Open Source Alternatives
  • Alternatives
  • Categories
    Categories by size963 projects
    • Developer Tools498
    • AI & Machine Learning428
    • Business & Productivity215
    • Web Development201
    • Security & Monitoring145
    • IT Management131
    • Communication & Collaboration130
    • Cloud & Hosting114
    • LLMOps & AI Tooling110
    • Data & Analytics108
    Browse all 21 categoriesDesign & Creative, Product & Project Management and 9 more
  • Blog
  • Advertise
SearchNotion, Slack, password manager.../
Submit
Open Source Alternatives
  • Alternatives
    • Developer Tools498
    • AI & Machine Learning428
    • Business & Productivity215
    • Web Development201
    • Security & Monitoring145
    • IT Management131
    • Browse all 21 categories
  • Blog
  • Advertise
Submit your project

New open source projects by email

The projects we add and every new guide. Free, unsubscribe any time.

Open Source Alternatives LogoOpen Source Alternatives

Handpicked Open Source Alternatives to Paid Softwares

Product

  • Categories
  • Tag
  • Advertise

Resources

  • Blog
  • Collection
  • Submit

Company

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Refund Policy
  • Sitemap

Alternatives

  • Claude Code
  • Jira
  • Notion
  • Slack
  • Linear
  • Wispr Flow
  • All alternatives
© 2026 Open Source Alternatives. All rights reserved.
Open SourceAlternatives
Home/Categories/Business & Productivity/FreeTube
icon of FreeTube

FreeTube

Open source alternative to YouTube Premium

  • 22.3K stars
  • AGPL-3.0
  • Active this week
  • Last commit today

Last verified Oct 30, 2026

Browse YouTube privately on Windows, Mac, and Linux without ads or Google tracking. Subscriptions, history, and playlists are stored locally.

Visit websiteGitHub22.3K stars
image of FreeTube
TL;DR

FreeTube is a free, open source desktop YouTube client for Windows, Mac, and Linux that blocks ads and prevents Google from tracking your viewing habits. It replaces YouTube Premium as a no-cost option for ad-free viewing, storing all subscriptions, watch history, and playlists locally on your device with no Google account required. Licensed under AGPL-3.0, FreeTube is best for privacy-focused users who watch YouTube daily and want to opt out of Google's data collection without paying for a subscription.

Read the full breakdownHide the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs, the quick start and the FAQ
who it's for

Who FreeTube is for#

Privacy-conscious users opting out of Google tracking

FreeTube blocks Google's cookies and JavaScript from logging your viewing habits. All subscriptions and watch history stay on your device. You can follow hundreds of channels and build a complete watch history without contributing any behavioral data to Google's ad network.

Skip if:

If you rely heavily on YouTube's Shorts feed, live chat, or community tab, FreeTube's support for those features is limited in the current beta version.

Regular viewers who want ad-free YouTube without a paid subscription

YouTube Premium costs $13.99 per month or more depending on region. FreeTube removes pre-roll and mid-roll ads at no cost and adds SponsorBlock to skip in-video sponsor reads, giving a cleaner viewing experience than the paid subscription for desktop use.

Skip if:

YouTube Premium includes mobile ad-free playback, background audio on Android and iOS, and YouTube Music. If those are your main reasons for a subscription, FreeTube does not replace them.

Content researchers studying what uninfluenced viewers see

FreeTube lets you browse YouTube Trending and search results without a logged-in account shaping what surfaces. Your search history is not fed back into recommendations, so you can assess what new viewers actually see when they search a topic in your niche.

Skip if:

If you need YouTube Studio analytics, channel management, or upload workflows, FreeTube has no creator-side tooling.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Watching YouTube through a browser or the official app means accepting Google's tracking. Cookies and JavaScript log every video you watch, every channel you subscribe to, and every search you run, feeding that data into Google's advertising network. Ad blockers remove the advertisements but leave the tracking in place, and the only official path to an ad-free experience is a paid YouTube Premium subscription tied to a Google account.

For users who prioritize privacy or simply want to keep their viewing habits off Google's servers, there is no first-party way to watch YouTube without giving up personal data. The tracking is continuous, account-linked, and cross-device, meaning even logged-out sessions contribute to a profile Google can associate with your identity over time.

how FreeTube solves it

How it solves it#

Local subscription and history storage

All subscriptions, watch history, and playlists are saved to a file on your device. Nothing is sent to FreeTube's servers or YouTube. You can organize channels into separate Profiles to create focused feeds, and all of that data persists across app updates without a cloud account.

Two-extractor content fetching

FreeTube fetches video data using either its built-in local extractor or the optional Invidious API. Neither path uses YouTube's official APIs or sends cookies. Switching between them is a single setting change, letting you fall back to the other if one stops working after a YouTube update.

Ad-free playback with SponsorBlock and DeArrow

Videos play without pre-roll or mid-roll ads. The integrated SponsorBlock support lets you skip sponsor segments, self-promotion, and filler inside videos using community-submitted timestamps. DeArrow replaces clickbait titles and thumbnails with community-sourced versions.

Subscription import from YouTube

You can import your existing YouTube subscriptions directly into FreeTube, so you do not have to rebuild your channel list from scratch. Export and import are also supported between FreeTube installations, making it straightforward to move your data to a new machine.

Browser extension redirect support

The LibRedirect and RedirectTube extensions can open YouTube links from any website directly in FreeTube on supported builds. Clicking a YouTube link in your browser routes it to FreeTube automatically. The extensions work on both Firefox and Chromium-based browsers.

Mini player and external player routing

FreeTube includes a picture-in-picture mini player for watching while working in other windows. Videos can also be routed to an external media player of your choice, which is useful if you prefer VLC or mpv for their codec support or playback controls.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

  • No Google account requiredYou can subscribe to channels, build playlists, and track your watch history without creating or signing into a Google account. Subscriptions persist across app updates because they are stored in a local file rather than tied to a cloud profile that requires account access.
  • 22,252 stars and active development since 2018With 22,252 GitHub stars, 1,561 forks, and a last commit on 2026-10-30, FreeTube has maintained consistent development for eight years. It supports multiple languages via Weblate and has an active community on Matrix, reducing the risk of abandonment that affects smaller open source projects.
  • AGPL-3.0 license with full source accessThe AGPL-3.0 license guarantees you can read, build, and modify the code. Unlike proprietary desktop apps, you are not dependent on the developer to continue shipping updates or to not introduce tracking of their own in a future release.
  • Distraction-free viewing controlsFreeTube's settings let you hide specific UI elements, show only family-friendly content, and disable the recommendation feed. These controls let you shape the app around your actual use case rather than YouTube's engagement-maximizing defaults.

Trade-offs

  • -Your IP address is still visible to YouTubeFreeTube blocks cookies and JavaScript tracking but does not hide your IP from YouTube's servers. The README explicitly recommends using a VPN or Tor if full network anonymity is needed. Without one, YouTube can associate your video requests with your IP address, which may be sufficient to infer identity.
  • -Beta status with 280 open issuesFreeTube carries 280 open issues and the README marks the project as currently in Beta. Some features may be missing or behave unexpectedly. Users who need a fully stable experience on edge-case configurations, such as unusual Linux distributions or ARM64 hardware, should test before relying on it daily.
  • -No mobile sync and no official APIFreeTube is desktop-only. It does not sync subscriptions or history to a phone or tablet. The Invidious API it optionally uses is a third-party project; if your chosen Invidious instance goes offline, you need to switch to a different instance or fall back to the local extractor.
versus alternatives

FreeTube vs alternatives#

FreeTube vs YouTube Premium

FreeTube and YouTube Premium both remove ads from the YouTube experience, but they start from opposite foundations. FreeTube is a free, open source desktop application; YouTube Premium is a paid subscription service from Google that works across all its apps and devices.

FeatureFreeTubeYouTube Premium
LicenseAGPL-3.0 (open source)Proprietary
CostFree$13.99/month (US)
Ad-free desktop playbackYesYes
Ad-free mobile playbackNoYes
Background audio on mobileNoYes
Offline downloadsNoYes
Google account requiredNoYes
Local data storageYes, on deviceNo (cloud)
SponsorBlockYesNo
Subscription importYes (from YouTube)N/A

FreeTube is the stronger choice when your priority is keeping viewing habits off Google's servers. Subscriptions and history stay on your device, no Google account is needed, and the app runs without Google's JavaScript or cookies. For users who watch YouTube primarily on a desktop computer and want to avoid the data collection that comes with a signed-in session, FreeTube covers the ad-free experience without a monthly fee.

YouTube Premium is worth considering when you need functionality outside the desktop. Background audio playback on Android and iOS, offline downloads for travel, and ad-free YouTube Music are exclusive to the subscription and have no equivalent in FreeTube. If your YouTube use is primarily on a phone, FreeTube does not serve that use case.

install · quick start

Quick start#

bash
Download the installer for Windows (.exe), macOS (.dmg), or Linux (.deb, .rpm, .AppImage) from GitHub Releases: https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube/releases/latest
tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages
JavaScript
Frameworks
ElectronVue
Tooling
Webpack
frequently asked

FAQ#

Does FreeTube fully hide my YouTube activity from Google?

No. FreeTube blocks Google's cookies and JavaScript, so Google cannot track you through those mechanisms. However, YouTube can still see your IP address when you request videos. The README recommends using a VPN or Tor for full network anonymity. FreeTube stores nothing on its own servers; your watch data stays on your device.

Can I import my existing YouTube subscriptions into FreeTube?

Yes. FreeTube supports importing subscriptions directly from YouTube. You can export your subscription list from YouTube's settings and then import it into FreeTube to reconstruct your feed without a Google account. Export from FreeTube is also supported, making it easy to move your data between installations.

What is the difference between FreeTube's local extractor and the Invidious API?

The built-in local extractor fetches YouTube content directly using FreeTube's own code, without any third-party server. The Invidious API option routes requests through an Invidious instance instead, which adds a layer of indirection between you and YouTube. The local extractor is the default; the Invidious option is useful if the local extractor breaks after a YouTube update, since the two can diverge in timing when YouTube changes its response format.

Is FreeTube available on Linux?

Yes. FreeTube distributes packages for Ubuntu and Debian (.deb), Fedora and Red Hat (.rpm), and several other Linux distributions. It is also available on Flathub as a Flatpak, which works across most major Linux distributions. AppImage builds are provided for distributions not covered by the packaged formats.

What does the AGPL-3.0 license allow for FreeTube?

AGPL-3.0 lets you run, study, share, and modify FreeTube for personal or organizational use without restriction. If you distribute a modified version as a public network service, you must publish your changes under the same AGPL-3.0 license. Running it on your own machine for personal use has no such requirement.

also worth a look

Similar open-source tools#

OpenTubeX

Alternative toYouTube Premium

Ad-free YouTube client with encrypted sync and SponsorBlock.

  • 198 GitHub stars
  • AGPL-3.0Licence AGPL-3.0

SmartTube

Alternative toYouTube Premium

Open-source YouTube client for Android TV with no ads

  • 35,667 GitHub stars
  • MITLicence MIT

invidious

Alternative toYouTube Premium

Watch YouTube without ads, tracking, or a Google account

  • 25,804 GitHub stars
  • AGPL-3.0Licence AGPL-3.0

CleanYourTV

Featured

Alternative toATV Launcher Pro

Debloat any Android or Google TV over Wi-Fi and get an Apple TV-style home.

  • 43,973 GitHub stars
  • MIT LicenseLicence MIT License

OpenClaw

Featured

Alternative toMuse

Self-hosted AI assistant for WhatsApp, Telegram, and more

  • 393,358 GitHub stars
  • MITLicence MIT

Inbox Zero

Featured

Alternative toSuperhuman

AI email assistant that drafts replies and clears your inbox

  • 12,826 GitHub stars
  • AGPL-3.0Licence AGPL-3.0
by category

Open source tools in these categories#

215

Business & Productivity

OpenClaw, Excalidraw, RustDesk

Sponsors

Inbox Zero

Alternative toSuperhuman

AI email assistant that drafts replies and clears your inbox

  • 12,826 GitHub stars
  • AGPL-3.0Licence AGPL-3.0
  • #Email

Omnara

Alternative toCClaude Managed Agents

Open-source agent deployment API. Self-host or use Omnara Cloud.

  • 3,296 GitHub stars
  • Apache-2.0Licence Apache-2.0
  • #AI Agents

rakazo

Alternative toGrok Bot

AI teammates you own: your keys, your model, your machine.

  • 6,242 GitHub stars
  • Apache-2.0Licence Apache-2.0
  • #AI Agents
Advertise your product

New open source projects by email

The projects we add and every new guide. Free, unsubscribe any time.

Find open source alternatives to paid software

/
  • Claude Code to OpenCode
  • Jira to Windshift
  • Notion to AppFlowy
  • Slack to Mattermost
  • Linear to GitLab
  • Wispr Flow to Handy
  • Arc to Zen Browser
  • CapCut to Concat
  • Grok Bot to rakazo
  • Superhuman to Inbox Zero
  • Airtable to AITable
  • Muse to OpenClaw
  • Railway to Coolify
  • GitHub Copilot to Cline
  • Datadog to Netdata
  • Microsoft Teams to Rocket.Chat
  • Confluence to Docmost
  • Pinecone to Qdrant
  • Zapier to n8n
  • Devin AI to OpenHands
  • Firebase to Supabase
  • 1Password to KeePassXC
  • Contentful to Strapi
  • Adobe Premiere Pro to Shotcut
  • Claude Code to OpenCode
  • Jira to Windshift
  • Notion to AppFlowy
  • Slack to Mattermost
  • Linear to GitLab
  • Wispr Flow to Handy
  • Arc to Zen Browser
  • CapCut to Concat
  • Grok Bot to rakazo
  • Superhuman to Inbox Zero
  • Airtable to AITable
  • Muse to OpenClaw
  • Railway to Coolify
  • GitHub Copilot to Cline
  • Datadog to Netdata
  • Microsoft Teams to Rocket.Chat
  • Confluence to Docmost
  • Pinecone to Qdrant
  • Zapier to n8n
  • Devin AI to OpenHands
  • Firebase to Supabase
  • 1Password to KeePassXC
  • Contentful to Strapi
  • Adobe Premiere Pro to Shotcut