What is nzbfast?

This Rust Usenet client bundles the downloader, web dashboard, poster-wall browser, optional indexer, live preview, PAR2 repair, and RAR extraction into one binary. Its single-pass design streams articles straight to their final offsets while verifying and unpacking on the fly, so temporary archive files never appear and disk use stays at the final size. Multiple providers are queried in parallel; missing pieces are fetched from alternate backbones automatically. A unified memory pool spills to disk instead of swapping the host. An article journal enables near-instant resume after crashes. The dashboard on port 6789 offers real-time charts, a reorderable queue, provider stats, and a mobile-friendly layout. SABnzbd and NZBGet API compatibility lets popular PVR tools and phone remotes connect natively. An optional local indexer builds a searchable Newznab endpoint from your groups. Watchlists grab new posts and upgrade quality over time. Run it via Docker (multi-arch on Docker Hub and ghcr.io), native installers for macOS, Windows, Linux, Homebrew, or NAS templates for Unraid and Synology. GPL-3.0-or-later, no paid tiers.

Should you self-host nzbfast?

nzbfast scores 50/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #27 of 45 in Download Management. It has 143 GitHub stars.

It shipped 7 stable releases in the past year. The latest, parfast-v1.9.0, came out on 25 October 2026.

Setup is easy: most people get it running in one sitting. An official Docker image is available. It is GPL-3.0-licensed and written mostly in Rust.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is NzbDAV (53/100, 1 188 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See nzbfast vs NzbDAV side by side.