Grayjay
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 9 YouTube clients by recommenders
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.
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.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Built-in ad blocking
“Both have the option to disable shorts and also have extra stuff like SponsorBlock and ad blocking built in.”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: ShortGuard – Apple rejected my app for blocking Shorts, so here it is” “Ad blocking, syncing between devices without Google, SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments, and many more”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads” “before I got grayjay so I could have ad free casting of videos”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions” - Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent”
Reliable with few crashes
“Grayjay has been the most reliable out of any alternatives that I've tried.”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “YouTube blocks background video playback on Brave and other Browsers” “I find it crashes a lot less than the *pipe apps.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney” “I can't remember the last time I saw an error.”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “YouTube Blocks Background Listening Workaround for Free Users” Plays many video sites
“Video player for YouTube, Odysee, Bitchute and a bunch of other video sites”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “The Other Side of Android: My Favorite F-Droid Apps” “It can pull in videos from other platforms as well, and it can Cast videos!”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses: The Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled” “Grayjay is another good YouTube (and other streaming platform) client”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple” SponsorBlock built in
“Both have the option to disable shorts and also have extra stuff like SponsorBlock and ad blocking built in.”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: ShortGuard – Apple rejected my app for blocking Shorts, so here it is” “Ad blocking, syncing between devices without Google, SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments, and many more”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “How I block all online ads”
Other YouTube clients people recommend
The four most recommended other YouTube clients, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 9 YouTube clients, rankedWhat people said
16 of the 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the mobile app which works great”
“leave the decision to the user, like grayjay also does.”
“I'm doing my part and using GrayJay so I can follow them if they switch their platform”
“Video player for YouTube, Odysee, Bitchute and a bunch of other video sites”
“before I got grayjay so I could have ad free casting of videos”
“lack of adverts every few minutes in some content”
“while using uBlock/sponsorblock/unhook and grayjay on mobile”
“I find it crashes a lot less than the *pipe apps.”
“I can't remember the last time I saw an error.”
“Grayjay is another good YouTube (and other streaming platform) client”
“the Grayjay player also tends to work better with live streams”
“Both have the option to disable shorts and also have extra stuff like SponsorBlock and ad blocking built in.”
“Grayjay has been the most reliable out of any alternatives that I've tried.”
“I use this on devices that I haven't signed in with Google.”
“Ad blocking, syncing between devices without Google, SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments, and many more”
“It can pull in videos from other platforms as well, and it can Cast videos!”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.