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How to share favorites with friends for rating list builders in 2026

How rating list builders can share a live favorites list with friends in 2026, from a public list to links the friends can use.

By VLClean ยท

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

Rating list builders can share their favorites with friends by keeping one public list and turning it into links the friends can open or use to add the titles.

OptionHow sharing worksCost details
WatcharrPaste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [1]not published
Shared listFriends add movie and show favorites to one list that everyone can open by link.not published
Shared noteFavorites are written into a shared note or document that friends can open.not published

What you need before you start

Decide which list holds the ratings and favorites you want to share. A single public list keeps one set to watch, so update it before anyone opens it. Make sure friends can reach it through the shareable link, and confirm what the list shows before you send it.

Have Radarr and Sonarr ready if the shared favorites feed into a movie and show library. Radarr and Sonarr are free helper programs that many Plex owners run to find and add movies (Radarr) and shows (Sonarr) to their library.

Decide which friends will see the favorites, and how a friend knows a title has been added. Choose who reviews the list and adds new titles, so the shared favorites stay current.

Step by step

  1. Choose one public list that holds the favorites you want to share. A single list gives one set to watch, so pick the list that already carries the movies and shows you rate highest. Keep it the only place where titles are added or removed, so friends and you always look at the same set of favorites.
  1. Make the list public and copy its shareable link. Friends can only open titles through a link, so check that someone with only that link sees what you expect before you send it to anyone. Fix anything private on the list first.
  1. Decide how friends will use the favorites. They can open the raw list and read the titles in it, or a tool can turn the same list into links that add the movies and shows to their own setup. This choice decides how much setup each friend needs.
  1. Send the link with two lines that say what the favorites are and how often they change. That keeps a friend from expecting titles that appear only later, and tells them when to look again.
  1. Set one regular day each week to add new favorites and remove the ones you no longer want shared. A list that stays current keeps the share useful and stops it from filling with old picks.
  1. Ask one friend to open the link and confirm the favorites they see match what you decided. Fix anything that looks wrong before telling the rest of the group.

Tools that can do it

Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site. It accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. [1] You paste one public IMDb list and get 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] 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]

Watcharr 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, each opening TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer. [1]

If you sign in, it re-reads your list about every 15 minutes and warns you when a list fails three reads in a row. [1] 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 a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [1]

Watcharr runs as one Cloudflare app with a Cloudflare database, plus a GitHub job that reads IMDb. [1] Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. [1] You paste, copy and browse from any screen in the web app; the one-click sticker shows on bigger screens. [1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. [1]

No other tool is named here because no source facts about other tools were provided. Before choosing a way to share, check how it turns a public list into something friends can open, and how often it updates.

Common mistakes to avoid

Avoid sharing a favorites list that is not open to friends. If the list still needs your permission to view, the share link will not work.

Avoid sending a link before deciding who can see it.

Avoid leaving the list to go stale. A shared favorites list stops being useful when new favorites are never added and old ones are never removed.

Avoid picking a sharing method without checking what it reads from the list and how often it updates. Review what access the method asks for before sharing it with friends.

Frequently asked questions

Can Watcharr share IMDb favorites with friends?

Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site or IMDb's other-language pages. [1] Paste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [1]

How often does Watcharr update shared favorites?

Each link acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server, so Radarr checks it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. [1] If you sign in, it re-reads your list about every 15 minutes. [1] If a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [1]

Which IMDb lists can Watcharr turn into links?

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] It looks up TheTVDB ids through TVMaze and TMDB, leaves out shows it cannot match, and tells you which ones it skipped. [1]

Does sharing favorites with Watcharr need Radarr or Sonarr?

Each link acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server. [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] Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link, and a title on two lists is added only once. [1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [1]

What should be checked before choosing how to share favorites?

Check how a method turns a favorites list into links friends can use, and how often it updates. Review what access it asks for before sharing it with anyone. Watcharr runs as one Cloudflare app with a Cloudflare database, plus a GitHub job that reads IMDb. [1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. [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)

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