OmniGet vs VidBee
OmniGet is a free, open-source alternative to VidBee for Windows, macOS and Linux that focuses on the download itself: torrents, direct files, SponsorBlock, an MCP server and no telemetry. Measured on September 26, 2026, it is also a far smaller download (37.1 MB against 353.6 MB on Windows); VidBee does more after the download, with local transcripts, AI summaries and RSS subscriptions.
Written by Antonio Leandro, who makes OmniGet. VidBee is described from its own repository and releases.
Short answer
OmniGet is built to download: parallel fragments and aria2c for speed, torrents, direct files, SponsorBlock and an MCP server for AI agents, with no telemetry. VidBee is built for what comes after: local transcripts with speaker labels, AI summaries and RSS subscriptions with auto-download; its analytics are on by default. OmniGet is also the smaller download: 37.1 MB against 353.6 MB on Windows.
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 | VidBee |
|---|---|---|
| Sites | Own extractors, yt-dlp, torrents, direct files | yt-dlp sites plus local file import |
| Speed options | Parallel fragments, aria2c, segmented direct files, speed limit | Parallel downloads with retries |
| YouTube extras | SponsorBlock and chapter split | Chapters and metadata, no SponsorBlock |
| Following creators | Followed channels checked for new uploads | RSS subscriptions with filters, tags, auto-download |
| After the download | Summaries from subtitles; MCP lets agents queue downloads | Local transcripts with speakers, AI prompts, search |
| Privacy defaults | No telemetry | Analytics and error reports on by default, can be turned off |
OmniGet wins 3, VidBee wins 2, 1 tied
Download speed is not timed yet: the timed test is being run on the same links, connection and computer for every app. Until then, the table above lists speed options, not results.
What each app can do
| OmniGet | VidBee | |
|---|---|---|
| Playlists and channels | Yes | Yes |
| Subtitles | Yes | Yes |
| Audio only | Yes | Yes |
| Choose quality and format | Yes | Yes |
| Private and members-only videos (your login) | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes |
| Torrents and magnet links | Yes | No |
| Direct file links | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Queue and parallel downloads | Yes | Partly |
| Watch channels for new videos | Yes | Yes |
| SponsorBlock, chapters, metadata | Yes | Partly |
| AI agents and MCP | Yes | Yes |
What happens after the download, or the download itself
VidBee is built around what happens after the download: transcripts, summaries and RSS subscriptions. OmniGet is built around the download itself: its own extractors, torrents, direct files, a browser extension that forwards your login, an MCP server and AI coding agents.
VidBee is one of the most starred free yt-dlp apps. It is built with Electron. OmniGet is built with Tauri and uses the system web view. Both are free and open source.
The numbers come from each project's latest GitHub release, read on the date at the top of the page.
Download size and packages
Why VidBee is about ten times bigger
The gap is large on every system, around ten times on Windows. That is the cost of shipping Chromium inside the app, which Electron does and Tauri does not. On a slow connection it turns into minutes of waiting before the first download.
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:
What that means in waiting time
Time to download each app (Windows installer) at common connection speeds.
| 2 Mbit/s | 20 Mbit/s | 100 Mbit/s | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OmniGet | 2 min 36 s | 16 s | 3 s |
| VidBee | 24 min 43 s | 2 min 28 s | 30 s |
Files each project offers
Files attached to each project's latest GitHub release. Store listings such as Flathub, Snap or the Microsoft Store are not counted here.
| OmniGet | VidBee | |
|---|---|---|
| Windows installer | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Windows portable (x64) | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Windows on ARM build | —No | —No |
| macOS, Apple Silicon | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| macOS, Intel | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Linux AppImage | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Linux .deb | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Linux .rpm | ✓Yes | —No |
| Linux Flatpak | —No | —No |
| Linux on ARM | ✓Yes | —No |
The apps in this benchmark
-
OmniGet
- License:
- GPL-3.0
- Built with:
- Tauri (Rust + web UI)
- GitHub:
- 14.4k stars · v0.10.1
- Version tested:
- v0.10.1 (September 21, 2026)
- Its own extractors, torrents and direct files on top of yt-dlp.
- An MCP server and AI coding agents in the same app.
-
VidBee
- License:
- MIT
- Built with:
- Electron
- GitHub:
- 11.1k stars · v2.3.0
- Version tested:
- v2.1.0 (August 30, 2026)
- A portable Windows build next to the installer.
- Zip packages for Windows and macOS besides the installers.
Packages
Both ship installers and portable builds on Windows and Apple Silicon and Intel builds on macOS. On Linux, VidBee offers AppImage and .deb; OmniGet adds .rpm and ARM builds.
Which one should you pick?
- Choose OmniGet if you want a far smaller download, .rpm or Linux ARM packages, or torrents, direct files, the MCP server and AI agents in the same app.
- Choose VidBee if you want local transcripts with speaker labels, AI summaries of what you saved, or RSS subscriptions that download new videos on their own.
Other VidBee alternatives
Free, open-source apps that do some of what VidBee 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 ytDownloader Electron yt-dlp app with a clip trimmer and a video compressor, on many app stores. Compared with OmniGet
- Youwee on GitHub Cross-platform yt-dlp front end with AI video summaries and post-processing.
- Pinchflat on GitHub Self-hosted media manager that follows channels and saves new videos with yt-dlp.
- MyTube on GitHub Self-hosted downloader and player with channel subscriptions and automatic downloads.
Where OmniGet still loses
We publish this on purpose. It is the list we work from to make OmniGet better.
- After the download: VidBee writes local transcripts with speaker labels and runs AI prompts and search over them. OmniGet only summarizes from subtitles.
- Following creators: VidBee's RSS subscriptions have filters, tags and auto-download. OmniGet checks followed channels for new uploads.
- Next to measure: memory use while downloading, where Tauri should be tested against Electron instead of assumed.
Trying OmniGet costs nothing
Both are free and save to normal folders. Install OmniGet, point it at your usual download folder and keep VidBee until you are sure.
Method
Run it yourself
node scripts/bench/gui-downloads.mjs Data licensed CC BY 4.0: reuse it freely with a link to this page.
Sources
Questions
Why is VidBee so much bigger than OmniGet?
VidBee is built with Electron, which ships a copy of Chromium. OmniGet is built with Tauri and uses the web view the system already has.
Do both have a portable Windows version?
Yes. Both publish a portable Windows build next to the installer.
What is a good alternative to VidBee?
OmniGet is a free, open-source alternative for Windows, macOS and Linux if what you need is the download: torrents, direct files, SponsorBlock, no telemetry and a far smaller installer. If transcripts and RSS are what you use VidBee for, it stays the better fit. Open Video Downloader, Parabolic and ytDownloader are other free yt-dlp apps, each compared with OmniGet on its own page.
Other benchmarks
Try OmniGet 1.0.0
Free and open source, for Windows, macOS and Linux.
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