Filebot is an app that names and organizes the video and audio files on your computer and Android device. The app makes it simple to name/rename, list, and organize your files.
When you are browsing or downloading files, it can fetch movie files and TV titles from databases automatically, besides letting you search for subtitles. Filebot also enables you to download artwork and cover images, fetch subtitles, and write metadata. In short, it’s smart and just works.
However, Filebot is by no means your only alternative when it comes to naming and organizing your video and audio files. Maybe, you don’t want to pay the $6 monthly or $48 annual license fee, or maybe you want something more geared towards anime files, whatever be the reason, there are plenty of both free and paid alternatives to Filebot.
Based on our research, we have shortlisted the following 10 as the best alternatives to Filebot, and we will give you an in-depth look at the capability and limitations of each. This will allow you to make your choice, based on your needs. Before we get into looking at each let’s get an overview of the 10 candidates that made our shortlist.
An Overview
The table below gives you basic information on all ten options in terms of if it’s free or paid, as well as the basic pros and cons of the file manager. The table will also be useful after you have read through the article.
| App | Free / Paid | Pros | Cons |
| TV Rename | Free to use, open-source | Creates a searchable list of missing episodes for TV shows | Can’t think of any |
| Media Center Master | Free + Paid | Free version good for basic requirements. | Advanced function in the premium version. |
| The Renamer | Free + Optional Donation | A good all round app with good functions | Is better for TV shows and movies. |
| Ant Renamer | Free | Compatible with games and music files. | Best Used with CD DVD and VHS files |
| Rename My TV Series 2 | Free + Open Source | Limited for audio files and photos | Best used for TV Shows |
| TV Renamer | Free + Open Source | Cross-platform work on everything from iOS to Unix and windows. | Limited functionality |
| Shoko Anime | Free | Best for Anime files, sorts and updates your titles | Limited for other types of files. |
| Advanced Renamer | Free + Optional Donation | Works on ALL types of files. Highly versatile. | Can’t think of any. |
| Tiny Media Manager | Free + Paid | Integrates well with Kodi and Plex, updates titles from Online directories | You can only scrape data on 50 movies with free version. |
| MediaElch | Free + Paid | Works with all types of media files | Not as feature rich as some other options. |
Let’s now get into looking at each option in greater detail.
1. TV Rename
TV Rename is an app best suited to organizing your TV shows and getting your media library in order. The app cleans up and fixes the names of TV shows and makes them compatible with hubs like Kodi.
TV Rename will also copy files from folders you select and add them to your Media Library. You can also download TV posters for the shows you watch, while the app automatically generates metadata for the show.
The app creates a list of episodes that are missing from your library and creates a web search, for you to find them. For running shows, you will also get updated on the release date of the next episode.
TV Rename gives you great flexibility and functionality to customize your preferences thereby enabling the app to do things automatically.
For instance, you can customize the process of adding TV shows automatically and generating separate folders for the shows you have. It can also clean up your media library and delete empty folders.
Unlike Filebot, TV Rename is entirely free to use. It is open-source, and hence, you can modify it as long as the modification isn’t for commercial purposes.
I found TV Rename to be easier to use, than File bot, due to a lower learning curve. The easy-to-use UI is complimented with the Quick Start Guide and the online manual.
2. Media Center Master
Media Center Master is a great alternative to Filebot if you’re looking for an app to organize your media files. Its free version enables you to perform all basic functions like fetching metadata for movies and TV shows and it supports use with Plex, Kodi, and Emby.
There is a premium version you can buy which will give you access to additional and advanced functions. However, the free version will be all that most people need.
Some of the added benefits of buying into the premium plan include:
- The ability to extract video frames to use as thumbnails and automatic screenshots.
- The premium version allows you to embed the metadata directly into the videos.
- It enables multi-threaded parallel fetching, for when you’re searching for a media file.
Media Center Master enables you to organize your media library and it automatically downloads new episodes of the shows you put on your watch list. Media Center Master supports torrenting from different web sources.
Media Center Master supports organizing adult content helps you keep that list organized.
While the premium version costs a little more than Filebot for a one-time license fee, you do get access to both annual and one-month licensing options.
The monthly option is very cheap, but the prices keep changing. Hence, always check the Media Center Master pricing page for the latest prices.
3. The Renamer
The Renamer is simple and easy-to-use indexing and organizing app for all your TV shows and media files. The app is free to use which gives it a leg up over Filebot.
The site requests making a donation via PayPal, however, this is optional. Or you can make a token contribution of say $5 if you are so inclined.
The Renamer is good at organizing your chaotic media library into an easy-to-read and scan database. The drag and drop option comes in handy when you are organizing your library.
The use of advanced logic enables The Renamer to figure out the show title, season, and episode number, and new names are created accordingly. For movies you can also browse by subtitles for movies.
You can bypass the drag and drop option and organize your files using the Fetch Folder tool to automatically scan all the files in a directory. Renamed files are automatically moved to the relevant TV Show Archive.
In addition to renaming TV episode files, you can use The Renamer for movies. It will create a shortcut link to the IMDB movie page for each movie.
4. Ant Renamer
Ant Movie Catalog is another tool to help you organize all your media files. Ant Renamer is recommended if your media library mostly consists of CD and DVD files. An added bonus is that it can read and sort even VHS files.
The app is regularly updated and is compatible with games, audio files, and image files. Ant Movie Catalog works with the Ant Renamer, to help you automatically rename files. It also gives you a preview facility to check the title and thumbnails.
Both Ant Movie Catalog and Ant Renamer are 100 percent free to use and open source, unlike Filebot. They offer the option of making a voluntary donation.
5. Rename My TV Series 2
Rename My TV Series 2 is an improved update to the original Rename My TV Series app to help you rename and organize your media files TV episodes.
The new version has an upgraded and better user interface which includes API support for TVDB. Mac users can get a 64-bit version for their devices.
Rename My TV Series 1 & 2 are built around the core purpose of renaming media files that have wrong or odd names. It does not permit downloading copyright content, that needs to be stated upfront.
Unlike Filebot, Rename My TV Series 2 is truly free to use. If you like the app, you can support the company by making a small PayPal donation. Other ways to support the project include becoming a Patreon supporter or donating Bitcoin.
Keep in mind, that Rename My TV Series is primarily suited for TV shows, not movies.
6. TV Renamer
Despite the similarity of name to TV Rename, this app is a totally different kettle of fish. And unlike Filebot, it is free to use and open source software to boot.
It will automatically clean up the file names and make them easier to index, search and organize. You can use the app to rename multiple files simultaneously, and you can customize the renaming of your files.
Both a 32-bit and a 64-bit version is available for Linux, Mac, and Windows users.
You can read more about the app on the Github project page.
7. Shoko Anime
That brings us to our first app that is truly anime-centric. Although Filebot works with anime files, it is primarily designed for TV shows and movies. Shoko Anime is a file management app designed to index, sort, and organize anime files. It automatically matches and updated your titles against the centralized AniDB database.
By hashing the existing title of your file and comparing it to the AniDB database it matches the files and then updates the fine name. Once the file names are updated, it allows you to customize your library by series information, characters, and related series.
The app can help you find missing anime files or remove duplicate anime files from your media library.
In addition, it integrates with various media players, allowing you to watch your anime easily.
8. Advanced Renamer
And that brings us to my pick of what a perfect media file organizer should be, free with an option to support and the ability to index, search, and organize all types of media files. Advanced Renamer is an app that ticks both boxes.
The app enables you to customize the renaming method to automatically rename multiple files at once. You get to choose from 14 different customizations that you can use while updating names, attributes, and more.
If you are looking for a Filebot alternative that goes beyond TV, movies, and anime, look no further than Advanced Renamer.
You can configure the app to rename all types of media files. For instance, it works equally well while renaming and organizing your image files and music files. The app will also create thumbnails for each file, along with file name titles.
Here are some additional benefits of using Advanced Renamer across different file type :
- GPS Data: You can look up the coordinates and populate the city, country, and state-based on your stored GPS data. The app has access to over 100,000 cities around the world.
- Music files: It updates all your song files and enables you to index and organize them. It downloads images to create thumbnails for each file.
- TV shows: The app integrates with TV Maze to access information on all Tv Shows.
- Video files: The app updates all your video files and makes it easy to organize them.
Another benefit of Advanced Renamer is that it is multi-lingual. It is a free-to-use app unlike Filebot; it is free for both individuals and businesses. Based on your satisfaction level with the app, you can make a one-time or periodic contribution to the project.
Advanced Renamer is an excellent alternative to Filebot if you want to organize your music files and images as well.
An active support forum on the website means you can always find someone to help you with any issues you are facing.
9. Tiny Media Manager
If you work with Kodi and Plex and are looking for a file manager that can integrate with both, then the Java/Script based Tiny Media Manager, may be the app for you.
You can update the names of your movies with data pulled from IMDB, HD Trailers, The Movie DB, and more. You can then create NFO data to use with Kodi and Media Portal.
You can also organize movies into collections based on predefined parameters.
Even with TV series, you can pull data from The TV DB and IMDB.
Some additional benefits include:
- The ability to pull images on TV shows including movie posters, logos, and screenshots, all from reliable sources like The Movie DB and Fan Art TV
- You can scrape metadata for movies and shows from IMDB, Movie Meter, and more
- Manually edit metadata
- Download subtitles from Open Subtitles
- Get trailers from HD Trailers
The best part about Tiny Media Manager is that the free version gives you access to 80% of the features on hand. This alone makes it a great alternative to Filebot.
One of the limitations of the free version, is that you can only scrape data for 50 movies.
10. MediaElch
If you use Kodi, you can use MediaElch as an alternative to Filebot. It is a media manager and a renaming tool.
The app lets you generate NFO data for Kodi, and download fan art automatically from the relevant sources. You can scrape data from several resources like The Movie DB, The TV DB, IMDB, and more.
MediaElch supports all types of music files which allows you to organize your audio files once and for all. The data scraper function works for music files as well. You can scrape data from sites like Audio DB, All Music, and Discogs. You can also scrape art images from Fan Art TV.
“The Renamer” is Media Elch’s media management app. Besides renaming and organizing your files, you can also export all your data in HTML format.
Wrapping up
So there you have it, my list of the 10 best Filebot Alternatives. Start by deciding your needs based on the types of files in your current library. That will you an idea of which file manager would best suit your needs.
Good luck with your selection of the best Filebot alternative.
For more insightful comparison articles, check out our guide to the best Videograbby alternatives, the best Textsheet alternatives, or the best Grammarly alternatives. Please share your feedback on any of the tools listed in this post in the comments below.
