MeTube vs VidBee

MeTube is a free, self-hosted web interface for yt-dlp that downloads media from YouTube and hundreds of other sites to a user's server. It handles video, audio, subtitles, and thumbnails from individual videos, playlists, or entire channels, with video quality up to 4K. Each download can use a selected quality, format, and folder; server-wide yt-dlp options and presets are also available. Channel and playlist subscriptions can queue new uploads. Output options include MP4, M4A, MP3, Opus, WAV, FLAC, SRT, TXT, VTT, TTML, SBV, SCC, DFXP, and JPG. Docker and Docker Compose quick starts are provided, with images for amd64 and arm64. Integrations include browser extensions, bookmarklets, an iOS Shortcut, Android share-menu apps, and a Raycast extension. MeTube has no authentication by design and is intended for a trusted network or placement behind an authenticating reverse proxy. Private and internal addresses are blocked by default. The default concurrency setting allows three downloads at once; others wait. The project is AGPL-3.0, and its scope ends after a download is written, leaving tagging and library organization to other tools.

VidBee is a free, open-source desktop app for downloading videos and making searchable, timestamped transcripts on the user's computer. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux without requiring an account. The app supports more than 1,000 sites, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and Bilibili, with downloads up to 8K. Output options include MP4, MKV, WebM, M4A, MP3, Opus, and SRT. Playlist, subtitle, and batch downloads are supported, and subtitle selection spans more than 50 languages. Whisper transcription supports more than 100 languages, with speaker separation, renaming, and speaker-specific navigation. VidBee says downloads, transcripts, speech, and files stay on the user's device. Users can choose AI providers, add API keys, or use Ollama, LM Studio, and custom endpoints. Cloud AI credit packs are one-time purchases without subscription or automatic renewal: Starter costs $5, paid once, Popular $10, paid once, and Power $15, paid once. New Cloud accounts receive 50K welcome credits that expire after six months.