Invidious

Invidious is an open source alternative front-end to YouTube that lets people watch videos without ads, tracking, or a need for JavaScript. Built as a lightweight web application, it gives users a cleaner, privacy-respecting way to browse and stream YouTube content. Anyone can pick a public instance from the official instances list and start watching immediately, or self-host their own copy for full control over their viewing experience.

Key features include:

• Privacy first: no ads, no tracking, and no JavaScript requirement for core playback
• Customizable homepage: light and dark themes with layout preferences
• Independent subscriptions: follow channels and receive notifications without a Google account
• Audio-only mode: background playback support on mobile devices
• Reddit comments: view discussion threads alongside videos
• Multi-language support: translated into many languages by community contributors

On the technical side, Invidious supports embedded video playback and exposes a developer API for building external tools and applications. It deliberately avoids the official YouTube APIs, and the project accepts contributions without requiring a Contributor License Agreement. Users can import subscriptions and watch history from YouTube, NewPipe, and FreeTube, and export data back out to those same platforms, making it easy to migrate an existing setup.

The project is community driven, with translations coordinated through Weblate and code contributions welcomed through standard fork-and-pull-request workflows. It is released under the AGPL-3.0 license, and the maintainers note that they take no responsibility for how the tool or third-party instances are used, encouraging users to follow their local regulations. The project has attracted a large community, reflected in its thousands of GitHub stars and active contributor base.