Compare YouTube clients

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.

Flow Desktop is a separate companion for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Version 0.1.0-beta2 is available; it has not reached a stable release.

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

Available for Android phones and tablets; some desktop features differ.

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.

Native Android app for Android 8.0 and later.

Official Android app available from Google Play.

An unsigned IPA is available for iOS/iPadOS 17.4+. Requires sideloading and periodic signing refreshes; several features are unavailable.

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.

Flow offers Android and a separate desktop companion, but no official iOS app.

Official YouTube app for iPhone and iPad.

The Android and experimental iOS/iPadOS apps use Capacitor with a shared web interface and native integrations. The interface is web-based on both platforms.

Official FreeTube releases are desktop-only. The unofficial FreeTubeAndroid port uses Cordova with a web-based mobile interface.

Native mobile interface on Android only, implemented in its dedicated Android codebase.

Native mobile interface built with Android UI components. Available on Android only.

Native mobile interface with Material Design. Available on Android only.

Native Android interface built with Jetpack Compose and Material 3. No iOS app.

Native mobile interfaces in the official Android and iOS apps, 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.

Focuses on YouTube and YouTube Music, rather than services such as Twitch, PeerTube, or SoundCloud.

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

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.

Android supports video and audio downloads with quality and codec selection, including VP9 and AV1.

Premium offers in-app offline downloads; Premium Lite includes eligible non-music videos, excluding Shorts. Some regions allow selected videos without a paid plan. Downloads stay within YouTube, rather than becoming freely exportable media files.

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.

General playback speed, quality, and audio preferences are available, but no separate per-channel playback presets are documented.

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.

Android uses ExoPlayer silence skipping. The desktop beta setting is disabled because silence analysis is not yet implemented.

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 SponsorBlock segment skipping and category controls. In-player submissions, mute segments, and full-video labels are not documented.

Enable SponsorBlock in the YouTube source settings for category-based manual or automatic skipping. In-player submissions, mute segments, and full-video labels are not documented.

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

Includes segment skipping, voting, submissions, and full-video labels. Released version 32.1 does not offer mute-segment or full-video-label submission controls.

Android supports category-based skipping and muting, plus in-player segment submissions. Full-video labels and channel whitelisting are not documented.

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 Player Overlay under Background Behavior to enter picture-in-picture 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.

With Auto PiP enabled, Android enters picture-in-picture when leaving the app during video playback. The desktop companion supports PiP, but automatic entry is not documented.

Leaving the Android or iOS app starts picture-in-picture when enabled. Non-music videos and Shorts support PiP without a paid plan; 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.

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

Android supports background audio playback while using other apps or with the screen off.

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

Optional Home recommendations learn from viewing activity, saved videos, and feedback, with Familiar, Balanced, and Explore discovery modes. Discovery ranks a limited candidate pool from related videos, selected channels, and searches. See the candidate collection.

Shows related videos supplied by YouTube or Invidious and regional trending feeds. No built-in personalized recommendation engine that learns from local viewing activity is documented.

Home aggregates recommendations supplied by its source platforms. Signing into a supported source can provide personalized recommendations; Grayjay does not provide its own independent recommendation engine.

Related videos and trending feeds are available, but a personalized feed learned from local viewing activity remains a feature request.

Released version 32.1 offers trending, subscription, and related-video feeds. No built-in personalized recommendation engine that learns from local viewing activity is documented.

FlowNeuro learns from watches, skips, likes, dislikes, searches, and viewing duration. It ranks recommendations locally, including time-of-day preferences and topic diversity, without a Google account or a recommendation server.

YouTube personalizes Home, Shorts, and other surfaces using viewing and search history, subscriptions, likes, dislikes, and feedback. Processing happens on its servers; Home recommendations depend primarily on watch history.

Hide Shorts, recommendations, comments, counts, and navigation sections. Filter subscription feeds by videos, Shorts, live streams, and posts; hide watched content or block channels and title keywords.

Hide recommendations, comments, counts, and channel tabs such as Shorts. Filter subscription feeds by content type, hide watched videos, and block channels or title keywords.

Android can hide the recommendations tab and customize visible navigation tabs. These are narrower controls than a full set of Shorts, comments, and subscription-content hiding toggles.

Hide related videos, comments, and metadata boxes; choose the tabs on the home page and disable automatic queueing. A global toggle to hide Shorts is not documented.

Released version 32.1 filters feeds by videos, Shorts, and live streams, and can hide watched or upcoming videos. App settings can also hide related videos and search suggestions. These controls do not hide Shorts everywhere.

Android can hide Shorts across the app, related videos, comments, watched feed items, and navigation sections. Recommendation controls can also block topics and channels.

Show fewer Shorts and mark recommendations as Not interested or Don't recommend channel. Removing and disabling watch history can remove Home recommendations; there is no equivalent general set of interface-hiding toggles.

Add videos to the watch queue or play them next, then remove or reorder items in the side panel.

Playlists and autoplay are available, but a separate watch queue remains an open feature request.

Add videos to a playback queue. Android includes a queue editor for managing the upcoming videos.

Enqueue videos, choose a video to play next, and manage the player queue. Automatic addition of related videos is optional.

Released version 32.1 includes Add to queue and queue controls, with optional insertion of related videos.

Android includes a video queue with removal and reordering controls, alongside its separate music queue. The desktop beta also supports playback queues.

Queue videos for free on desktop and the web. Queueing on phones and tablets requires YouTube Premium; a browser queue is lost when the browser closes unless saved as a playlist.

Stop playback after a chosen duration, when the current chapter ends, or when the current video ends.

No built-in sleep timer is documented in the player or settings.

No built-in sleep timer is documented. Using a separate system or media timer is an external workflow.

No built-in sleep timer is documented in the official app. Separate Android sleep-timer apps are an external workflow.

Released version 32.1 includes a sleep timer with a custom duration and quick choices of 10, 20, 30, 45, or 60 minutes.

A shared sleep timer stops video or music playback after a chosen duration, with an optional action to close the app.

Use the player's Sleep timer setting to pause the video automatically after a chosen duration.

Chromecast and DLNA casting are supported on Android and desktop.

No built-in TV casting. DLNA and UPnP support remains an open feature request; casting through an external player is a separate workflow.

Supports FCast, Chromecast, and AirPlay. FCast is recommended; Chromecast may need the phone to proxy separate audio and video streams, while AirPlay does not support those separated streams.

The Play with Kodi option sends playback to a Kodi media center through the separate Kore remote app. This is not built-in Chromecast or AirPlay casting.

Released version 32.1 has no built-in TV casting. Opening a video in a separate casting-capable player is an external workflow.

Android casts to compatible DLNA/UPnP devices without Google Play Services. This is not Chromecast or AirPlay support.

Cast from the mobile app or a supported desktop browser to compatible TVs and streaming devices. The mobile app can also link to the TV app using a TV code.

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.

Subscriptions are stored locally without a Google account. The desktop beta also supports local subscriptions.

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.

Released version 32.1 supports Piped account sync for subscriptions and playlists. Watch history and settings stay local; the new LibreTube sync server is not included in this release.

Optional paired-device sync exchanges playlists, history, likes, subscriptions and groups, selected settings, and the recommendation profile. Supports Android and the desktop beta; devices need a direct connection.

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

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.

In released version 32.1, Piped account sync does not include watch history or timestamps; these remain local.

Watch history is a selectable collection in paired-device sync, including sync with the desktop beta.

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

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.

The local recommendation dashboard shows topic interests, time-of-day patterns, and learning activity. It is not a daily or weekly watch-time dashboard.

Time watched shows daily average, today, yesterday, and the past seven days for signed-in users with watch history enabled. Excludes deleted history, private viewing, YouTube Music, and YouTube TV. YouTube reports a known error in desktop watch-time totals.

Subscriptions, playlists, history, and settings are stored on your device. An account is only needed if you choose to sync.

Subscriptions, playlists, history, and settings are stored locally, without an account.

Subscriptions, playlists, and history are stored on your device. Platform sign-in and paired-device sync are optional.

Subscriptions, playlists, and history are stored on your device, without an account.

Library data stays on your device when signed out. Optional Piped accounts store subscriptions and playlists on the selected instance; history stays local.

History, subscriptions, playlists, preferences, and recommendation data stay on the device by default. Device sync is optional.

Subscriptions and playlists depend on a Google account. Signed-in watch history is stored in that account when enabled.

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.

Android and desktop send startup telemetry with a persistent random identifier and app/platform information. Android also includes device details and enabled source IDs. These payloads exclude watched videos and searches. See the desktop implementation.

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.

Recommendations are computed locally without app-usage reporting. YouTube and optional services such as SponsorBlock and DeArrow still receive network 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.

No proprietary runtime SDK is declared in the checked app dependencies. Android explicitly excludes the unused proprietary ML Kit barcode scanner and uses ZXing for pairing. See the Android dependencies. Operating-system components and remote YouTube services are outside this comparison.

The official desktop app declares open-source dependencies, including Electron and its playback and extraction libraries. No proprietary runtime SDK is declared. This does not cover unofficial mobile forks, operating-system components, or remote YouTube services.

Android declares Stripe Android 22.0.0. Its payment module depends on Google's proprietary Play services Wallet client library. Stripe itself is open source. This payment dependency does not establish that ordinary video playback requires Play services; the separate desktop app has a different dependency stack.

NewPipe explicitly avoids proprietary libraries and frameworks such as Google Play services. Playback still contacts the selected media service; this is not a claim that YouTube itself is open source.

Released version 32.1 declares open-source app libraries, without a Google Play services or other proprietary runtime SDK dependency. YouTube is still a proprietary network service; operating-system components are outside this comparison.

Android 2.2.1 declares open-source runtime libraries and implements DLNA casting without Google Play services. The desktop beta also uses open-source app libraries. The GitHub flavor adds an updater and Discord integration, rather than a proprietary Discord SDK. System WebViews and remote services are outside this comparison.

The official apps and web client use proprietary YouTube software and do not provide an auditable, fully open-source client stack. Their complete library inventory is not public. Browser playback does not require Android Google Play services.

Open-source app licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3.

Open-source app licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3.

Source-available under FUTO's Source First License 1.1, with restrictions on commercial use and redistribution. Both Android and desktop use this license.

Open-source app licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later.

Open-source app licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later.

The Android app and desktop companion are open source under the GNU General Public License version 3.

The official YouTube service and apps are proprietary and governed by YouTube's Terms of Service; they are not published under an open-source app license.