Frequently asked questions

It's a free, open-source desktop GUI for yt-dlp, the most powerful video and audio downloader available. It bundles yt-dlp and FFmpeg, installs them for you, and gives you a clean interface so you never need the command line.

Yes — completely free under the MIT license, with no premium tier, no watermarks, no ads and no download limits.

Yes. The source code is fully open on GitHub, there's no telemetry or tracking, and the app only does what you tell it to. Always download the app from the official site or GitHub releases.

No. The app downloads and configures yt-dlp and FFmpeg automatically on first launch.

More than 1,727 — including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X/Twitter, Vimeo, Twitch, SoundCloud, Reddit and thousands of others.

Yes, whenever the source provides them. yt-dlp reads the full format list and merges the best video and audio with FFmpeg automatically.

Choose an audio-only format, or use the app's audio extraction option to save MP3, M4A, Opus or FLAC at the best available bitrate.

Yes. Paste a playlist or channel URL, preview every item, and selectively queue what you want — hundreds at a time.

If you have legitimate access, yes. Import cookies from your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave or Safari) and yt-dlp will authenticate as you.

Each page has a downloader box that calls our cloud extraction endpoint. The endpoint runs yt-dlp on the server, reads the available formats, and returns the direct media URLs. Your browser then downloads from the source directly.

No. The endpoint is stateless — it extracts format information on demand and returns it. No media is proxied or stored, and there are no logs of what you download tied to you.

The web tool is great for quick, one-off downloads. The desktop app adds batch playlists, automatic merging of 8K + audio, cookie auth, proxies, post-processing and a download queue that resumes.

yt-dlp is an actively maintained fork of youtube-dl with far more supported sites, many bug fixes, faster downloads, and features youtube-dl lacks. yt-dlp online is a GUI on top of yt-dlp.

It depends on the content and your jurisdiction. Downloading your own content, public-domain works, or media the rights holder permits is generally fine. Always respect each site's terms of service and copyright law, and only download what you have the right to save.

No. dlp.yt is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube, Google, or any other platform.