OmniGet vs FreeTube
FreeTube cannot download videos anymore: the FreeTube team removed its downloader in January 2026 (pull request 8543), so version 0.25.3 only plays YouTube. OmniGet is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) downloader for Windows, macOS and Linux that saves what FreeTube plays; measured on September 30, 2026, OmniGet 0.10.1 saved 8 of 9 free test items, and FreeTube, by design, none.
Written by Antonio Leandro, who makes OmniGet. FreeTube is described from its own repository and releases.
Short answer
These two apps do different jobs. FreeTube is a private YouTube player: no ads, no account, subscriptions kept on your computer, SponsorBlock and DeArrow while you watch. Since version 0.23.14 it has no download button; its developers removed the old downloader because it was unmaintained and broke with YouTube's newer streaming. OmniGet is a downloader: it saved 8 of the 9 free test items today (an HLS test stream stalled), from YouTube and other sites, torrents and direct files, and it can follow your channels and download new videos by themselves. On a Mac, OmniGet's download is 44.1 MB against 118.9 MB, and it takes 86.6 MB on disk against 290 MB. Keep FreeTube to watch, and use a downloader such as OmniGet to save.
Pros and cons, side by side
Written from our study of each app's repository and releases. Every row names the better app, including when it is not OmniGet.
| What matters | OmniGet | FreeTube |
|---|---|---|
| Saving videos | Downloads video, audio and subtitles: 8 of 9 free test items today (an HLS test stream stalled) | Cannot save a video since 0.23.14; the project points to yt-dlp |
| Watching YouTube privately | Not a YouTube client; plays files you downloaded | Ad-free player with a subscription feed, search, comments, chapters and a mini player, no account |
| Sites | YouTube and the sites of yt-dlp and its own extractors, plus torrents and direct files | YouTube only |
| New videos from your channels | Follows channels and can download new uploads by itself | Subscription feed without an account; you watch, nothing is saved |
| SponsorBlock | Removes or marks segments in the saved file | Skips segments by category while you watch, plus DeArrow |
| Size and memory | 44.1 MB download, 86.6 MB installed | 118.9 MB download, 290 MB installed, 351 MB of memory at rest |
OmniGet wins 3, FreeTube wins 1, 2 tied
There is no timed download test on this page because FreeTube 0.25.3 cannot save a video: its downloader was removed in January 2026 (pull request 8543) and the last release with it was 0.23.13. The numbers below compare what can be measured on both: startup, memory and size.
What each app can do
| OmniGet | FreeTube | |
|---|---|---|
| Playlists and channels | Yes | Partly |
| Subtitles | Yes | Partly |
| Audio only | Yes | Partly |
| Choose quality and format | Yes | Partly |
| Private and members-only videos (your login) | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | Partly |
| Torrents and magnet links | Yes | No |
| Direct file links | Yes | No |
| Queue and parallel downloads | Yes | No |
| Watch channels for new videos | Yes | Partly |
| SponsorBlock, chapters, metadata | Yes | Yes |
| AI agents and MCP | Yes | No |
Watch in one app, save in the other
FreeTube's strengths are about watching: a subscription feed without an account, profiles, SponsorBlock skips, DeArrow titles, chapters and external players such as mpv. OmniGet covers the saving side: quality and format, audio only, subtitles, playlists, a queue, torrents and direct files. The partial marks for FreeTube mean it can do the thing while playing, not save it.
FreeTube is an Electron app that plays YouTube through its own extractor or the Invidious API, without Google's cookies or an account. It is licensed under the AGPL-3.0. Until early 2026 it also had a simple download button. OmniGet is a Tauri app built to download: it uses yt-dlp and its own extractors for sites, its own downloader for direct files and its own client for torrents.
FreeTube 0.25.3 (the latest release, 28 August 2026) and the published OmniGet 0.10.1 were installed from their GitHub releases on the same Mac on 30 September 2026. Because FreeTube cannot save a video, there is no download race here. FreeTube was launched six times to time its first window and read its memory; OmniGet went through the fixed list of 9 free test items used on every post.
Download size and packages
Startup, memory and size
FreeTube carries its own Chromium through Electron, which is why it used about 350 MB of memory sitting on its first screen and takes 290 MB on disk. OmniGet draws its window with the system's WebKit and takes 86.6 MB on disk. FreeTube's figures are medians of five launches; the same launch test for the OmniGet app is still pending, so this page does not compare startup or idle memory yet.
Seen enough? Get OmniGet for your system.
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OmniGet is a desktop app
It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. There is no Android or iOS version. Send this page to your computer:
The apps in this benchmark
-
OmniGet
- License:
- GPL-3.0
- Built with:
- Tauri (Rust + web UI)
- GitHub:
- 14.4k stars · v0.10.1
- Its own extractors, torrents and direct files on top of yt-dlp.
- An MCP server and AI coding agents in the same app.
-
FreeTube
- License:
- AGPL-3.0
- Built with:
- Electron (JavaScript, Vue)
- GitHub:
- 22.4k stars
- Watch YouTube without ads, Google cookies or an account, with subscriptions, playlists and history kept on your computer.
- SponsorBlock and DeArrow while watching, chapters, a mini player and external players such as mpv.
- Imports and exports subscriptions as FreeTube, YouTube (CSV, JSON, OPML) and NewPipe files.
Why FreeTube dropped downloads
Pull request 8543, merged on 21 January 2026, removed the feature. The FreeTube team wrote that the downloader had been unmaintained for a long time, was partly broken, and was fully broken by SABR, YouTube's newer way of streaming video; supporting it would have needed a rewrite. They pointed users to yt-dlp and to the lists of video links FreeTube can export. Version 0.23.13 was the last release with the download button.
Bring your FreeTube subscriptions
FreeTube exports subscriptions as a FreeTube .db file, YouTube CSV, JSON or OPML, and NewPipe JSON. OmniGet 0.10.1 follows channels one link at a time. A tool that reads all of those files and follows every channel at once is ready in OmniGet's main branch and ships in the next release; this page will say so once it is out.
Which one should you pick?
- Choose OmniGet if you want to save videos, audio or subtitles from YouTube or other sites, keep a queue, download torrents and direct files, or have new uploads from your channels downloaded for you.
- Choose FreeTube if you want to watch YouTube without ads, tracking or an account, with a subscription feed, SponsorBlock and DeArrow, and do not need to keep the files.
Other FreeTube alternatives
Free, open-source apps that do some of what FreeTube does.
- Open-source yt-dlp GUIs compared Every desktop app we track, ordered by GitHub stars, with its license, latest release and who it suits.
- OmniGet vs ezytdl Electron front end for yt-dlp with advanced options. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs Media Downloader Qt/C++ front end for several download engines, including yt-dlp, gallery-dl and aria2c. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs SCrawler Windows app that saves media from social sites and user profiles. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs Videomass Cross-platform FFmpeg front end for batch conversion with presets; it removed its yt-dlp downloader in version 6.1.12. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs Vividl Windows front end for yt-dlp built with WPF. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs Hindsight Agent memory system by Vectorize: retain, recall and reflect over a memory bank, as a server with Postgres or embedded in Python. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs aria2 Command-line download utility for HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent and Metalink, with many connections per file. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs you-get Command-line downloader written in Python that scrapes media from web pages. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs youtube-dl The original command-line video downloader that yt-dlp was forked from. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs yt-dlp The command-line audio and video downloader that OmniGet runs on. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs Open Video Downloader Cross-platform yt-dlp front end built with Tauri and Vue, with a very small installer. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs Parabolic yt-dlp front end with a native interface: WinUI on Windows and GNOME on Linux, published on Flathub. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs VidBee Electron app built on yt-dlp that also makes local transcripts, AI summaries and RSS subscriptions. Compared with OmniGet
- OmniGet vs ytDownloader Electron yt-dlp app with a clip trimmer and a video compressor, on many app stores. Compared with OmniGet
- YTSage on GitHub yt-dlp front end written in Python and PySide6, with SponsorBlock and subtitles.
- Youwee on GitHub Cross-platform yt-dlp front end with AI video summaries and post-processing.
- Parabolic on GitHub yt-dlp front end with a native interface: WinUI on Windows and GNOME on Linux, published on Flathub.
Where OmniGet still loses
We publish this on purpose. It is the list we work from to make OmniGet better.
- Watching: FreeTube is a full private player for YouTube, with a subscription feed, search, trending, comments, chapters, a mini player and DeArrow. OmniGet downloads; it is not a YouTube client.
- SponsorBlock while watching: FreeTube skips segments by category during playback. OmniGet removes or marks them in the downloaded file.
- Invidious and proxies: FreeTube can fetch through the Invidious API and a proxy such as Tor, and keeps subscriptions in separate profiles.
- License and packages: FreeTube is on Flathub and in many Linux repositories; OmniGet has no Flatpak yet.
Trying OmniGet costs nothing
You do not have to choose: FreeTube and OmniGet work side by side. Copy a video, playlist or channel link from FreeTube (its share menu has Copy YouTube Link) and paste it into OmniGet to save it. FreeTube's subscription export can be read by OmniGet's import tool when that release ships.
Method
Run it yourself
node scripts/bench/app-startup.mjs --slug omniget-vs-freetube --tool freetube --app <FreeTube.app> --owner FreeTube (the OmniGet run with --tool omniget-app is pending); the OmniGet corpus pass is node scripts/bench/speed.mjs --tools omniget-app --success-only, run the same day for omniget-vs-ezytdl and copied into this data file Data licensed CC BY 4.0: reuse it freely with a link to this page.
Sources
Questions
Can FreeTube download videos?
Not anymore. The download button was removed in January 2026 (pull request 8543), and FreeTube 0.23.14 and later cannot save videos. The FreeTube team suggests a dedicated downloader such as yt-dlp; OmniGet is one with a window.
Why did FreeTube remove downloads?
Its developers said the downloader was unmaintained, partly broken, and fully broken by YouTube's SABR streaming, and that fixing it would need a major rewrite for a feature other tools already do better.
How do I download a video I found in FreeTube?
Right-click the video in FreeTube, copy the YouTube link, and paste it into a downloader such as OmniGet or yt-dlp. For a whole playlist, FreeTube can export its video links, which you can paste into OmniGet's queue.
Is FreeTube safe?
FreeTube is open source under the AGPL-3.0 and its releases are on GitHub with checksums. The macOS build is not notarized by Apple (it has an ad-hoc signature), so macOS asks you to allow it the first time. YouTube still sees your requests and your IP address; the FreeTube team recommends a VPN or Tor.
Other benchmarks
Try OmniGet 1.0.0
Free and open source, for Windows, macOS and Linux.
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