MeTube vs yt-dlp
MeTube
github.comyt-dlp
github.comSide by side
| Figure | MeTube | yt-dlp |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Video Downloaders | 9.1 (#4) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Batch downloads | Yes | Yes |
| Device platforms | web,Android,iOS,Chrome extension | Windows,macOS,Linux |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | The repository lists the AGPL-3.0 license. | The repository is marked Unlicense, while the README explains that some bundled release binaries contain third-party code under other licenses. |
| Output formats | MP4,M4A,MP3,Opus,WAV,FLAC,SRT,TXT,VTT,TTML,SBV,SCC,DFXP,JPG | avi,flv,mkv,mov,mp4,webm,aac,aiff,alac,flac,m4a,mka,mp3,ogg,opus,vorbis,wav |
| Playlist downloads | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | MeTube is a self-hosted web UI for yt-dlp that downloads videos from YouTube and hundreds of other sites to your server. | yt-dlp is a feature-rich command-line audio/video downloader with support for thousands of sites. |
| Subtitle downloads | Yes | Yes |
| Supported sources | YouTube; dozens of other sites supported through yt-dlp | YouTube,Bilibili,Dailymotion,Facebook,Vimeo,TikTok,Twitch,and many other extractors |
Plans
In their own words
MeTube
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.
yt-dlp
yt-dlp is a free command-line tool for downloading audio and video from online sources. It supports thousands of sites, including YouTube, Bilibili, Dailymotion, Facebook, Vimeo, TikTok and Twitch. Downloads can include playlists, subtitles or batches, with output options spanning video formats such as AVI, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4 and WebM, and audio formats such as AAC, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, Ogg, Opus and WAV. It runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. Standalone macOS executables require macOS 10.15 or later, while Windows binaries support Windows 8 or later; Linux binaries cover several system and processor variants. The project is a fork of youtube-dl based on the inactive youtube-dlc, and its public repository is licensed under the Unlicense. It supports CPython 3.10+ and PyPy 3.11+, while full YouTube support requires yt-dlp-ejs. Stable releases generally follow a mostly monthly schedule, and versions more than 90 days old display an update warning. Release checksums have SHA-512 and SHA-256 signature files with a GPG public key.