What is iplayarr?

iPlayarr is a self-hosted bridge that brings BBC iPlayer content into the Sonarr and Radarr automation stack. It functions as a Newznab indexer so shows become searchable inside *arr apps, and as a SABnzbd-compatible downloader so episodes are fetched and post-processed automatically. The backend relies on get_iplayer to pull streams from iPlayer, managing the entire workflow from query to sorted media files. Deployment is via a Docker image that includes a web interface for settings and logs, with Redis bundled for storage. The service listens on port 4404 for API calls from Sonarr and Radarr. Licensed under GPL-3.0.

Should you self-host iplayarr?

iplayarr scores 44/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #38 of 45 in Download Management. It has 142 GitHub stars.

It shipped 4 stable releases in the past year. The latest, 0.11.6, came out on 22 April 2026. New versions land roughly every 2 months.

Setup is moderate: expect some configuration beyond a single command. An official Docker image is available. It is GPL-3.0-licensed and written mostly in Typescript.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is cobalt (83/100, 45 584 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See iplayarr vs cobalt side by side.