Open-source alternatives to YouTube
The most popular self-hosted, open-source alternatives to YouTube (video hosting and streaming) are Invidious (25,521 GitHub stars), PeerTube (15,365 GitHub stars) and Owncast (11,613 GitHub stars). SelfHostHub lists 12 options below, taken from its Video Streaming category; 7 support Docker and all of them can run on your own server.
Comparison of self-hosted YouTube alternatives
| Project | GitHub stars | Licence | Language / platform | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invidious | 25,521 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker, Crystal | Alternative YouTube front-end. |
| PeerTube | 15,365 | AGPL-3.0 | Nodejs | Decentralized video streaming platform using P2P (BitTorrent) directly in the web browser. |
| Owncast | 11,613 | MIT | Go | Decentralized single-user live video streaming and chat server for running your own live streams similar in style to the large mainstream options. |
| Tube Archivist | 8,521 | GPL-3.0 | Docker | Organize, search, and enjoy your YouTube collection. Subscribe, download, and track viewed content with metadata indexing and a user-friendly interface. |
| Restreamer | 5,226 | Apache-2.0 | Nodejs, Docker | Access H.264 real-time video streaming on your website without a streaming provider. |
| MediaCMS | 5,158 | AGPL-3.0 | Python, Docker | Modern, fully featured open source video and media CMS, written in Python/Django/React, featuring a REST API. |
| OvenMediaEngine | 3,289 | AGPL-3.0 | C++, Docker | Streaming Server with Sub-Second Latency. |
| Rapidbay | 899 | MIT | Python, Docker | Videostreaming service/torrent client that allows searching and playing videos from torrents in the browser or from a Chromecast/AppleTV/Smart TV. |
| SyncTube | 395 | MIT | Nodejs, Haxe | Lightweight and very simple to setup CyTube alternative to watch videos with friends and chat. |
| Tiramisu | 144 | GPL-2.0 | Go, Docker | BitTorrent engine with a FUSE virtual filesystem that streams torrents live to Plex/Jellyfin without downloading (alternative to Real-Debrid). |
| Subsonic | — | ⊘ Proprietary | Unknown | Web-based media streamer and jukebox. |
| Tube | — | MIT | Go | Youtube-like (_without censorship and features you don't need!_) video sharing app written in Go which also supports automatic transcoding to MP4 H.265 AAC, multiple collections and RSS feed. |
Star counts and licences come from the awesome-selfhosted dataset and may lag GitHub slightly.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the best open-source alternative to YouTube?
By GitHub stars, Invidious is the most popular self-hosted alternative to YouTube listed here, followed by PeerTube and Owncast. The best fit depends on the features and stack you need.
Is there a free self-hosted alternative to YouTube?
Yes. All 12 projects on this page are open source and can be self-hosted at no licence cost; you pay only for your own server.
Which licences do these YouTube alternatives use?
The most common licences among them are AGPL-3.0 (4), MIT (4) and GPL-3.0 (1).
Can I run a YouTube alternative with Docker?
7 of the 12 alternatives list Docker as a supported platform.