The best URD (Usenet Resource Downloader) alternatives are SABnzbd, NZBGet and nzb360. Our crowd-sourced lists contains more than 25 apps similar to URD (Usenet Resource Downloader) for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and more. By Christian Cawley 09 September 2021 We feature the best Usenet providers, looking at features and pricing, to help you better connect with the sites and groups and files that you need.

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Best Newsgroup Client Software

Below you’ll find a list of our top five newsgroup newsreaders. We have a comprehensive list of newsreaders just below our top recommendations, but our five top picks should meet most everyone’s needs, whether you’re a power user or a complete novice.

If you are a newcomer to USENET, scroll below the listings to read more about how news readers work. Keep in mind that many of our Top Five USENET Providers for 2021 offer their own software and, if that’s the case, you always have the option of going with their included software instead of downloading a different newsreader to use their service.

Newshosting

  • Very Stable And Easy
  • Highly Configurable
  • Integrated Search Feature.
Newshosting offers their own newsreader as part of their service, and it’s our top all-around pick for newsreaders. It’s fast, easy to use, and, if you subscribe to the associated USENET service, you’ll get a great search feature. It’s sort of an all-in-one piece of software that really increases the value of Newshosting’s service.

Finding binaries is easy on this newsreader and, once you do find what you’re looking for, you’ll see the real power of Newshosting’s newsreader. You can preview files before you download them and, when you do download them, the newsreader handles all the file unpacking and repair functions automatically. Hands down, this is a great newsreader, and just one of the reasons we’re so fond of Newshosting’s service.

NZBGet

  • Completely Free
  • Fast on small devices
  • Best Choice for NAS Devices
NZBGet is a great newsreader for several reasons. One of the most significant of those reasons is that this program is written in C++. If you’re not sure what that means, it simply means that, Windows, Mac, or Unix, NZBGet will work with your system. That kind of flexibility is rare in any type of software, but NZBGet gets even better.

NZBGet is fast; very fast. It can also download binaries for you automatically, which is another reason to give this great program a try. Like our other top choices, NZBGet is great for beginners and power users alike. It’s powerful enough to handle complex jobs like serving as a media server, and it automatically handles files that you download, making it that much easier for novices to enjoy the content they download without any hassles.

Newsbin

  • First newsreader to support NZB format
  • Auto download and repair RAR files
  • Free 10-day trial
Newsbin is something of a legend among USENET newsreaders. It’s been around for many years and that’s reflected in the sophistication of the program. This program only works on Windows, which is a bit limiting, but there’s really nothing else about it that could be described as limited.This is a powerful program for power users, and it does just about everything you can imagine, from searching, to downloading, to unpacking and repairing files. The interface might be a bit intimidating for beginners, but it’s really a snap to use once you get the hang of it.

The Newsbin search service is subscription based, but well-worth the price, particularly if your USENET service doesn’t offer one of their own.

Newsleecher

  • Free 14-day trial period
  • Great looking interface
  • Highly Customizable
Newsleecher is another newsreader that’s been around for a long time; about a decade now. It’s powerful, has a decent USENET search feature integrated with it, and it offers plenty of flexibility. It’s surprisingly easy to use, given how powerful it is, particularly if you get the Newsleecher USENET service. In that case, it’s preconfigured and all you have to do is fire it up and start searching.

Like Newsbin, this program only works on the Windows platform. Nonetheless, it’s features and, in particular, it’s ease of use, merit its inclusion on this list.

SABnzbd

  • In 16 Languages
  • Security via SSL and IPv6.
  • Browser support integrated
Easily as well-known as Newsbin and as flexible as NZBGet, SABnzbd is another great newsreader. It’s really focused on downloads, so you might not, at first blush, think it’s as feature rich as the more sophisticated newsreaders on this list, but that’s not true. SABnzbd’s strength is in how easily it can be integrated with other downloaders, such as Sonarr. Like Newsbin, SABnzbd has a pretty steep learning curve, but it’s well-worth the effort.

SABnzbd will run on any system that supports the Python programming language, so, no matter what OS you’re running on your desktop, SABnzbd is likely to be compatible with it. If you want to integrate your downloader with other sites so you can automatically download binaries when they become available, this is a great choice and we highly recommend it!

How We Rank Newsreaders

We look at several different criteria when we rank newsreaders and, in the interest of being transparent with our readers, here they are.

  • Price: We take price into account. Many newsreaders are open-source projects, so they’re completely free. Some come with USENET services and are value-added products in that regard. Others, like Newsbin, do cost money, but are worth it if they made this list. Some good newsreaders that come included with USENET subscriptions include Newshosting, as listed above, and Easynews.

  • Search Capabilities: This is an important feature, and good search capabilities go a long way with us in determining whether a newsreader belongs on our list of top choices or not. Newshosting and Newsleecher are particularly good in this regard.

  • OS Compatibility: We like products that are flexible, so you’ll see more than one entry on this list that’s notable for its cross-platform operability. NZBGet and SABnzbd are the standouts in OS compatibility.

  • Multiple News Services: We like to give our readers choices, and we take that into account when ranking newsreaders. Those newsreaders that allow you to connect to any service are likely to rank highly on our list, as reflected in our choices above.

  • Integration: One of the best things about USENET is the sheer number of programs available that help you get the most out of it. Couchpotato and Sonarr are good examples of such programs. All of our top five picks listed above have some level of interoperability with popular downloaders.

  • Headers Compatibility: We take this into account because not all newsreaders allow you to download headers, and it’s a valuable feature for some of our users. That being said, some programs, such as NZBGet and SABnzbd don’t offer this feature, but are still great programs, nonetheless.

  • Ease of Use: Our top five newsreaders are all easy to use, and we think it’s important to consider that when ranking newsreaders in general. Newshosting is a standout for ease of use. Easynews doesn’t appear on our list, but we highly recommend it for people who want a more web-based experience.

  • SSL Connections: Security matters. SSL connections are pretty standard these days, and we like to make sure we recommend newsreaders that are compatible with this important privacy feature.

  • Additional Automation Features: USENET is very automated these days and we want our readers to be able to take advantage of that. To that end, we tend to recommend newsreaders that handle everything, from downloading binaries, to unpacking them, to repairing them if need be.

  • NZB Import: Not all newsreaders work with NZB files, and we like to recommend the ones that do, because NZB files really make USENET a lot more convenient. NZBs haven’t been around as long as some of these newsreaders, but all of our top recommendations support them.

NameWinMacLinuxHeadersPrice
Free w/ service
$20/yr
$3.99/mo
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Optional donation
$9.99
Free
free
$12.50/yr
Free
Free
€29.98
free
free
$36.00
Free
$3.99
$29 for new registrants, discounts available
free
free
$18.00
free
free
Free
Free
free
free
free
$59.95/yr
Free
Free
free
Depends on the Usenet provider
$16.85/mo
Free
$35
$49.95
Free
$25.00
$29.95
$14.95
$6.95

Best Usenet Software

NZBVortex 3
Contact | Support | Legal / DMCA
$9.99 / € 9.38For Mac App Store users

Getting content from Usenet is becoming harder and harder. NZBVortex has an unique feature where clients help each other to get optimal download results.
Clients will notify each other if a download is offline, the correct filenames, the correct download title, password, junk status and much more.

Simple and subtle user interface without losing functionality. Focused at ease of use and completeness but without the technical overhead. Subtle design with smooth animations.
All the modern features are inside: minimizes download size, RSS, search, par2 repair, unzip, unrar, join, smart junk detection and so much more!

Configure the easy RSS feed watcher to auto download episodes of your favorite shows. Let NZBVortex take care of the rest like moving it to the correct folder. All you need to do is watch the downloads.

Best Usenet Downloader Mac Free

Usenet

We work closely with multiple search engines and have them really integrated them into NZBVortex. No browsers like the other clients have done. We will even show you which downloads are safe to download and which aren't.
Enter your search keywords and let NZBVortex find it!

Usenet

NZBVortex comes with an web interface which allows you to add and manipulate downloads whenever and where ever you like! The interface works great on an iPad!