How to manage local user accounts yourself for privacy focused self hosters in 2026

Practical steps for privacy focused self hosters who want to create and control local user accounts themselves.

By VLClean · 2026-10-25

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

Privacy focused self hosters can manage local user accounts themselves by listing each service that keeps accounts, creating one account per person, giving each of them their own login instead of sharing one, and removing accounts when someone no longer needs access.

Option	How user accounts are managed	Cost details
Manual local accounts	The owner creates and keeps one account per person on each service, and removes accounts when they are no longer needed.	not published
Askarr	Askarr is a hosted website that works with existing Radarr and Sonarr. ^[1] Askarr never connects to your Radarr or Sonarr and never receives their API keys. ^[1]	The Free plan costs $0 and allows 10 requests a month. ^[1]
Local account directory	A central local record that holds each person's account and access, checked and updated by the owner.	not published

What you need before you start

Managing local user accounts yourself means keeping control of who can log in to each service on the setup, without handing that control to someone else. Before starting, write down every service that holds accounts, such as the media library, the file storage, and any dashboard that ties them together. Knowing the full list prevents accounts from being forgotten after they are no longer needed.

Decide who should have access: one person, a family, or a small group of trusted people. Each person gets a separate account with its own login, so activity is tied to a person and can be switched off individually. Prepare a place to record accounts, like a private note or a local file that only the owner reads, and a password manager so passwords are not written on paper or reused across services.

Set a simple policy before accounts are created: who may have an account, who may change settings, and what happens to an account when the person no longer uses the service. Keep the rules clear enough to follow without a technical background.

Step by step

List every service on the setup that allows a login, and write down which one holds each person's access.

Decide who gets an account, and give each of those people a separate login instead of sharing one account between several people.

Create each account with a password that only that person knows, and store the record in a password manager rather than in a note that others can read.

Give each account the least access it needs: people who only watch should not be able to change settings, and only the owner should manage other accounts.

Tell each person how to log in, and write down how a forgotten password is handled so no one is locked out.

Pick a regular day, such as once a month, to check the account list, remove accounts that are no longer needed, and update permissions.

When someone leaves, remove their account and confirm that their access is gone from every service on the list from step 1.

After the first few weeks, ask the people using the accounts what confused them, and adjust the login instructions to fix those points.

Tools that can do it

A local account approach means the owner creates and keeps the accounts on the services they run, with no outside party holding the logins. For that job, the account list, the permissions, and the removal steps above are the whole method, and the costs of the other tools are not published here.

Askarr is a hosted website that works with existing Radarr and Sonarr. ^[1] You request a movie or show on Askarr, and your own Radarr and Sonarr add it. ^[1] You add Askarr to Radarr and Sonarr once as an import list, and they read your requests from it. ^[1] Askarr never connects to your Radarr or Sonarr and never receives their API keys. ^[1]

Before choosing any tool, check how it handles account creation, passwords, and account removal, and check its own documentation for what it does and does not cover.

No other tool is named here because no source facts about other tools were provided. For privacy focused self hosters, check how each option handles user accounts, passwords, permissions, and account removal before choosing one.

Common mistakes to avoid

Avoid sharing one account between several people. A shared login means activity cannot be tied to a person, and removing one user means replacing a password for everyone.

Avoid leaving accounts active after someone stops using a service. Old accounts can sit unnoticed and are harder to clean up later, so review the account list on a regular day.

Avoid writing passwords in notes or in places others can read, and avoid reusing one password across services. A password manager keeps each login separate.

Avoid skipping a check of what a tool asks for before sharing it with other people. Review what information an account set-up collects and what access it uses, and separate the owner's control from what visitors can do.

Frequently asked questions

How can privacy focused self hosters manage local user accounts themselves?

A self hoster can list every service that keeps accounts, create one account per person, give each person their own login, set the least access each account needs, and remove accounts when they are no longer used. The owner keeps the full control: accounts, passwords, and permissions stay in the owner's hands rather than with an outside party.

Can Askarr manage local user accounts on a self hosted setup?

Askarr is a hosted website that works with existing Radarr and Sonarr. ^[1] You add Askarr to Radarr and Sonarr once as an import list, and they read your requests from it. ^[1] Askarr never connects to your Radarr or Sonarr and never receives their API keys. ^[1] Check Askarr's own documentation before relying on it for local account management.

Should each person get a separate account or should accounts be shared?

Each person should have a separate account with its own login. A separate account means activity can be tied to a person and one account can be removed without affecting everyone else. Sharing one account between several people makes it hard to tell who did what and leaves everyone locked out when the account is changed or removed.

What should be checked before choosing a tool for local user account management?

Check how a tool handles account creation, passwords, and account removal, and what access it asks for before it is shared with other people. For privacy focused self hosters, check whether accounts stay with the owner or are hosted by an outside service, and check the tool's own documentation for what it covers.

How should passwords be handled when managing local accounts?

Store each account's password in a password manager so passwords are not written in notes or reused across services. Give each person a password only they know, and write down how a forgotten password is handled so no one is locked out. When a person leaves, remove their account and check that their access is gone from every service.

The Free plan costs $0 and allows 10 requests a month. ^[1]

Try Askarr

Sources

Askarr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)