What It Costs

Honest numbers, no surprises

The software is 100% free. The services that make it useful cost money. Here's the full picture so you can decide what makes sense for you.

Most common

Torrents Only

~$10 /month
  • VPN with WireGuard (~$10/mo)
  • Public torrent indexers (free)
  • All 15 services included
  • Jellyfin, Kavita, Audiobookshelf
  • The arr CLI tool
  • Unlimited users & streams

VPN is the only cost. Everything else is free and open source.

Torrents + Usenet

~$20 /month
  • VPN with WireGuard (~$10/mo)
  • 1 usenet provider (~$10/mo)
  • 1 free usenet indexer ($0)
  • Two download sources
  • Better availability

Adding usenet fills gaps that torrents miss. Most people land here.

The Full Spread

~$30 /month
  • VPN with WireGuard (~$10/mo)
  • 2-3 usenet providers (~$15/mo)
  • 2+ paid usenet indexers (~$15-30/yr)
  • Better completion rates
  • More content found
  • Redundant sources

Multiple providers fill each other's gaps. Near-100% success rate on downloads.

Usenet Deep Dive

Usenet is the second download source in the stack. It works differently from torrents — here's how the costs break down and what you actually need.

⬇

Providers

Host content on server networks ("backbones"). Mixing providers across backbones improves reliability.

🔍

Indexers

Search engines that find what's available. Free indexers exist but paid ones find more.

Budget

~$5 /mo
1 budget provider $3-5/mo
1 free indexer $0

Gets you started. Most things work fine.

Mid-Range

~$10-12 /mo
1 premium provider $8-10/mo
1 block account (fill) ~$2/mo equiv.
2 paid indexers ~$1.50/mo equiv.

The sweet spot for most people.

Max Coverage

~$20-25 /mo
2 unlimited providers $15-18/mo
1 block account (fill) ~$2/mo equiv.
3 paid indexers ~$2.50/mo equiv.

Near-100% completion. The endgame.

Tip: One provider per backbone, block accounts for fill, 2-3 indexers. Black Friday is the best time to lock in annual pricing.

Hardware

One-time cost. Use what you have or buy something dedicated.

Small NAS Box

Recommended
$400-600

Low power, hardware transcoding, always-on. Great for a family.

Used Mini PC

Budget
$100-200

Tiny, quiet, great for transcoding. Look for ones with built-in hardware encoding.

Old Laptop / Desktop

Free
$0

Runs Docker and stays on? It works. Remove the battery from a laptop and keep it plugged in.

The Bottom Line

Cheapest way in
~$10/mo

VPN + free torrent indexers. That's it.

Typical monthly
~$20-30

VPN + usenet provider + 1-2 indexers

Software cost
$0

Every service in the stack is free and open source, forever