Sonarr Prefer X265

To make Sonarr prefer x265 (HEVC) releases without strictly requiring them, you should use Custom Formats (in v4) or Release Profiles (in v3) to assign a positive "score" to those terms. How to set up x265 preference

The best way to handle this is by scoring keywords so Sonarr picks the most efficient file available while still falling back to x264 if necessary.

Navigate to Custom Formats: Go to Settings > Custom Formats. Create a Format for x265: Add a new format and name it "x265/HEVC".

In the Conditions section, add a "Release Title" specification.

Use a regular expression or simple text like \b(x265|HEVC|h265)\b to match the codec. Assign a Score in Profiles:

Go to Settings > Profiles and select the quality profile you use (e.g., Any or 1080p). sonarr prefer x265

In the Custom Formats section at the bottom, find your new "x265/HEVC" format and give it a positive score, such as 100.

Ensure "Upgrade Until" is set to a score equal to or higher than your x265 score if you want Sonarr to eventually replace x264 files with x265 versions. Why use scoring over restrictions?

Flexibility: Unlike "Must Contain" restrictions, which will ignore any release without the keyword, scoring allows Sonarr to grab an x264 file if it's the only one available and then upgrade to x265 later when it's uploaded.

Community Standards: Many users on Reddit suggest including tags like MeGusta or HEVC in your search criteria, as not all encoders label their releases identically.

If you want to dive deeper into advanced configurations, you can check out community-driven setups on Reddit that include blocking specific audio formats or preferring certain release groups. To make Sonarr prefer x265 (HEVC) releases without

⚙️ Recommended Sonarr setup

Release Profile:
- Preferred: x265 hevc
- Score: +100
- Optional “must not contain” if you want pure x265: x264

Also set Size limits in Sonarr:

1080p: 1.5 GB per episode max (prevents huge x265 files)
4K: 5 GB per episode max

Step 3: Assign the Score

This is where the magic happens.

Upgrade Until Score: Leave this at 0 or match your profile settings.
Score: Enter 10 (or any positive number).

How Scoring Works:

Release A (x264): Score = 0
Release B (x265): Score = 10
Result: Sonarr picks Release B because 10 > 0.

📦 Storage savings (real numbers)

| Quality | x264 size (typical) | x265 size | Saving | |-----------------|--------------------|-----------|--------| | 1080p Web-DL | ~2–4 GB/ep | ~1–2 GB | 40–50% | | 1080p BluRay | ~6–10 GB/ep | ~3–5 GB | 40–50% | | 4K HDR | ~12–20 GB/ep | ~6–10 GB | 45–55% |

Result: You can store almost twice as many episodes for the same disk space. Also set Size limits in Sonarr:

2) Configure Quality Profiles

Goal: Ensure Sonarr only accepts the resolutions/bitrates you want, and that cutoff corresponds to the preferred x265 quality.

Example profile named "Prefer x265":

Qualities (in order from lowest to highest): SDTV / 480p / 720p / 1080p / 2160p (depending on your needs)
For the qualities where x265 is acceptable, set size limits that reflect typical x265 sizes (e.g., 1080p x265: 700 MB–4 GB; 1080p x264: 1.2 GB–6 GB). This helps Sonarr differentiate.
Cutoff: Set to the quality level you consider “final” (e.g., 1080p or 2160p).
Requirements: You cannot directly require codec, so pair with Custom Formats scoring (below).

Notes:

If you want only x265 files for a series, set the minimum and maximum sizes tightly for x265 expectations and rely on custom formats to prefer matches.
For 4K (2160p), be lenient on upper file size if HDR/x265 produces larger files.

1) Quality Profiles

Create a custom Quality Profile named e.g., Prefer x265.
Set allowed qualities (ordered low→high) to match your needs (e.g., 480p, 720p, 1080p, 2160p).
For each quality, set Cutoff to the lowest quality you’ll accept as final (usually 1080p or 2160p).
Use the Preferred Words field to strongly prefer x265:
- Add: x265, hevc
- Set Score high (e.g., +100) so releases with those words outrank others.
Optionally add negative preferred words with large negative scores for unwanted codecs: x264:-100 (note Sonarr treats preferred words as boosts).

Recommended Workflow (High-Level)

Create Custom Formats for x265 and related variants.
Create a Quality Profile that accepts desired x265 qualities and sets an appropriate cutoff.
Create Release Profiles to prefer and boost x265 and to block unwanted groups/encodes.
Optionally tag series that should always be x265-preferred.
Configure indexers/clients and preferred words / score boosts.
Test with a sample series and refine rules to avoid unwanted upgrades.
Set up post-processing (radarr-like behavior) to convert/remux only if needed.
Monitor logs and adjust.

Part 1: The Prerequisites (Important!)

Before you configure Sonarr, you must ensure your setup can handle the files.

Part 5: Hardware Compatibility Warning

Before you commit to a library full of x265, you must review your playback devices.

Direct Play: Modern Smart TVs (2017+), PCs, and newer Nvidia Shields play x265 effortlessly.
Transcoding: If you use Plex or Jellyfin and watch on older devices (older iPads, older smart TVs, Roku sticks), your server will have to transcode x265 to x264 in real-time.
- The Cost: x265 is CPU-intensive to decode. A weak CPU server might struggle to transcode multiple streams simultaneously.
HDR Issues: Many x265 releases contain HDR (High Dynamic Range). If you play HDR content on a non-HDR screen, colors look washed out (grey/purple). You need a player that supports tone-mapping (like Plex with an Nvidia GPU) to fix this automatically.