Last updated Jun 3, 2026

Indexers#

Usenet indexers are search engines for Usenet content. They index binary posts across newsgroups and let you search by title. When Sonarr or Radarr looks for a release, it queries your indexers through Prowlarr.

I currently run four indexers. All are paid services with API access.

DrunkenSlug#

Site: drunkenslug.com
Type: paid, invite-only

My highest-performing indexer. Despite having the slowest average response time (~500ms), it accounts for roughly 110 out of 189 total grabs — about 58% of everything downloaded. Registration is closed; invites occasionally appear on r/usenetinvites↗.

NZBgeek#

Site: nzbgeek.info
Type: paid membership

General-purpose indexer with solid coverage of movies and TV. Second in grab count (~55 grabs), with a response time around 320ms. A reliable fallback when DrunkenSlug doesn't have a release.

altHUB#

Site: althub.co.za
Type: paid membership

Faster than both DrunkenSlug and NZBgeek (~280ms), but contributes only ~12 grabs total. Coverage overlaps heavily with the top two.

NzbPlanet#

Site: nzbplanet.net
Type: paid membership

The fastest indexer in my setup (~220ms average response), but also the least useful — only ~6 successful grabs. Most of what it finds is already covered by DrunkenSlug or NZBgeek.

Which one actually matters#

DrunkenSlug and NZBgeek together account for ~88% of all grabs. altHUB and NzbPlanet fill in gaps that rarely come up in practice.

Running all four isn't necessary. The two main indexers cover almost everything. I keep altHUB and NzbPlanet active for edge cases (obscure releases, regional content, or when a primary indexer is down), but trimming to just DrunkenSlug and NZBgeek would have minimal impact on day-to-day downloads.

Adding indexers in Prowlarr#

Open Prowlarr at http://<docker-vm-ip>:9696
Go to Indexers → Add Indexer
Search by name, select the indexer
Enter your API key
Click Test to verify the connection
Click Save

Prowlarr syncs the indexer to Sonarr and Radarr automatically — no manual steps needed there.