# Migrate Real-Debrid to TorBox (via CatBox)

> [!WARNING]
>
> **Legal Responsibility**
>
> This guide covers the technical mechanics of migrating between cloud storage services. Users are solely responsible for ensuring all content accessed, stored, or streamed through this setup is legally obtained and complies with applicable copyright laws and the terms of service of Real-Debrid, TorBox, and other third-party services. ElfHosted provides hosting infrastructure only and does not provide, curate, or facilitate access to copyrighted content. See our [Acceptable Use Policy](</legal/acceptable-use/>) for details.

This is the seven-step path from a Real-Debrid + Decypharr (*or Zurg*) setup to TorBox + [CatBox](<https://store.elfhosted.com/product/catbox/>) on ElfHosted. Step 1 swaps your subscription so the new TorBox-backed stack rolls in with CatBox preinstalled; the remaining steps run inside that new stack to import what TorBox has cached, repoint your existing library symlinks, clean up what couldn't be recovered, and let the arrs backfill the rest.

If you haven't read the [migration overview](</guides/media/migrate-from-realdebrid/>) yet, start there for the *why*: Real-Debrid's single-IP concurrency limit and service reliability. This page is the *how*.

[Get your $1, 7-day free trial!](<https://store.elfhosted.com/product-category/personal-stacks/personal-media-stacks/>)

## Why TorBox + CatBox specifically

TorBox is a popular Real-Debrid alternative, with one key operational advantage:

- **No single-IP concurrency limit.** TorBox's Essential and Pro tiers allow concurrent streams from multiple IPs (*5 and 10 respectively*), so an arr stack streaming alongside your phone, a partner's device, and a VPN client doesn't trip an account suspension the way Real-Debrid's single-IP rule does.

But TorBox enforces a **30-day cache retention policy**: items not accessed for 30 days expire. A media-server library (*Plex, Jellyfin, Emby*) probes every item constantly (*codec checks, thumbnails, intro detection, transcoding decisions*), and every probe touches the item and resets the expiry. Without a virtualisation layer in front of TorBox, every Radarr / Sonarr grab gets pinned to your TorBox account forever, which is exactly the "automated retention" pattern TorBox's policy forbids.

[CatBox](<https://store.elfhosted.com/product/catbox/>) solves this by virtualising your library: items live as symlinks pointing into a virtual WebDAV tree, routine media-server probes are answered by CatBox itself, and nothing is added to your TorBox account until you actually press play. After playback ends, CatBox removes the item from TorBox again. Your account reflects only what you've recently watched, and your usage stays within policy.

This is the safe way to combine TorBox with a media-server library. Everything in this guide assumes a CatBox-fronted TorBox stack on ElfHosted.

## Migration steps

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Full setup guide**
>
> The step-by-step setup is available to logged-in customers. [Sign in to continue →](<https://docs-internal.elfhosted.com/guides/media/migrate-realdebrid-to-torbox/>)

## How do I get help?

1. For general use of the [individual tools](</apps/>), refer to each app's upstream site
2. For specific support re your ElfHosted configuration, see the [ElfHosted support options](</get-help/>)