the unclear part. I read this line...

I imagine sitting on coach, searching for show. Then you want to watch some, and then you have to wait half an hour for full episode (or even season?) to download.

As if OP already had a media library, and was outside of their home, sitting on a coach (bus?) and wanting to watch something from their existing library on their phone/laptop/tablet, thinking they'd have to wait for the entire thing to download. This would not be the case. If OP had no content library, and wanted to browse for something new, then yes, you'd need to download the entire thing and add it to your media library first.

  1. Getting stuff into your media library require downloading the thing.
  2. Watching stuff (even remotely) that already exists in your library does not require downloading the whole thing.
[–] mittyta@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yes, I mean to watch before it downloaded completely to my server via torrents. I would be happy, if qbittorent can enable "download in sequential order" enabled by default.