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Features

Powerful where it matters, simple everywhere else.

Everything HomeTube does to turn a URL into a clean, best-quality file sitting in the right folder of your media library.

Ad-free downloads

SponsorBlock built in

Sponsor segments, intros, outros, self-promotion and interaction reminders are detected through SponsorBlock's community database. Choose per category whether to remove the segment from the file or only mark it as a chapter.

  • Native SponsorBlock integration, zero configuration on YouTube
  • Remove or mark, category by category, from the UI
  • Clean files: no ad-blocker needed on the player side
  • Combined with clip cutting for precise edits

Best quality, automatically

Real-time format analysis

Every video is analyzed for its actual available formats. HomeTube ranks modern codecs first (AV1 › VP9 › H.264, Opus › AAC), builds the two best profiles and tries them in order, so you get the best quality that really exists for that video.

  • Auto Best, Best Only, Choose Profile or Choose Format strategies
  • Resolution cap and quality downgrade policy per install
  • Original-voice-first audio language rules
  • Manual format IDs for advanced users

Media server ready

Plex, Jellyfin & Emby

Downloads are named explicitly and moved into the destination folder you pick, inside the library your media server already watches. Chapters, subtitles, thumbnails and metadata are embedded so the file is complete on arrival.

  • Choose or create destination folders from the UI
  • Embedded chapters, subtitles and thumbnails
  • Optional Jellyfin library refresh after each download
  • Protection against overwriting existing files

Intelligent playlist sync

Source of truth: the playlist

Point HomeTube at a playlist and a folder. It tracks every video by ID, shows what is downloaded, pending or new, and applies a preview plan: new videos are fetched, reorders and renames are applied, removed videos are archived or deleted.

  • Incremental downloads, ID-based tracking that survives title changes
  • Rename detection and index preservation
  • Pattern-based file names: {idx}, {title}, {channel}, {id}
  • Archive mode for videos removed upstream

Cookie authentication

Reliable, best-quality access

A cookies file exported from your browser lets HomeTube fetch age-restricted, members-only and region-locked videos, and keeps public downloads reliable against signature and anti-bot protections.

  • Cookies file mounted into the container
  • Browser cookies on a local (non-Docker) install
  • Premium audio and video formats unlocked
  • Fewer 'format unavailable' errors

Advanced processing

Clips, subtitles, formats

Cut a clip with keyframe-fast or frame-accurate precision, embed subtitles in several languages, convert containers, or extract audio only. Everything runs on your server with ffmpeg.

  • Clip extraction with precise timing
  • Multi-language subtitle embedding
  • MP4, MKV, WebM containers and audio-only output
  • Resume support and intelligent caching of URL analysis

Custom yt-dlp arguments

Full control when you need it

Pass any yt-dlp option from the UI or set defaults with an environment variable: proxies, rate limits, file size bounds, extra metadata files. HomeTube resolves conflicts with its own settings and gives your arguments priority.

  • --proxy, --limit-rate, --max-filesize and friends
  • Per-download or global defaults
  • Smart conflict resolution with base settings
  • yt-dlp kept up to date in every image

Docker-first, self-hosted

Homelab and NAS friendly

One container image for amd64 and arm64, configured entirely through environment variables. No account, no cloud dependency, no telemetry: your download history never leaves your network.

  • Docker Compose, docker run or Portainer stacks
  • Synology, QNAP, Unraid, TrueNAS, Proxmox
  • English and French UI
  • Reachable from any device on your LAN

1700+ platforms

Powered by yt-dlp

YouTube first, but the same URL field accepts Vimeo, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch, Dailymotion, Instagram, Facebook, X and hundreds of other sources supported by yt-dlp.

  • Single videos and playlists
  • Educational platforms such as Coursera or Udemy
  • Regular extractor updates
  • Complete list maintained by the yt-dlp project

Want more than the video?

Transcripts, summaries, translations and PDFs from the same URL

Content takes HomeTube's workflow further: one self-hosted engine, a HomeTube app of its own, Content Studio for files and text, plus a browser extension, MCP server, CLI, SDK and REST API.

Discover Content GitHub

Ready to try it?

One Docker Compose file and you are downloading in under a minute.

Installation guide Usage guide