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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Jackett vs Lima

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Jackett and Lima — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Jackett vs Lima: at a glance

FeatureJackettLima
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themestorrent indexers, open source, media automation, maintenancevirtual-machines, containers, windows-support, cross-platform
Last editorial update1d ago1mo ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Jackett?

Jackett ships a daily build to keep hundreds of torrent indexers working as sites move and close.

Jackett is an open-source proxy that turns hundreds of torrent tracker sites into a single Torznab API for media automation tools. It ships an auto-generated release roughly every day, and nearly every one is indexer upkeep: new domains, category mappings, selector fixes after site redesigns, and removing dead trackers.

Read the full Jackett trajectory →

What is Lima?

Lima keeps widening which machines it can run on, and run.

Lima runs Linux virtual machines for container workloads, and its 2.x line has been a steady expansion of the host and guest matrix. macOS and FreeBSD guests arrived at 2.1.0, Windows Server 2025 and Windows 11 guests followed through 2.2.0, and 2.3.0-beta.0 adds an experimental HCS driver for Windows hosts along with further Windows guest work. Each platform addition lands marked experimental first, and much of the surrounding work is CLI and template maintenance.

Read the full Lima trajectory →

Jackett vs Lima: editorial side-by-side

J
Jackett
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Jackett ships a daily build to keep hundreds of torrent indexers working as sites move and close.

◆ Current state

Jackett is an open-source proxy that turns hundreds of torrent tracker sites into a single Torznab API for media automation tools. It ships an auto-generated release roughly every day, and nearly every one is indexer upkeep: new domains, category mappings, selector fixes after site redesigns, and removing dead trackers.

◆ Where it's heading

The work is entirely maintenance. Its value depends on keeping up with a tracker ecosystem where sites change domains and layouts weekly. Where possible, the project is moving definitions to sturdier integrations, such as switching world-of-tomorrow to its Torznab API and retiring trackers that moved to direct downloads.

◆ Prediction

Expect the daily cadence to continue, with more trackers moved to API-based definitions and more dead sites removed. Core changes stay rare.

L
Lima
INFRA · APIS
2.5

Lima keeps widening which machines it can run on, and run.

◆ Current state

Lima runs Linux virtual machines for container workloads, and its 2.x line has been a steady expansion of the host and guest matrix. macOS and FreeBSD guests arrived at 2.1.0, Windows Server 2025 and Windows 11 guests followed through 2.2.0, and 2.3.0-beta.0 adds an experimental HCS driver for Windows hosts along with further Windows guest work. Each platform addition lands marked experimental first, and much of the surrounding work is CLI and template maintenance.

◆ Where it's heading

The project is converging on a single tool that runs any guest on any host, and it is doing so from both ends: guest support and host drivers advance in alternating releases. Windows is the current focus on both sides, having moved from an unsupported host default to qemu and now to a native HCS driver option. The LFX mentee contributions behind much of this suggest the platform matrix expands as contributor capacity allows rather than on a roadmap.

◆ Prediction

The HCS driver should follow the same path the other platform additions took, moving from experimental to a supported or default option on Windows hosts once the guest work stabilises around it.

Alternatives to Jackett and Lima

Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Jackett or Lima.

See all Jackett alternatives → · See all Lima alternatives →

Recent activity from Jackett and Lima

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 1d agoJackettJackett adds bigbbs, flags magnetz as pay-to-download
  2. 2d agoJackettUATorrent multi-category search disabled
  3. 2d agoJackettJackett adds UATorrent and Pornorip, bumps three domains
  4. 3d agoJackettJackett drops ptying and bluebird, bumps core packages
  5. 4d agoJackettJackett adds binarybay, renames tocashare to sapibr
  6. 5d agoJackettJackett updates thebrothers categories and v3x engine tag
  7. 1mo agoLima2.3.0-beta.0: an experimental HCS driver for Windows hosts
  8. 3mo agoLima2.2.0-rc.0: Windows 11 guests and a sudo opt-out
  9. 3mo agoLima2.2.0-beta.0: Windows Server 2025 guests and TPM emulation
  10. 6mo agoLima2.1.2-beta.0: CLI mount and rsync path fixes
  11. 7mo agoLima2.1.0-rc.1: macOS and FreeBSD guests, plus an agent sync guard ⚡

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Jackett and Lima?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Jackett is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Jackett better than Lima?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Jackett is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Jackett?

Top Jackett alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Jackett alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/jackett for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Lima?

Top Lima alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Lima alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/lima for the full list with editorial commentary on each.