Want one app for your movies and shows? Limelight shows where your movies and shows are streaming in your country, keeps one Watchlist and Seen List for both, and with Limelight+, alerts you when a new episode or season arrives. Here's how it compares with 11 other trackers.
In this article
Start here
Start with how you watch
"Movies and shows in one place"LimelightOne Watchlist and Seen List for both
"Where is it streaming?"LimelightWhere to stream, rent, or buy in your country, free
"Tell me when it's back"LimelightAlerts for new episodes, seasons, and returns, with Limelight+
"Help me pick what's next"LimelightNetflix and HBO Max Top 10s and ratings from four sites, with Limelight+
"Did it start as a book?"LimelightSee which movies and shows started as books, free
"I check off every episode"TV ForecastMark episodes and see what's upcoming
The options
Movie and TV trackers
1. Limelight
Everything in one app
iPhone, iPad, and Mac · Download free
Where it's streaming, what to watch next, and everything you've seen, for movies and shows.
Search any movie or show and see where to stream, rent, or buy it in your country. Turn on the services you pay for and you'll only see what you can watch right now. Save movies and shows to one Watchlist, mark what you've seen, and get picks in Just For You.
Show pages have a Latest Episodes row, so you can see what's new. With Limelight+, you can get an alert for every episode. Or get one when a season begins, or when it ends so you can binge. It can also tell you when a show returns from a break or lands on a service you pay for.
Limelight pulls data from many sources, not just TMDB. Find out which movies and shows started as books. With Limelight+, see what's in the Netflix or HBO Max Top 10 today and compare ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic, and TMDB side by side. With Limelight+, SceneSnap can identify a movie or show from a short clip. Your lists sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. No ads, privacy focused.
2. Letterboxd
Film diary
iPhone and iPad · Free, Pro and Patron tiers
Letterboxd is the film community. You log films with a date, a rating, a review and tags, keep a watchlist, build lists, and read what the people you follow are saying. Browse what's popular, highly rated and most anticipated, including the official Top 250 narrative features.
It is films only, so there is no episode tracking. Pro adds annual and all-time stats, advanced filters including your own streaming services through JustWatch, list cloning, and no third-party ads. Patron adds custom posters and backdrops.
3. Trakt
Tracking service
iPhone and iPad · Free, optional VIP
Trakt is a tracking service with an app on top, and most other trackers here sync with it. You check in to what you're watching, mark anything you've seen before, and get a full history, an Up Next list, a calendar and new episode notifications. It indexes over a million shows and movies, and imports from IMDb, Plex, Letterboxd and TV Time.
Where to stream comes from JustWatch, covering hundreds of services worldwide, and you can pick your own services to sort to the top. There is a social side too: comments, ratings, community lists and friends' activity. VIP adds detailed stats and unlimited lists.
4. Simkl
Tracking service
iPhone and iPad · Free download
Simkl Lists covers TV, anime and movies in one place. Lists update themselves as you watch, each show tells you the next episode number, and you can mark everything aired as watched or work season by season. You also get alerts when new episodes air, and theater and disc release dates for anything in your plan to watch.
It is the companion app to the Simkl.com website, so the website is where most of the work happens. Full details carry IMDb and MyAnimeList ratings, and Simkl imports from Netflix, Trakt, IMDb, MyAnimeList, AniList and Crunchyroll.
5. Moviebase
Tracker
iPhone, iPad, and Android · Free, Premium removes ads
Moviebase runs on TMDB data and tracks movies and episodes season by season, with a watched history that keeps ratings and dates, an air-date calendar, custom lists and a watchlist. Where to watch is built in, and tapping a service opens it.
Two-way Trakt sync keeps history, ratings and lists in step with everything else you use. Browse trending, anticipated, top rated, box office and on TV, plus collections like the Marvel Universe, and rate out of 10 next to the TMDB community score. It's on Android as well, and Premium removes the ads.
6. Matinee
Recommendations
iPhone and iPad · Free download
Matinee is built around your friends rather than an algorithm. Tonight's Pick puts one recommendation on your Home Screen each day, scored against your taste, your watchlist and what friends are watching, and Movie Night lets a group swipe through a shared deck until everyone lands on something.
It tracks too: one-tap logging, half-star ratings, episode tracking that remembers where you left off, and watchlists that clear themselves as you watch. Pro adds Tonight Mode, where you pick a mood and swipe a deck built around it.
7. JustWatch
Streaming guide
iPhone and iPad · Free
JustWatch is a streaming guide, not a tracker. It lists where to watch across more than 4,500 providers worldwide, covering subscriptions, free and ad-supported services, rentals and purchases, and it updates availability daily across some 90,000 titles.
Filter by the services you actually have, browse what's new on each one in the timeline, and check age ratings for family viewing. The watchlist syncs across your devices and tells you when something on it lands on a service you pay for, but there is no episode tracking.
8. Serializd
TV reviews
iPhone and iPad · Free download
Serializd is for TV only, and it is as much about writing as watching. Log every series you've watched, are watching or want to watch, keep your place with the next episode tracker, and get notifications for upcoming episodes and release dates.
You can rate and review individual episodes, whole seasons or a full series, then read the discussion around a new release. There is a following feed, custom profiles and posters, and a stats page with total watch time, completed shows and a genre breakdown.
For TV shows
Episode trackers for TV shows
These four focus on checking off shows episode by episode.
9. Television Time
Episode tracker
iPhone, iPad, and Mac · Free for up to 5 shows, Plus for unlimited shows
Television Time is a focused episode tracker with a calm interface. It follows your progress through each series, puts upcoming and missed episodes on Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, and shows cast and crew alongside stats for time spent watching.
The free version covers up to 5 shows and syncs over iCloud. Plus lifts the limit and adds Trakt sync, notifications for upcoming shows, calendar sync and extra app icons.
10. TV Forecast
Episode tracker
iPhone and iPad · Free download
TV Forecast puts what's coming up front, with a notification when an episode is about to air or a movie is released, and check-offs for both. Watching something with someone else? Share the show and your progress stays in step.
Each title carries streaming availability, trailers and behind-the-scenes clips, cast and crew, and links out to IMDb, TMDB and Trakt. It syncs through iCloud and Trakt, browses trending and anticipated titles, and can sort your movies by length when you only have an hour.
11. Hobi Time
Episode tracker
iPhone and iPad · Free download
Hobi Time is the easiest landing spot for anyone leaving TV Time, because it imports that export in full, ratings included. It tracks series and movies together, picks up exactly where you left off, and keeps a day-by-day diary of what you watched.
A calendar covers upcoming episodes and premieres with reminders, and Trakt sync runs both ways. You also get a watchlist, stats and each show's network, in a clean dark design.
12. Sofa Time
Tracker and guide
iPhone and iPad · Free download
Sofa Time, once TVSofa, tracks episodes and movies and sets reminders so a return date doesn't slip past. Its streaming guide covers more than 500 services worldwide, and recommendations come from what you have already watched.
Lists and history sync through Trakt or Simkl rather than an account of its own, which suits anyone already invested in either. There are widgets for iPhone and iPad, and comments from other viewers on each title.
Comparison
Side by side
App
Movies
Episode check-offs
New episode alerts
Where to stream
Limelight
Yes
Show level
Yes
Yes
Letterboxd
Yes
Not listed
Not listed
Pro filters
Trakt
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Simkl
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not listed
Moviebase
Yes
Yes
Calendar
Yes
Matinee
Yes
Not listed
Not listed
Yes
JustWatch
Watchlist
Not listed
Service arrivals
Yes
Serializd
Not listed
Yes
Yes
Not listed
Television Time
Not listed
Yes
Plus
Not listed
TV Forecast
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Hobi Time
Yes
Yes
Reminders
Not listed
Sofa Time
Yes
Yes
Reminders
Yes
Checked September 2026 against each app's App Store listing. "Not listed" means the listing doesn't mention it. Features and tiers change, so check each app's own page before you decide.
Conclusion
The bottom line
Limelight brings your movies and shows together in one app. See where they're streaming in your country, keep one Watchlist and Seen List for both, and find out which ones started as books. With Limelight+, get an alert when a new episode or season arrives. You can also see what's in the Netflix or HBO Max Top 10 today and compare ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic, and TMDB side by side. It's free to download on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no ads.
See where it's streaming, keep track of what you've watched, and know when your shows are back.
Where to stream
Streaming, rental, and purchase options for your country, filtered to your services.
Watchlist and Seen List
Movies and shows together, synced across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Release notifications
Every new episode, the season start, or the season end, with Limelight+.
Free to download on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Limelight+ is $4.99 a month, or $24.99 a year with a 7-day free trial. No ads, privacy focused.
FAQ
Common questions
Limelight does, with one Watchlist and Seen List for both, synced across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It also shows where each title is streaming in your country, free. Trakt, Simkl, Moviebase, Hobi Time, TV Forecast, and Sofa Time track both too.
In Limelight you follow a show, and its page has a Latest Episodes row. With Limelight+, you can get an alert for every new episode. Television Time, TV Forecast, Hobi Time, Sofa Time, Serializd, Trakt, Simkl, and Moviebase check off episode by episode.
Yes. Limelight+ lets you choose an alert for every new episode, the day a season begins, or the day it ends. It can also tell you when a show returns from a break or lands on a service you pay for. Trakt, Simkl, Serializd, and TV Forecast also send new episode notifications.
Limelight does, free. Turn on the services you pay for and you'll only see what you can watch right now. Trakt, Moviebase, Matinee, JustWatch, TV Forecast, and Sofa Time also show where to stream.
One app for where to stream and what you have seen
Limelight is free to download on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Where to stream, one Watchlist and Seen List, and new episode alerts with Limelight+. No ads.
