MeTube
MeTube is a self-hosted web GUI that wraps yt-dlp/youtube-dl to let you queue, manage and archive videos from YouTube and many other sites through a browser interface. It exposes common yt-dlp options (format/quality, playlists, authenticated downloads) and is commonly run via Docker for home servers and small VMs.
The project is aimed at home-server users, privacy-conscious individuals, and small teams who want local control over downloads and archives without relying on third‑party download sites or the command line. It’s a downloader and archiver rather than a streaming/media-server solution.
Use Cases
- Home server owners who want a simple web UI for yt-dlp so non-technical household members can queue downloads from a browser.
- Researchers or archivists who need to bulk-download playlists or channels for offline analysis, backup, or long-term retention.
- Users who require authenticated downloads (age-restricted or member-only content) using cookie files or credentials that they control.
- People who prefer running their own tools for privacy and data ownership instead of using cloud-based download services.
- Those who want a lightweight downloader component to feed files into a separate media server (e.g., Jellyfin or Plex) or processing pipeline.
Strengths
- Web-based GUI: makes yt-dlp accessible to users uncomfortable with the command line and simplifies routine downloads and queue management.
- Leverages yt-dlp/youtube-dl: inherits broad site compatibility and feature coverage from a mature downloader engine.
- Playlist and bulk support: can add entire playlists or channels for bulk archival, useful for backups or research datasets.
- Dockerized deployment: official/commonly used images and docker-compose samples speed installation and make repeatable deployments easier on home servers or NAS devices.
- Browser shortcuts: bookmarklets and extensions let you push URLs directly to MeTube’s queue, reducing friction for frequent use.
- Authenticated downloads: supports cookies/credentials for gated content where permitted by the site’s terms of service.
- Reverse-proxy and HTTPS friendly: works behind nginx/Traefik and integrates with standard home-server authentication/TLS setups for secure access.
- Download control and visibility: format/quality selection, queue/status view, and persistent config/download volumes for safe restarts and upgrades.
Limitations
- Dependency on yt-dlp updates: site layout changes require timely yt-dlp updates; containers that lag can temporarily fail to download new content.
- Not a media server: MeTube fetches and archives content but does not provide streaming, advanced metadata management, or transcoding features—pair it with a media server if you need those capabilities.
- Basic UI and feature set: the interface is intentionally simple and lacks the polished library management features of larger projects.
- Requires some ops knowledge for secure remote access: exposing MeTube safely typically means configuring a reverse proxy, TLS certificates, and authentication—so remote use is not entirely plug-and-play for casual users.
- Name collisions: several similarly named projects exist; verify you’re using the correct repository and documentation before installing.
Final Thoughts
MeTube is a practical, focused tool if your goal is self-hosted downloading and archiving of online video content with a simple web UI. It lowers the barrier to using yt-dlp for non-CLI users and provides the operational basics (queue, persistence, format selection) most home-server operators need.
Practical advice: run MeTube in Docker with mapped volumes for configs and downloads, update the container or embedded yt-dlp regularly, and place it behind a reverse proxy with TLS and authentication if you want remote access. If you need streaming, rich library metadata, or automatic transcoding, plan to pair MeTube with a media-server or processing pipeline rather than expecting it to fill that role.