Quick Verdict
Sonarr and Prowlarr aren't competitors — they're partners. Sonarr manages your TV show library and triggers downloads. Prowlarr manages the indexers (sources) that Sonarr searches. You need both: Prowlarr finds where to download, Sonarr decides what to download.
Overview
People commonly confuse these two because they're both part of the *arr stack and have similar UIs. Here's the distinction:
Sonarr is a TV show manager. You add shows, Sonarr monitors for new episodes, searches indexers, sends downloads to your client (SABnzbd or qBittorrent), and organizes the files in your library.
Prowlarr is an indexer manager. It stores your indexer credentials (Torznab, Newznab) in one place and pushes them to all connected *arr apps (Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Readarr).
How They Work Together
Prowlarr manages indexers → pushes to Sonarr
Sonarr monitors TV shows → searches via indexers → sends to download client
Download client downloads → Sonarr imports and organizes
Without Prowlarr, you'd add indexers directly in Sonarr's settings. Prowlarr centralizes this so you configure indexers once instead of in each *arr app.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Sonarr | Prowlarr |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | TV show management | Indexer management |
| What it monitors | TV show releases | Indexer health |
| What it downloads | TV episodes | Nothing |
| Library management | Yes | No |
| Indexer configuration | Basic (per-app) | Centralized (multi-app) |
| Search capability | Searches for TV shows | Searches all indexers |
| Download client integration | Yes | No |
| File renaming/organizing | Yes | No |
| Quality profiles | Yes | No |
| Calendar | Yes (upcoming episodes) | No |
| *arr app sync | N/A | Yes (pushes to Sonarr, Radarr, etc.) |
| FlareSolverr support | Via Prowlarr | Yes (native) |
Do You Need Both?
You always need Sonarr (or Radarr/Lidarr) — these are the apps that actually manage your media library and trigger downloads.
You don't strictly need Prowlarr — Sonarr can manage its own indexers. But Prowlarr saves significant time if you:
- Run multiple *arr apps (Sonarr + Radarr + Lidarr)
- Change indexers frequently
- Want centralized indexer health monitoring
- Use FlareSolverr for Cloudflare-protected indexers
The Full *arr Stack
| Tool | Role |
|---|---|
| Prowlarr | Indexer manager (searches) |
| Sonarr | TV show manager |
| Radarr | Movie manager |
| Lidarr | Music manager |
| Readarr | Ebook/audiobook manager |
| Bazarr | Subtitle manager |
| SABnzbd or qBittorrent | Download client |
Setup Order
- Install your download client (SABnzbd or qBittorrent)
- Install Prowlarr and configure your indexers
- Install Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr
- Connect Prowlarr to each *arr app (Prowlarr → Settings → Apps)
- Connect each *arr app to your download client
- Add shows/movies/music — everything flows automatically
FAQ
Can I use Sonarr without Prowlarr?
Yes. Add indexers directly in Sonarr under Settings → Indexers. You just need to repeat this for each *arr app if you run multiple.
Can I use Prowlarr without Sonarr?
Technically yes — Prowlarr has a built-in search interface. But it can't download or organize files. It's designed to feed indexers to other *arr apps, not work standalone.
Does Prowlarr replace Jackett?
Yes. Prowlarr is the *arr team's replacement for Jackett. See our Jackett vs Prowlarr comparison.
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