YoutubeDownloader
Desktop app for downloading YouTube videos and playlists, written in C#.
- Stars
- 16.6k
- Forks
- 2.1k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- C#
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Type
- App
What it is
YoutubeDownloader is an open-source program that saves videos and whole playlists from YouTube to your computer. Its description and topics mention MP4, WebM and MP3 output and the use of FFmpeg. The project is written in C# and released under the MIT license. The README was not available for this review, so details beyond these metadata points are unverified.
- Save a single YouTube video as an MP4 or WebM file
- Download an entire YouTube playlist in one run
- Extract audio from a video as an MP3 file
Great for
- People who want to keep a local copy of YouTube videos or playlists
- Users who want to save audio-only MP3 files from YouTube
- Windows, macOS or Linux users who prefer a downloadable app over a command line tool
Not ideal for
- Anyone who needs to follow YouTube's terms of service strictly, since downloading may conflict with them and the README could not be checked for guidance on this
- Users who need documented, stable behavior, because the README was unavailable and the project's own support details could not be confirmed
- People who want a scripting or command-line tool, since the release assets point to a packaged app
How to get it
- 1
Download the app
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Tyrrrz/YoutubeDownloader - 2
Run it
- Open the releases page and download the zip for your operating system and CPU (version 1.17.1 is the latest listed).
- Extract the zip to a folder.
- Run the YoutubeDownloader application from that folder.
- Paste a YouTube video or playlist link into the app and choose a format.
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Check the releases page for the newest version, since the project is actively updated
- Read the project README on GitHub for format, quality and setting options, which were not available for this review
- Use the MP3 option when you only need audio
Downloads
Strengths
- Open source under the MIT license, so the code can be inspected and reused
- Prebuilt packages are published for Windows, macOS and Linux on multiple CPU types
- Very popular project with a large following on GitHub
Trade-offs
- The README was not available, so features, settings and limits could not be confirmed
- Downloading from YouTube can be against its terms, which is a trade-off to weigh before use
- The topics mention reverse-engineering, which suggests the tool depends on how YouTube serves its data, so it may break when YouTube changes
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YoutubeDownloader (this) | 16.6k | App | beginner | 4 days ago | People who want to keep a local copy of YouTube videos or playlists |
| lux | 31.8k | CLI | beginner | 7 months ago | People who want to save videos from supported sites to a local file from the command line |
| VidBee | 11k | App | beginner | 5 days ago | People who save videos or podcasts from supported sites and want them organized in one library |
| ffmpeg.wasm | 17.9k | Library | intermediate | 1 months ago | Web developers who want video or audio conversion inside a browser page |
| react-player | 10.3k | Library | intermediate | 1 months ago | React developers who need to embed videos from several services behind one component |
| MoneyPrinterTurbo | 137k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Creators who want quick draft short videos from a topic |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.