# yt-dlp 153 Hacker News commenters recommended yt-dlp and 25 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** A free tool that downloads video, audio and transcripts from YouTube and many other sites, and pairs well with mpv; YouTube changes still break it periodically, though fixes come quickly. ## Why people recommend it - Keeps working despite YouTube blocks (10 comments): "yt-dlp works when ever I try it. I do not use it much but ever few weeks when I need to download a streamed youth ringette game, it works great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50312237)) "Many thanks to the developers tirelessly compensating for Google's frequent deliberate breakage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46123115)) "is generally where the most up-to-date workarounds for Google's attempts to block downloads are" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49851882)) - Great with mpv for watching (5 comments): "using mpv directly to watch youtube actually sucks compared to using yt dlp and then opening the downloaded file in mpv" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47378370)) "mpv + yt-dlp does not have this problem because it serves the users interests rather than the platform's." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49800962)) "I'm so spoiled by MPV with yt-dlp and mpv_sponsorblock_minimal. It's great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46195195)) - Easy audio and mp3 extraction (4 comments): "it's the most convenient way for me to make an mp3 from a video so I can listen to it offline" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46443623)) "I've built myself a yt-dlp-based system to pipe audio into my multiroom audio system" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48942947)) "Just download the audio with yt-dlp and transfer it to your iPhone." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46494338)) - Supports many sites beyond YouTube (4 comments): "yt-dlp is incredibly effective at empowering people to rip content from 1000+ media storage systems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45917480)) "yt-dlp still works well for ripping from Big Tech social media storage targets" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46619767)) "with yt-dlp and the URL, you can download items from the Tubi web site" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46199015)) ## What people warn about - Breaks when YouTube changes things (6 comments): "yt-dlp is relatively stable, but still occasionally breaks for long periods." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47392587)) "yt-dlp is relatively stable, but still occasionally breaks for long periods" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47394764)) "yt-dlp frequently breaks, and is impressively usually fixed pretty quick" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853537)) - Now requires a JavaScript runtime (2 comments): "yt-dlp used to run just fine until Google's changes to Youtube forced them to add a Deno requirement" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45910406)) "has to have you install an entire JS runtime for it to function now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47021090)) - Messy build and packaging choices (4 comments): "They mixed JS building into their python project, aiming to support multiple package managers which are executed from their python script." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48245868)) "The yt-dlp project also raised concerns that the manylinux wheel incorrectly advertises older glibc support." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567160)) "What they don't need is hardcoding support for five JS package managers in their python files." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48248157)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [TubeArchivist](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tubearchivist.md): 7 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "yt-dlp", https://hackerapproved.com/p/yt-dlp/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).