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.
Reviewed by Marco Wollank
Piped
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Threat level
Hardened
A hardened pick. Worth the effort once you have chosen to shrink your footprint on purpose. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Piped stands out among YouTube frontends for its SponsorBlock integration without a browser extension and its ability to proxy streams so no Google request leaves your browser. The trade-off is that it requires JavaScript to function and you need an account on a specific Piped instance to sync subscriptions, which shifts trust to that instance operator. YouTube’s periodic API countermeasures can break stream extraction across all instances at once. Best for users who want a full web-based YouTube replacement and are comfortable picking and vetting a reliable instance.
GitHub at a glance
TeamPiped/Piped
Stars
10,112
+ 68 this week
Last commit
15d ago
healthy
License
AGPL-3.0
Stars, last 35d
Website at a glance
piped.video
C score 55
Basic website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 2d ago
Inspect this site yourself
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.
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Invidious Desktop: FreeTube . For Windows, Mac and Linux.
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Piped 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.
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