FileBot vs Sonarr and Radarr: renamer or automation?
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FileBot vs Sonarr and Radarr is not really a contest: they solve different halves of the problem. Sonarr and Radarr decide what to download, grab it from your indexers, and import and rename what they grabbed. FileBot (and EvoSeedboxBot on a seedbox) takes any file you already have — the season pack a friend sent, the torrent you added by hand, the archive that needed unpacking — and identifies, renames and organises it. Most complete setups run both.
At a glance
| Sonarr / Radarr | FileBot | EvoSeedboxBot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Choose, grab, monitor, import, upgrade | Identify and rename existing files | Identify and rename existing files, on the seedbox, from rtorrent |
| Handles files it did not download | Only via Manual Import or Library Import | Yes — that is the point | Yes |
| Ongoing series | Excellent: monitors, grabs, upgrades quality | No | No |
| Price | Free, open source | US$8/year or US$80 lifetime | Included with the seedbox |
| Runs | Server app (included on the seedbox) | Desktop or CLI | Browser, on the seedbox |
| Rename action | Hardlink or copy on import | Move by default; hardlink available | Hardlink by default |
| Anime | Sonarr with absolute numbering | AniDB | AniDB |
Where Sonarr and Radarr are better
- Everything about new episodes and releases: wanted lists, quality profiles, upgrades, indexer search, RSS, failed-download handling.
- Hands-off for series you follow. Add the show once and forget it.
- Metadata for the media server, including optional NFO and images.
Where FileBot / EvoSeedboxBot is better
- Anything outside the *arr workflow: manual torrents, archives, rips, old collections, files with bad names, complete series packs Sonarr will not import cleanly.
- Flexible naming with a format language instead of fixed tokens.
- One-off jobs with a preview and a revert.
Running both on a seedbox
- Let Sonarr and Radarr keep their download-client categories (labels). Their torrents carry those labels in rtorrent.
- In EvoSeedboxBot → Settings → Auto-organise, put those labels in Ignore labels. Everything you add by hand — label it
tv,moviesoranime— is organised by EvoSeedboxBot into the same library folders. - Both use hardlinks, so nothing is copied twice and every torrent keeps seeding. Details: Using rtorrent labels to route downloads.
FAQ
Can Sonarr import a folder I organised with FileBot or EvoSeedboxBot?
Yes: Library Import scans an existing folder and adopts it. Keep the Name (Year)/Season 01/ layout and it maps cleanly.
Does FileBot replace Radarr for movies?
No. It renames what you have; it will not watch for a release or upgrade quality.
Will two tools rename the same file?
Not if the labels are separated as above. EvoSeedboxBot also never re-processes a file it already organised.
Documentation: EvoSeedboxBot guide.
Related articles
Put this into practice
EvoSeedbox ships with one-click app installs and up to 10 Gbps per box.
