Lidarr vs Radarr: Music vs Movie Automation

Lidarr is the *arr stack’s music automation tool — it monitors artists, searches for albums, and organizes your music library. Radarr does the same for movies. Both are built on the same Servarr codebase and share nearly identical UIs, but they target different media types with different metadata sources and workflows.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Lidarr	Radarr
Media type	Music (albums, artists)	Movies
Docker image	lscr.io/linuxserver/lidarr:3.1.0.4875	lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:6.0.4
Default port	8686	7878
Metadata source	MusicBrainz	TMDb (The Movie Database)
Codebase	Servarr (.NET / older Mono)	Servarr (.NET 8, modern)
Quality profiles	Yes	Yes
Custom formats	Yes	Yes (more mature)
Download client support	qBittorrent, SABnzbd, NZBGet, Transmission	qBittorrent, SABnzbd, NZBGet, Transmission
Indexer integration	Prowlarr, Jackett	Prowlarr, Jackett
Library import	Existing music folders	Existing movie folders
Rename on import	Yes (configurable patterns)	Yes (configurable patterns)
Calendar view	Yes (album release dates)	Yes (movie release dates)
Monitoring modes	Monitor new albums, all, none	Monitor new movies, all, none
Mobile apps	LunaSea, nzb360	LunaSea, nzb360
RAM usage	~150-250 MB	~200-350 MB
License	GPL v3	GPL v3

Updated March 2026: Verified with latest Docker images and configurations.

Overview

Both Lidarr and Radarr automate the same workflow:

1. You add media (artists or movies) you want
2. The tool monitors indexers for matching releases
3. When found, it sends downloads to your client (qBittorrent, SABnzbd)
4. On completion, it imports, renames, and organizes files
5. It keeps monitoring for quality upgrades

The difference is entirely in what media they manage and where they get metadata.

Setup Comparison

Both deploy the same way via LinuxServer.io images:

Lidarr:

services:
  lidarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/lidarr:3.1.0.4875
    container_name: lidarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    ports:
      - "8686:8686"
    volumes:
      - lidarr-config:/config
      - /path/to/music:/music
      - /path/to/downloads:/downloads
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  lidarr-config:

Radarr:

services:
  radarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:6.0.4
    container_name: radarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    ports:
      - "7878:7878"
    volumes:
      - radarr-config:/config
      - /path/to/movies:/movies
      - /path/to/downloads:/downloads
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--spider", "-q", "http://localhost:7878/ping"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  radarr-config:

Nearly identical deployment. Different ports, different media paths, same configuration approach. Both need Prowlarr for indexer management and a download client like qBittorrent.

Metadata and Library Management

Lidarr uses MusicBrainz for metadata. MusicBrainz is community-maintained and has excellent coverage of mainstream music but can be patchy for niche genres, bootlegs, or regional releases. Album matching is harder than movie matching because:

• Multiple releases of the same album (deluxe, remastered, vinyl rip)
• Compilation albums, box sets, and multi-disc releases
• Artist name variations and collaborations

Radarr uses TMDb (The Movie Database) for metadata. TMDb has near-complete coverage of theatrical releases worldwide. Movie matching is more straightforward — one movie, one title, clear release dates. Radarr’s custom formats system for handling different quality tiers (4K, HDR, Dolby Vision) is more mature than Lidarr’s equivalent.

Maturity

Radarr v6 runs on modern .NET 8, with better performance and lower memory usage. Lidarr v2 is on an older Servarr fork and lags behind in feature parity. The Radarr team is larger and more active. Common community observation: Radarr “just works,” while Lidarr requires more manual intervention for edge cases in music matching.

Maturity Indicator	Lidarr	Radarr
GitHub stars	~3.5K	~10K+
Latest major version	v2 (Mono-era)	v6 (.NET 8)
Custom formats	Basic	Advanced (with scoring)
Community size	Moderate	Large
Issue resolution speed	Slower	Faster

The Full *arr Stack

Both tools are part of the Servarr ecosystem. A typical self-hosted media stack:

Role	Tool	Port
Movies	Radarr	7878
TV Shows	Sonarr	8989
Music	Lidarr	8686
Books	Readarr	8787
Subtitles	Bazarr	6767
Indexers	Prowlarr	9696
Requests	Jellyseerr or Overseerr	5055
Torrent client	qBittorrent	8080
Usenet client	SABnzbd	8081
Media server	Jellyfin	8096

You’re not choosing between Lidarr and Radarr — you run both if you want both music and movies automated.

Use Cases

Use Lidarr If…

• You want automated music library management
• You’re building a self-hosted music streaming setup with Navidrome or Jellyfin
• You want to maintain a well-organized music collection with consistent naming
• You already run the *arr stack and want to add music automation

Use Radarr If…

• You want automated movie collection management
• You’re building a media server with Jellyfin or Plex
• You care about quality upgrades (4K, HDR, Dolby Vision custom formats)
• You want a mature, well-supported tool

Run Both If…

• You want both music and movies automated
• They share the same Prowlarr instance and download clients
• Resource overhead is minimal (~400-600 MB RAM combined)

Final Verdict

These tools aren’t alternatives to each other — Lidarr handles music, Radarr handles movies, and most *arr users run both alongside Sonarr for TV. If forced to pick one: Radarr is the more polished experience. It’s on a newer codebase, has stronger community support, and movie matching is less error-prone than music matching. But if you want music automation, Lidarr is the only *arr tool that does it.

FAQ

Can Radarr manage music?

No. Radarr only handles movies. For music, you need Lidarr. For TV shows, you need Sonarr.

Do Lidarr and Radarr share a database?

No. Each runs independently with its own SQLite database. They share indexers via Prowlarr and download clients, but not internal data.

Which uses more resources?

Radarr uses slightly more RAM (~200-350 MB vs ~150-250 MB) because it processes more metadata per item. Both are lightweight enough to run on a Raspberry Pi 4.

Can I add both to Prowlarr?

Yes. Prowlarr supports multiple *arr applications. Add both Lidarr and Radarr as targets, and Prowlarr syncs indexers to both automatically.

Related

• How to Self-Host Lidarr
• How to Self-Host Radarr
• Sonarr vs Radarr
• How to Self-Host Prowlarr
• How to Self-Host qBittorrent
• Best Self-Hosted Download Management
• How to Self-Host Jellyfin