Exploring the Pros and Cons of the 'House of Usenet' Indexer
House of Usenet is a fairly popular Usenet forum based in Germany.
But is it any good? And is it worth using if you don’t speak German? Find out in our full House of Usenet Review.
[+] 'House of Usenet' contents
House of Usenet Review: Pricing & Memberships
House of Usenet doesn’t cost a thing. That’s right, it’s free!
However, if you like the service and want to chip in for server and maintenance costs, donations are accepted and encouraged. You can find more info on that when you sign up – or through the forum itself.
How to Register for House of Usenet
While House of Usenet has free and easy registration and is pretty easy to sign up for, it can be slightly confusing if you don’t know German.
There aren’t many steps, so you might want to consider using your browser’s site translation feature (usually found in the url bar) or just follow these instructions.
1. First, hit the blue button that says “Jetzt registrieren”.
2. Next, you be asked to enter your usernam (Benutzername), e-mail, and password, as well as check a box that says you don’t use a few specific Usenet clients/newsreaders. Enter this info, then hit “Registrieren”.
Note: While the fairly popular Usenet provider Easynews is listed here, it seems to only refer to its built-in search and download feature. So, you should be able to use Easynews as your Usenet provider, combined with an NZB downloader, like SABnzbd.
3. Once you’re in, you’ll be directed to a thread from the admins that discusses donations. Simply click the blue button to get there. And you’re welcome to donate, if you see fit, though it isn’t necessary for using the site.
Top Features
- Free
- Open registration
- New uploads
- Active forum
- Large user base
Disadvantages
- Entire site is in German
Now, these next two points can actually be advantages for German speakers – but since we’re writing this review in English, we have to point out that all info on House of Usenet is in German. You can still figure out how to download files without knowing German, but anything more can get confusing.
- Most content is dubbed in German
Not only is the site and forum in German, most movies, TV shows, and other content that’s uploaded is dubbed in German too. This can obviously be a problem if you don’t know German and/or don’t like dubbed content.
- No API
- Not (completely) safe for work (NSFW)
House of Usenet Alternatives
If you’re looking for an alternative to House of Usenet – for instance, an NZB site that’s not in German – give these two great options a look:
You will have to pay a small membership fee – though DrunkenSlug has a limited free plan – but they’re in English and provide a huge variety of files.
House of Usenet Review: Recap
So, there you have it! With House of Usenet’s pros, cons, and pricing covered in detail above, we’re left with the question: is it any good?
Well, if you’re a German speaker – and especially if you’re looking for German content, whether original or dubbed – then the answer is definitely “yes”. That being said, if you don’t mind navigating a foreign language site, it can still be a very handy free NZB site for people who don’t speak German too.
Much of the TV and movie content is dubbed, but you can still find plenty of stuff in other categories that isn't.