PrivacyTools.io
Reviewed by Gabriel Bachmann
Invidious logo

Invidious

redirect.invidious.io
4.5 (8)
GitHub ★ 26k
Website →
Frontends Open Source No account Self-hosted Web Free
Rate Invidious:
No account needed
Threat level
Covered

A covered pick. Anyone can use it as a private drop-in, with no setup or know-how. Enough for most people. Threat levels

Screenshot of the Invidious website
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Our take

If you watch YouTube and don’t want Google watching back, this is the most mature option in the category by a wide margin, with desktop and mobile apps feeding off it. The real friction is that Google keeps breaking public instances, so the one you bookmark today may be rate-limited or dead next month. Self-host it if you want stability; otherwise accept that you will be instance-hopping and keep a backup or two handy.

GitHub at a glance
iv-org/invidious
Star on GitHub
AGPL-3.0 agplv3hacktoberfestinvidiouslibrevideowatchyoutubeyoutube-video
Stars
25,855
+53 this week
Forks
2,898
204 watching
Last commit
today
healthy
Latest release
v2.20261103.0
today, 39 total
Star history
Issues
91% closed
398
open
3,825
closed
+14 / -14
opened / closed, last 4 weeks
Opened vs closed, last 12 weeks
Commits, last 26 weeks
195 commits, active 22 of 26 weeks
273 contributors since Feb 2018
Languages
  • Crystal 74.2%
  • HTML 12.5%
  • JavaScript 7.5%
  • Other 5.8%
Updated daily from the GitHub API. Star tracking since Jun 10, 2026.
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Website at a glance
redirect.invidious.io
D score 30
Weak website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested today
Inspect this site yourself
Mozilla Observatory web-check urlscan.io SSL Labs Security Headers

Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.

Invidious alternatives

LibRedirect Automatically redirects requests from popular websites to alternative and privacy friendly frontends. Uses random instances by default. You can modify this and add custom…
FreeTube FreeTube is an open-source desktop YouTube client for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It uses a built-in local extractor or the Invidious API to fetch content, blocks ads by default, and stores subscriptions, history, and playlists entirely on your device.
NewPipe NewPipe is a libre Android app for streaming content from YouTube, SoundCloud, PeerTube, Bandcamp, and media.ccc.de without Google Play Services, accounts, or ads. It stores subscriptions and playlists locally and is available on F-Droid.
LibreTube LibreTube is an open-source Android YouTube client that routes requests through the Piped API instead of Google directly. It supports SponsorBlock, ReturnYouTubeDislike, DeArrow, subscriptions, playlists, and background playback, with a Material 3 interface.
libremdb All requests go through the backend; client never talks to IMDb. List of Instances .
Piped Piped is an open-source, self-hostable web frontend for YouTube that makes no connections to Google servers during playback. It supports SponsorBlock, playlists, subscriptions, and a public JSON API, and runs as a federated multi-instance network.
Invidious license, in plain English
AGPL-3.0
Strong copyleft · network

Free to use, even commercially. Changes must be published under the same license, and running a modified version as a network service counts as distributing it.

Permits

  • Commercial use
  • Modification
  • Distribution
  • Patent use
  • Private use

Requires

  • Disclose source
  • Network use is distribution
  • Same license
  • State changes
  • License and copyright notice

Does not provide

  • Liability cover
  • Warranty

Why it matters: The network clause is the point. Anyone who runs a modified version as a hosted service has to publish those changes, so the code handling your data stays inspectable. This is why privacy-first projects reach for AGPL.

Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.