Automate Your Subtitle Game with Bazarr
If you run a media server with Sonarr and Radarr, you know the drill: your shows and movies download automatically, but you're still stuck manually hunting for subtitles. It's that last bit of friction that keeps your setup from being truly hands-off. What if your subtitle downloads could be as automated as everything else?
Enter Bazarr. It's the missing piece that plugs directly into your Sonarr and Radarr libraries, automatically finding and syncing subtitles for your media. No more manual searches, no more out-of-sync .srt files. It just works in the background.
What It Does
Bazarr is a companion application to Sonarr and Radarr. Once connected, it continuously monitors your library. Whenever a new movie or episode is added, Bazarr springs into action. It searches through multiple subtitle providers and websites, downloads the best matching subtitle in your preferred language, and ensures it's correctly synced and named alongside your video file.
Why It's Cool
The clever part is how seamlessly it integrates. You don't have to change your workflow. Bazarr sits alongside your existing *arr stack, using their APIs to know exactly what you have and what you need. It respects your quality profiles and can even upgrade subtitles if better ones become available later.
It's highly configurable, too. You can set languages per series or movie, choose preferred subtitle providers (like OpenSubtitles, Addic7ed, or Subscene), and even set a score threshold to ensure you only get high-quality, accurate subs. For multi-language households or accessibility needs, it can download multiple language tracks for a single piece of media.
How to Try It
Getting started is straightforward, especially if you're already in the *arr ecosystem.
- Check the Repo: All the details are on the Bazarr GitHub repository.
- Choose Your Install: The easiest method for most is via Docker (
docker pull ghcr.io/morpheus65535/bazarr:latest). There are also native installers for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it's available in popular package managers like Unraid's Community Applications. - Connect and Configure: After installation, point Bazarr to your Sonarr and Radarr instances via their API keys. Then, configure your default languages and subtitle providers in the clean, web-based UI.
- Let It Run: Once set up, it will scan your existing library and then sit idle, waiting to grab subs for any new content that arrives.
Final Thoughts
Bazarr is one of those utilities that feels obvious in hindsight. It completes the automation loop for your media server, removing a tedious manual task. For developers, it's a gr