Find the client that fits.

Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Windows, macOS, and Linux.

An Android app. No official desktop client.

An Android app. No official desktop client.

Use YouTube in a desktop browser, including installation as a web app where the browser supports it. This is not a separate desktop player.

Early Android preview. Features may be incomplete; desktop availability does not imply the same mobile maturity.

FreeTubeAndroid is a separately maintained, unofficial port. FreeTube itself does not publish an Android app.

Dedicated Android app, alongside separate desktop releases.

Built for Android. The project still labels its releases beta.

Built for Android with a Material Design interface.

Official Android app available from Google Play.

iOS support is planned, but there is no released iOS app yet. Planned work is not counted as available support.

Official FreeTube releases are desktop-only.

Grayjay offers Android and desktop apps, but no official iOS app.

NewPipe is an Android app; there is no official iOS release.

LibreTube is an Android app; there is no official iOS release.

Official YouTube app for iPhone and iPad.

Uses Capacitor with a shared web interface and native integrations. It is an installable Android app, but not a native Android UI.

The unofficial FreeTubeAndroid port uses Cordova and a web interface, not a native Android UI.

Android interface implemented in its dedicated Android codebase.

Uses Android UI components, rather than a desktop web interface.

Native Android app with Material Design.

Dedicated official Android app, with an interface designed for phones and tablets.

Paste an individual media URL from a yt-dlp-supported service to play it. Browsing, search, subscriptions, and feeds for other services are not supported.

Focuses on YouTube.

Source plugins cover services such as Twitch, PeerTube, and SoundCloud. Availability depends on each plugin.

Also supports SoundCloud, Bandcamp, PeerTube, and media.ccc.de.

Focuses on YouTube.

The official app plays YouTube content, not feeds from Twitch, PeerTube, or SoundCloud.

Save and automatically apply playback speed, quality, subtitles, and volume separately for each channel.

Global player preferences are available, but no per-channel playback presets are documented.

Default playback speed is an app-wide preference. No per-channel playback presets are documented.

Playback speed and pitch can be adjusted, but these are not saved as separate channel presets.

The playback panel saves general speed preferences, not separate settings for individual channels.

YouTube documents video playback and general quality controls, not user-defined playback presets for each channel.

Automatically jump over detected silent portions of a video.

No built-in automatic silence-skipping control is documented.

Playback-speed controls are available, but no built-in silence-skipping setting is documented.

The playback dialog includes fast-forwarding during silence.

The playback options include a Skip silence toggle.

No dedicated silence-skipping control is documented. Premium Auto speed adjusts pacing on eligible Android videos; it is a different feature.

Category skipping, mute segments, full-video labels, channel whitelisting, and in-player submissions.

Supports segment skipping and category controls. It does not provide the broader mute-segment, full-video-label, and submission workflow described for OpenTubeX.

Enable SponsorBlock in the YouTube source settings; manual and automatic skipping are available.

The official NewPipe app does not include SponsorBlock. Unofficial forks add support for it.

SponsorBlock is included.

SponsorBlock works on the YouTube website through a browser extension. It is not built into YouTube and does not add SponsorBlock to the official Android or iOS app.

Automatically enter picture-in-picture when switching tabs or windows, or minimizing the app.

Picture-in-picture can be activated manually. Automatic entry when switching away is not documented.

On Android, choose picture-in-picture as the background behavior to enter it when leaving the app.

Set Minimize on app switch to the popup player. This uses a floating overlay and requires permission to display over other apps.

Enters picture-in-picture when leaving the player while playback is active, with PiP enabled.

Leaving the mobile app starts picture-in-picture when enabled. Non-music PiP is rolling out globally; music content requires Premium.

Keep separate videos and channels open in tabs within the app.

FreeTube supports separate windows, but does not provide browser-style tabs.

Navigation tabs organize app sections. No browser-style tabs for keeping separate videos or channels open are documented.

Home-page tabs organize feeds and app sections, rather than separate open videos or channels.

Navigation sections are available, but no browser-style tabs for separate open videos or channels are documented.

The website can be opened in multiple browser tabs. The mobile app does not provide tabs for keeping separate videos or channels open.

Continue listening while using other apps or with the screen off.

Background audio playback is supported.

Android supports background playback.

Background player supports audio playback while using other apps.

Background playback is included.

Mobile background playback requires a paid plan. Premium Lite includes eligible non-music videos where available; full Premium covers music too. Desktop browser audio can continue in another tab.

Download videos, audio, playlists, and subtitles for offline use.

FreeTube removed its built-in downloader in 0.24.0. External download tools are separate from the app.

Download videos and playlists for offline viewing on supported sources.

Download video, audio, or captions; choose formats and quality.

Includes downloads for offline playback.

Premium offers in-app offline downloads; some regions allow selected videos without Premium. Downloads stay within YouTube, rather than becoming freely exportable media files.

Subscriptions can stay on your device without a Google account.

Local subscriptions do not require a Google account.

Local subscriptions are available. Signing into a source is optional for its account features.

Subscriptions are stored locally; no Google account needed.

Local subscriptions or optional Piped accounts; Google login is not required.

Watching many videos is possible while signed out, but subscribing to channels requires a Google account.

Optional sync covers subscriptions, playlists, history, channel settings, profiles, tabs, and settings.

No built-in account sync. Copying database files or using an external file-sync tool is a separate workflow.

Paired-device sync includes subscriptions, playlists, watch later, subscription groups, and history. Devices need a working connection to each other.

Import and export transfer your data manually; they are not automatic device sync.

Published documentation describes Piped account sync for subscriptions and playlists. Watch history and settings stay local; this is not whole-library sync.

Subscriptions and playlists follow your signed-in Google account across devices. This does not mean every device-specific preference is synced.

Daily and weekly watch-time charts show your viewing activity.

Watch history is available, but no personal watch-time dashboard is documented. Video playback statistics describe the current stream, not your viewing habits.

Watch metrics show watch time and views for each creator in the Creators tab.

The Most Played view summarizes frequently played videos. It is not a daily or weekly watch-time dashboard.

Watch history and playback positions are available, but no personal watch-time dashboard is documented.

Time watched shows daily average, today, yesterday, and the past seven days. Requires sign-in and enabled watch history; deleted history and private viewing are excluded.

History is one of the optional sync categories.

History is stored in a local database, without built-in sync.

The device-sync implementation exchanges recent history.

History can be included in manual database backups, not automatically synced between devices.

The documented Piped account sync does not include watch history or timestamps; these remain local.

Signed-in watch history is saved to your Google account when enabled. You can pause or delete it.

Viewing statistics and history stay local by default. Optional sync sends selected data to your chosen server; playback and optional services still expose network metadata.

Viewing data stays local. YouTube and optional services can still see requests and your IP address; this is not anonymity.

Sends startup telemetry with a random identifier, device details, and enabled source IDs. This payload does not include watched videos or searches; watch history stays local unless synced. This is narrower than YouTube activity collection.

No automatic usage reporting. Bug reports are sent only when you choose to submit them. Media services still receive playback requests.

Its privacy policy states that it does not gather app-usage data or use tracking libraries. Direct playback and optional Piped services still receive requests.

Google collects activity such as videos watched, searches, and interactions. History and personalization controls affect storage and use; Premium does not remove this data collection.