This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/opensource by /u/nexmoex on 2025-11-08 02:07:18+00:00.
A while back, I got the urge to find a desktop tool for downloading videos. I tried a bunch of options, but they all had issues—either the UI was clunky and messy, the features were all over the place, or they were pure command-line tools that were just too painful to use.
So I decided to build my own. Meet VidBee.
Check it out here:
If you find this tool useful, I’d appreciate a star 👉 github.com/nexmoe/VidBee!
VidBee is an open-source video downloader built with Electron + React + TypeScript. Under the hood, it uses yt-dlp (you know, that legendary tool), so it can download videos from 1000+ sites. But here’s the thing—it finally has a clean, intuitive interface.
Key Features
- Desktop app that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- Download with just a link; supports multi-task queues, pause, and retry
- Choose format, quality, or download audio only
- UI follows system theme with light and dark modes
- Runs entirely locally—no uploads, no network calls
Download & Install
- Download the Latest Version ==============================
Visit vidbee.org/download/ to get the latest release:
- Windows: Download
vidbee-x.x.x-setup.exe - macOS: Download
vidbee-x.x.x.dmg - Linux: Download
vidbee-x.x.x.AppImage
- Install and Run ==================
After downloading, install as usual. Windows and Linux users can double-click the installer, while macOS users should drag it to the Applications folder.
- Note for macOS Users =======================
If you see a “damaged app” warning on macOS, run this command in Terminal:
xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/VidBee.app/
This is macOS’s security mechanism—third-party apps need to be manually removed from quarantine.
Why I Built This
I wanted a clean, local video downloader—no command line, no ads. And honestly, Electron’s performance isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. With Vite bundling, it starts up pretty fast.
I’m planning to add more features over time, such as:
- Subtitle and comment download
- Playlist batch download
- Download history and task records
- Custom themes
The project is MIT licensed and fully open source. If you’re interested in contributing code or UI design, you’re more than welcome. It gets pretty lonely coding solo 😂