Simkl VIP: What It Adds, What Stays Free, and Whether You Need It
Simkl VIP is the paid tier of a free movie, TV, and anime tracker. What the free account already covers, what VIP adds, how it stacks up against Trakt VIP, and who should pay.
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Most people do not need Simkl VIP. Simkl’s free account tracks films, TV, and anime, and its official scrobblers work without paying. VIP is the paid subscription on top. It removes ads, adds more custom lists and extra features such as automatic backups and two-way MyAnimeList sync, and helps fund the service. Pay for it if you want those, or if you rely on Simkl and want to support it. If you came here because Trakt’s free tier got narrower in July 2026, a free Simkl account may already cover what you lost. Simkl vs Trakt compares the two trackers directly.
Last reviewed: September 10, 2026. Simkl changes the VIP feature list and price from time to time, so confirm current terms at simkl.com/vip before you pay.
Quick verdict:
- Simkl free: tracks films, TV, and anime, with anime as its own category. Official scrobblers are included within a daily item allowance. No custom lists, and it shows ads
- Simkl VIP: no ads, up to 1,000 custom lists, automatic backups to Google Drive or email, two-way MyAnimeList sync, and other extra features. Most people can skip it
- Trakt VIP: about $60 a year, and since July 2026 it is what you pay to connect more than one community app
- Achriom: does not scrobble, but holds the history from either tracker next to your books and albums
What to look for before paying for a tracker
A tracker subscription is small money, but you pay it every month for years. Four questions decide whether it is worth it.
Is the free tier limiting you? Name the thing you cannot do today. If you can’t, you are paying for ad removal. That is a fine reason as long as you know it’s the reason.
What happens to your history if you stop paying? Your watched record should belong to you whether or not you subscribe. Be wary of any tier that puts your own history behind a payment.
Does it cover your connected apps? Scrobblers for Jellyfin, Plex, Kodi, and Stremio are what make a tracker automatic. Check whether the free account supports the ones you actually run.
Does it cover everything you track? A better way to log shows does nothing for the novel on your nightstand or the album on repeat. Paying for one medium at a time adds up.
Simkl free: what you already get
Simkl is a free tracker for films, TV, and anime. Anime gets a category of its own rather than a genre tag on a TV show, and that one decision is why so many anime fans end up there. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is tracked as one continuous series, numbered the way it aired, which is how you remember watching it.
The free account handles the daily work. Log, rate, keep a watchlist, see what airs next. If you run Jellyfin, the official plugin scrobbles to a free account, so plays on your server log themselves while you get on with the episode. Every Simkl tier has a daily item allowance, and scrobbles from connected apps count against it. Coming from Trakt? Simkl imports your history, and importing Trakt to Simkl walks through it step by step. A backup export in settings means your history is never stuck there.
Free comes with ads and no custom lists. The PRO tier removes the ads and allows 30 custom lists, and Simkl gives it free to anyone who uses the site or app on at least 20 days in a month. If you open Simkl most days, check your account before paying for anything.
Simkl VIP: what the money buys
VIP sits on top of the same account. Your watched history is the same record whether you pay or not, and VIP changes what surrounds it.
No ads. PRO removes them too, so ads alone are a weak reason to buy VIP.
Automatic backups and sync. VIP can send a JSON backup of your history to Google Drive or email automatically, and adds two-way MyAnimeList sync and iCal calendar sync.
Extra features. Simkl adds perks to VIP over time, and the list changes as it does.
Support for the service. VIP helps fund Simkl. If it has been keeping your record for years, a few dollars back is a fair trade.
VIP will not improve matching or scrobbling. When an episode lands on the wrong season, your media server sent the wrong id, and the fix lives on the server.
Trakt VIP: the comparison most people are making
Plenty of people searching for Simkl VIP are really asking whether to leave Trakt. Trakt VIP costs about $60 a year; check trakt.tv/vip for the current price. For years it was a comfort upgrade too. That changed in July 2026.
Trakt announced on 22 July 2026 that free accounts can have only one connected community app. If you run Kodi, Stremio, and PlexTraktSync against the same account, the second and third now need VIP. On 30 July 2026, creating a new Trakt API application also started requiring VIP, which Trakt described as a temporary anti-abuse measure. That second change mostly affects people who build their own tools.
So the two subscriptions do different jobs. Trakt VIP now pays for function if you use several apps. Simkl VIP pays for comfort on an account that already tracks for free. Whichever way you lean, get your history out first with how to export your Trakt data. Trakt changed its terms twice in eight days this July, and a recent export is the simplest protection against the next change. For a wider look, best Trakt alternatives lays out the options.
Achriom: where the history lives once you have one
Achriom does not scrobble and does not compete with Simkl on episode check-offs. It is one library for shows, films, anime, books, and albums, with an AI librarian that reads across all of it. It also works inside ChatGPT.
Give it a Trakt username and it pulls your watched history. Paste a list of titles and it rebuilds a Simkl backup. Once the history is in, the librarian answers questions a tracker’s stats page never reaches. It can tell you why the last five shows you finished share a mood with the two novels you rated highest this year, or which album sits closest to the series you just binged.
Your watch history is one part of what you love. Achriom keeps shows, films, anime, books, and albums in one library, and the librarian can see how they connect. You can export everything as CSV whenever you want. Free to start, no card.
Start your library →Comparison table
| Simkl free | Simkl VIP | Trakt free | Trakt VIP | Achriom | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Paid subscription | Free | About $60/year | Free to start |
| Ads | Yes, none on PRO | No | Yes | No | No |
| Film and TV tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Anime as own category | Yes | Yes | No, TV with genre tag | No, TV with genre tag | Yes |
| Connected apps | Official scrobblers, within a daily item allowance on every tier | Official scrobblers | One community app since July 2026 | More than one | Imports from Trakt or pasted titles |
| Deeper statistics | Yes | Yes | Basic | Yes | Librarian reads across your library |
| Books and albums | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Export | Backup file from settings | Backup file from settings | From settings | From settings | CSV, any time |
Which should you use?
You log a few titles a week and rarely open the stats: stay on Simkl free. You mainly give up custom lists, and those start at PRO.
You live in Simkl daily and want automatic backups or MyAnimeList sync: pay for VIP. Those extras, plus up to 1,000 custom lists, are what the money buys.
You are paying Trakt only because of the one-app limit: move your history to a free Simkl account before you pay anyone. If Simkl’s official scrobblers cover your setup, the problem goes away at no cost.
You depend on Trakt’s ecosystem of third-party apps: get Trakt VIP. That ecosystem is the reason to stay, and since July 2026, VIP is what keeps several apps connected.
You want your watch history next to your books and albums: let Simkl or Trakt log plays automatically, then bring the record into Achriom.
Common questions
Does Simkl VIP change how anime is tracked? No. The free account already treats anime as its own category, with episodes numbered the way the show aired. VIP removes ads and adds extras such as two-way MyAnimeList sync around the same data.
Should I pay for Simkl VIP and Trakt VIP at the same time? Rarely. Two paid trackers usually means two histories, and you will eventually abandon one. Pick the service that holds your record and put the money there.
Will VIP fix a show that keeps landing on the wrong season? No. Scrobblers send whatever TMDB or TVDB id your media server has on file. Check the matched item on the server and refresh its metadata. That fix works on any tier.
How do I move my Trakt history to Simkl before deciding? Simkl imports from Trakt directly. Importing Trakt to Simkl covers the steps. Save a copy of your Trakt export first as cheap insurance.
Is there a tracker that also covers books and music? Film and TV trackers only cover what you watch. The best all in one media tracker compares the options that handle every format.
Which anime tracker should I use if Simkl is not the right fit? Best anime tracking apps compares Simkl with the anime-first services, including ones that also track manga.