Overseerr

Overseerr launched in 2020 as a self-hosted request page built specifically for Plex: point your household at a shared catalog, let anyone hit request on whatever they want to watch, and skip the text message asking you to add something to the library by hand. It stayed Plex-only for its entire independent run, which is part of why it became one of the most-installed pieces of the self-hosted media stack. That independent run ended on February 10, 2026, when Overseerr merged with its own Jellyfin-focused fork into a single project called Seerr, and the original codebase was archived five days later. Here’s what Overseerr actually did, and what running it looks like now that the name and the software underneath it have quietly split apart.

What Overseerr was, and why it’s now Seerr

Overseerr shipped as a lightweight companion to Plex: it synced with your library, gave users a clean interface to search for and request movies or shows, and routed approved requests to whichever tools you already used to manage that library, instead of you adding everything by hand. A granular permission system let some users auto-approve their own requests while others waited on an admin to say yes.

In 2022, a contributor known as fallenbagel forked the project to add Jellyfin support, since Overseerr’s own maintainer had no plans to go beyond Plex. That fork, Jellyseerr, grew from there: Emby support, PostgreSQL as an alternative to SQLite, blocklists, custom per-user request rules. On February 10, 2026, the two teams announced a merger into Seerr, combining Overseerr’s original design with everything Jellyseerr had added since 2022. Five days later, sct archived the original github.com/sct/overseerr repository as read-only, with a banner pointing new visitors to Seerr.

Installing Overseerr today (Docker)

The docker-compose below is Seerr’s own current reference configuration, the one to use whether you think of this as installing Overseerr or setting up Seerr from scratch for a Plex household. Already followed our Jellyseerr fiche on this same site? You already have this container running; there’s no separate Overseerr image left to add.

services:
  seerr:
    image: ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr:latest
    container_name: seerr
    init: true
    environment:
      - LOG_LEVEL=info
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
    ports:
      - 5055:5055
    volumes:
      - ./seerr/config:/app/config
    restart: unless-stopped

1. Save the file as docker-compose.yml and run docker compose up -d.
2. The container runs as a non-root node user (UID 1000) by default, so ./seerr/config needs to be owned by UID 1000 on the host, or the container won’t start.
3. init: true matters here. The image doesn’t bundle its own init process anymore, and without it, zombie processes can pile up inside the container over time.
4. Open http://your-server-ip:5055 and connect it to Plex. The same image also supports Jellyfin or Emby if you run one of those instead, one media server per instance.

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f seerr

Connecting to Plex

This was Overseerr’s entire reason for existing: full Plex OAuth login, library scanning to show what’s already available, and permissions granular enough to let some users self-approve while others need a nod from an admin first. Since the merger, that Plex-only limitation is gone, and the same instance can run against Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby instead. Still deciding between media servers? Our Jellyfin vs Plex comparison covers the cost and feature gap that opened up between them in 2026. Running Jellyfin or Emby instead? Our Jellyseerr fiche covers the same install from that angle.

Overseerr vs Jellyseerr: what actually differed

Before the merger, the split between the two projects came down mostly to media server support and administrative flexibility.

	Overseerr	Jellyseerr
Plex support	Yes (only option)	Yes
Jellyfin / Emby support	No	Yes
Database options	SQLite only	SQLite or PostgreSQL
Blocklists (movies/series/tags)	No	Yes
Custom per-user/tag request rules	No	Yes
Status in 2026	Merged into Seerr	Merged into Seerr

Everything in the Jellyseerr column shipped into Seerr, and Overseerr’s simpler, Plex-only interface is basically what you get by pointing a fresh Seerr install at Plex and nothing else. Whichever name brought you here, you end up running the same software.

• Battle-tested since 2020, with years of Plex-specific polish
• Automatic migration to Seerr, no manual export or database work
• Still MIT-licensed and free after the merger, no new paywall introduced

• The Overseerr name and the sctx/overseerr Docker image are frozen, already missing a year-plus of updates
• Not a standalone app; needs an existing Plex server and library automation already configured to be useful
• No path to Jellyfin or Emby support under the Overseerr name; that means moving to Seerr

Reaching it from outside the house works like any other homelab service: a reverse proxy for a real HTTPS domain, or a private network tool like Tailscale if public exposure isn’t worth the hassle. If Plex itself still needs setting up, our Plex Server Setup guide covers the hardware and install side.

FAQ

Is Overseerr still maintained?

Not under that name. Overseerr and Jellyseerr merged into a single project called Seerr on February 10, 2026, and the original Overseerr repository was archived five days later. Seerr is the actively maintained continuation, built by largely the same contributors, including Overseerr’s original creator.

What was the real difference between Overseerr and Jellyseerr?

Mainly media server support. Overseerr only ever worked with Plex. Jellyseerr added Jellyfin and Emby support on top of that, plus PostgreSQL, blocklists, and per-user request rules Overseerr never had. Since the merger, Seerr includes all of it, regardless of which name brought you here.

Do I need to do anything to migrate an existing Overseerr install?

Back up the config folder first, then point the same volume at ghcr.io/seerr-team/seerr:latest instead of the old sctx/overseerr image. Seerr detects the existing database and migrates it automatically on first startup; the main manual step is usually fixing folder ownership for the new non-root container.