yt-dlp
by yt-dlp
yt-dlp is a command-line program that downloads video and audio from YouTube and thousands of other websites. It is used to save media for offline use, convert it to other formats and keep copies of content you have rights to.
- Stars
- 202.5k
- Licence
- Unlicense
- Runs on
- Your computer
- Setup
- Moderate
- Language
- Python
- Age
- 2191 days
What you can do with it
- Download a video, a playlist or a whole channel in the quality you choose
- Extract audio only from a video and save it as an MP3 or similar file
- Save subtitles, thumbnails and metadata, and skip sponsor segments using SponsorBlock
Make money with it
Someone could offer a video repurposing service, using it to fetch footage a client owns or has licensed and turning it into clips, audio versions or captioned posts.
An idea, not financial advice. Check the licence before charging for anything built on it.
Ways a business could use it
- Archive your own video and audio content from platforms, so you keep backups of material you have published
- Download source clips you are licensed to use for editing, training material or client projects
Can you use it commercially?
Free to use, change and sell, including in paid products. Keep the copyright notice.
Not legal advice. Read the project's licence file before building a product on it.
Getting it running
Download a ready-made binary for Windows, macOS or Linux from the releases page, or install it with pip or a package manager, then run it from a terminal.
Follow the official instructions in the project README.
Things to check
- Downloading content may break the terms of service of some sites or copyright law, so only use it on material you have rights to
- Sites change often, so downloads can break until the tool is updated
- Command-line only, with no graphical interface
- Some features need ffmpeg installed separately
Checked 26 Oct 2026. Summary drafted by AI from the project's README.