Subarr - a minimalist Sonarr for YouTube that fits on a Raspberry Pi
When you're subscribed to a hundred YouTube channels, it's easy to miss something important. Especially if your favorite creators publish content at different times of day. What can you do? You can, of course, rely on YouTube notifications, but what if you want to automate the process — downloading new videos via yt-dlp or receiving alerts in Discord? That's exactly what Subarr was created for.
What kind of beast is this — Subarr?
Subarr is a lightweight tool (under 500 lines of code!) that:
- Monitors YouTube channels and playlists via RSS
- Runs specified actions when new videos appear
- Consumes minimal resources — runs even on a Raspberry Pi
Developer Derek Antrikan created it as an alternative to "heavyweight" solutions like Tube Archivist (which requires 2-4 GB of RAM). Interestingly, the project was originally called YouTubarr, but after a Reddit discussion it was decided to change the name to emphasize its RSS-oriented nature.
How is Subarr better than alternatives?
The README includes a full comparison table with competitors (12 projects!), but the main differences of Subarr are:
- RSS instead of API — doesn't strain YouTube and doesn't require keys
- Minimalism — only essential functionality, no frills
- ytsubs.app integration — sync with your real YouTube subscriptions
- Flexible actions — from simple webhook notifications to downloading via yt-dlp
By the way, the interface is deliberately made to look like Sonarr — to feel familiar to *arr ecosystem users.
How does it work technically?
Under the hood:
- Node.js 18+ (can run even on old hardware)
- SQLite for data storage
- YouTube RSS feeds (yes, they still work!)
Example of adding a playlist:
# В интерфейсе просто вставляем URL вида:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLopY4n17t8RDoFQPcjBKWDEblGH1sOH2h
Important limitation: due to YouTube RSS feed specifics, Subarr only sees the last 15 videos in a playlist. If a creator adds a video to the 16th position — it may be missed. But for most scenarios (especially active channels) this is sufficient.
Who will find it especially useful?
- Automation enthusiasts — want new videos from your collection to automatically download to your NAS? Subarr + yt-dlp = solution.
- Community moderators — instant Discord notifications about new videos on topic.
- Researchers — monitoring updates in niche playlists.
- Owners of weak servers — the project consumes minimal resources.
Installation in 3 minutes
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/derekantrican/subarr.git
cd subarr
- Install dependencies and run:
npm install
npm run start-server
- Open http://localhost:5000 and add your first playlists!
What's in the roadmap?
The developer honestly warns — this is a hobby project, and major updates shouldn't be expected. But if you need:
- Authentication (not yet! Don't expose Subarr to the internet without nginx)
- WebSocket for real-time UI updates
- Database backups
— you can contribute to development. The source code is open!
Conclusion: is it worth trying?
Subarr isn't a universal monster, but a handy tool for a specific task: "subscribe and react to new releases." If you:
- Are tired of manually checking dozens of channels
- Need a simple way to automate downloading/notifications
- Care about minimal system load
— this tool definitely deserves a place in your workflow. And if you need a full media archive — you might be better off looking at Tube Archivist or other solutions from the comparison in the README.
P.S. Fun fact: the original name YouTubarr had to be changed due to confusion with another project — Youtubarr. The renaming story is right here.
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