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.
Official website piped.video
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
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10,046
+ 2 this week
Last commit
1d ago
healthy
License
AGPL-3.0
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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.