If you’ve ever wanted an easy way to download videos without memorizing command-line options, MeTube might be exactly what you’re looking for. Built on top of the popular yt-dlp fork of youtube-dl, MeTube offers a clean web interface that makes video downloading simple and accessible.

What is MeTube?

MeTube is a self-hosted web interface for yt-dlp (a fork of youtube-dl) that lets you easily download videos and playlists from YouTube and many other sites. It runs in your browser, supports Docker for quick setup, and makes managing downloads simple with a clean, user-friendly GUI.

With MeTube, you can paste in links from YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud, Twitter, and dozens of other supported sites, then download them in just a couple of clicks. Unlike the raw command-line tools, it organizes downloads into a convenient queue so you can keep track of progress at a glance. Even better, it supports playlists out of the box, meaning you can grab an entire music collection or lecture series without adding each video manually.

Since MeTube is a web-based GUI, you can run it on your local machine or server and access it from any browser. That makes it ideal for home media setups, NAS devices, or anyone who wants to centralize video downloads in one place. The interface is straightforward: paste a link, choose your format, and let yt-dlp handle the heavy lifting.

One of the standout advantages of MeTube is how easy it is to deploy. Thanks to Docker support, installation is as simple as pulling the container and running it with a single command. You don’t have to worry about configuring dependencies or keeping yt-dlp updated manually.

Install MeTube with Docker

If you don't have Docker installed and need help getting started, I recommend checking out our self-hosting guides for beginners. These guides cover the basics of setting up Docker on your server. They're designed to help you get up and running smoothly, even if you're new to self-hosting.

services:
  metube:
    image: ghcr.io/alexta69/metube
    container_name: metube
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8081:8081"
    volumes:
      - /docker/metube:/downloads

MeTube offers plenty of customization options through environment variables, allowing you to tweak its behavior to fit your setup. For a full list of available configurations and examples, check out the project’s GitHub repository.

MeTube is especially handy for users who want the power of yt-dlp but prefer the ease of a graphical interface. It’s perfect for families, small groups, or just individuals who don’t want to fiddle with terminal commands every time they need to download a video.

Final Notes and Thoughts

MeTube continues to evolve, with updates and improvements in the works, making it a great option for anyone looking to streamline video downloading in a self-hosted setup. Personally, I appreciate how it simplifies the process without any extra complexity, and it’s satisfying to see a project that just works while still being actively developed.

Be sure to give the MeTube project a star on the MeTube Github repo!