VLClean Plain comparisons of self-hosted media tools

How to maintain large personal watchlists for watchlist power users in 2026

Keep a large personal watchlist current and feed it to Radarr and Sonarr, with practical steps, the tools that handle it, and common mistakes.

By VLClean ยท

VLClean is published by the makers of Askarr and Watcharr, which are compared here alongside other tools.

Keep one public IMDb list as the master, review it on a set day, and feed it to Radarr and Sonarr through one link for each. Watcharr is one tool that does the feeding, turning one public IMDb list into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link. [1]

OptionHow it feeds Radarr and SonarrAccess and licence
WatcharrTurns one public IMDb list into one Radarr link for movies and one Sonarr link for shows. [1]The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [1] Commercial use is not licensed. [1]
Other toolsnot publishednot published

What you need before you start

Start by deciding where your watchlist lives. Some people keep one large IMDb watchlist, while others split titles across several lists by genre or by viewer. Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. [1] Confirm each list is set to public on IMDb first, because that is the kind of list Watcharr reads. [1]

Have Radarr for movies and Sonarr for shows ready to receive new links, since the links are built for those two programs. [1] Decide whether the list belongs to one person or to a whole household. Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household, and a title that is on two lists is added only once. [1] If you want the hosted version, nothing needs installing and no account is needed. [1]

Step by step

Work through these steps once, then repeat the review step on a set day each month.

  1. Gather your titles into one master IMDb list, or write down which lists will feed Radarr and Sonarr.
  2. Remove titles you have finished or no longer want, so the list shows only what you still intend to watch.
  3. Confirm each list is public on IMDb, because that is the kind of list Watcharr reads. [1]
  4. Paste the list link into Watcharr and copy the Radarr link and the Sonarr link it gives you. [1]
  5. Add each link to the matching app, or use the one-click bookmark inside Radarr or Sonarr, which adds the list for you. [1]
  6. If you are signed in, let Watcharr re-read the list on its own, and watch for its warning when a list fails three reads in a row. [1]
  7. On your set day, review the list and any warnings, and check the shows Watcharr said it skipped. [1]

Tools that can do it

Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site, VLClean. It runs as one Cloudflare app with a Cloudflare database, plus a GitHub job that reads IMDb. [1]

It takes one public IMDb list and gives you one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [1] Each link acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server, so Radarr checks it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. [1] The links are built from the IMDb list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. [1]

It looks up TheTVDB ids through TVMaze and TMDB, leaves out shows it cannot match, and tells you which ones it skipped. [1] The page shows the list's covers in a row, and each one opens TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer. [1]

A bookmark you click inside Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using that app's API key without sending it anywhere else. [1] If a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [1] You paste, copy and browse from any screen in the web app, and the one-click sticker shows on bigger screens. [1]

Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence, and older versions remain under MIT. [1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. [1]

Before choosing a tool, check how it reads your list, how often it re-reads the list, and what it does with titles it cannot match.

Common mistakes to avoid

Expecting a change on IMDb to appear in Radarr or Sonarr at once is a common mistake. A signed-in list is re-read about every 15 minutes, so check the list after an update before assuming it has arrived. [1]

Assuming every title will be added is another mistake. Watcharr leaves out shows it cannot match and tells you which ones it skipped, so read that report instead of assuming. [1]

Ignoring a failed read is easy to do. The links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly, so a failed read can go unnoticed unless you check for the warning. [1] [1]

Skipping the sign-in step when you want updates is a mistake if you rely on the list. Automatic re-reads and warnings are for signed-in users. [1]

Using a list for commercial work is a mistake, because commercial use is not licensed. Check the terms before building anything for business. [1]

Frequently asked questions

How do you keep a large personal IMDb watchlist connected to Radarr and Sonarr?

Paste the public IMDb list into Watcharr and it gives you one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [1] You can add those links inside each app, or use the one-click bookmark, which adds the list for you. [1] If you sign in, the list is re-read about every 15 minutes, and you get a warning when a list fails three reads in a row. [1]

Can Watcharr read a watchlist from the phone site or from IMDb's other-language pages?

Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. [1] The links are built from the IMDb list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. [1] Watcharr leaves out shows it cannot match and tells you which ones it skipped. [1]

Can Watcharr add a title only once when it appears on two lists?

Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household. [1] A title that is on two of those lists is added only once. [1] The page also shows the list's covers in a row, and each one opens TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer. [1]

What happens to Radarr or Sonarr if Watcharr cannot read a list one time?

The links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [1] A signed-in list that fails three reads in a row triggers a warning, so you know to look at it. [1] You paste, copy and browse from any screen in the web app, and the one-click sticker shows on bigger screens. [1]

Can Watcharr be used for commercial work?

Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. [1] The code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence, and older versions remain under MIT. [1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [1]

Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. [1]

Try Watcharr

Sources

  1. Watcharr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)

Related comparisons