# Grayjay

16 Hacker News commenters recommended Grayjay and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a single app that plays YouTube and other video sites without ads or sponsor segments, works without a Google sign-in, and can cast videos.

## Why people recommend it

- Built-in ad blocking (4 comments): "Both have the option to disable shorts and also have extra stuff like SponsorBlock and ad blocking built in." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46989159)) "Ad blocking, syncing between devices without Google, SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments, and many more" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46210142)) "before I got grayjay so I could have ad free casting of videos" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48352036))
- Reliable with few crashes (3 comments): "Grayjay has been the most reliable out of any alternatives that I've tried." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855061)) "I find it crashes a lot less than the *pipe apps." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47773101)) "I can't remember the last time I saw an error." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47079562))
- Plays many video sites (3 comments): "Video player for YouTube, Odysee, Bitchute and a bunch of other video sites" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48696010)) "It can pull in videos from other platforms as well, and it can Cast videos!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46052514)) "Grayjay is another good YouTube (and other streaming platform) client" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47046679))
- SponsorBlock built in (2 comments): "Both have the option to disable shorts and also have extra stuff like SponsorBlock and ad blocking built in." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46989159)) "Ad blocking, syncing between devices without Google, SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments, and many more" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46210142))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [NewPipe](https://hackerapproved.com/p/newpipe.md): 113 recommend
- [SmartTube](https://hackerapproved.com/p/smarttube.md): 41 recommend
- [FreeTube](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freetube.md): 28 recommend
- [YouTube ReVanced](https://hackerapproved.com/p/youtube-revanced.md): 14 recommend
- [Tubular](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tubular.md): 11 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Grayjay", https://hackerapproved.com/p/grayjay/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).