Technical platforms? Yes.
Content platforms? No.
this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2025
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I gave up on the algorithm years ago and only use the subscription feed now.
Just want to add in terms of all the suggestions: remember that alternative can also mean "in addition to" as well as "instead of." people wanting instead-ofs will run away from alternatives quicker, which radically hinders the "build it and they will come" momentum that these sites need to better alternatives in the long run
Honorable mention for https://odysee.com/ I still use YT but I also like Odysee. And I use Freetube on my Linux laptop for YT, works great! Edit: format
Invidious.
~~That's not an alternative. It's just another frontend.~~
edit: didn't see the youtube algo part. Mb
There are many ways around the YouTube algo. Look into LibRedirect , Invidious, NewPipe, and subscribing to channels using an on device RSS reader. Also look into yt-dlp if you're savvy enough to use a command prompt/terminal.
Alternatives all have their drawbacks. Nebula is the best IMO, but there are some gate keeping sort of practices going on over there regarding how creators are chosen to be platformed there.
Floatplane is good for gamers and techies but ultimately supports the guys over at Linus Tech Tips, who have a bad reputation for their history of misogyny and grifting their audiences in various ways.
Rumble is a conservative cesspool for people too hateful for the YouTube platform.
And Peertube is the Federated alternative that has a lot of potential but nearly no traction and thusly there's not a whole lot of content.
Ultimately, I still watch YouTube (albeit less and less these days), via the platforms mentioned above like Invidious and Newpipe, using yt-dlp.
I do hope Peertube and the fediverse continues to grow. These platforms on the Fediverse are last bastion of a decent internet inho.
I mean for yt-dlp you just need to know how to open the terminal in a specific folder and copy paste the link into it.
There's also the Seal for Android and Parabolic for Linux graphical frontends
No. Though I think it's important to separate video serving Youtube and recommendations/algorithm YouTube. We need FOSS solutions to both and neither will be easy.
I absolutely agree! I just want something akin to the YT experience
https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions is my Youtube bookmark. It's just who I'm subscribed to. That's it.
I just wanted to mention, because apparently only ~7% of us exist who use the Subscriptions feed, according to various Youtubers showing off their stats pages.
Its impossible for me to subscribe to a youtuber because I don't have (and don't want) a Youtube account. I understand Youtubers get more visibility with more subscriptions, but I just don't want to be part of the algorithm. I can close my private browser, and any algorithm infection is wiped clean from my view.
piped.30p87.de
And all other piped/invidious instances. You can sub locally, and everything is stored as a cookie in your browser (afaik).
because I don't have (and don't want) a Youtube account.
Every channel has an RSS feed. I use that instead.
You can download newpipe and subscribe there. It makes a local subscription, no account needed. Also no ads.
Depending on your setup, YouTube will still fingerprint your browser and track your behavior, as is common practice with ad networks.
Your cookies and data might be cleared but as long as yt has any way to generate a unique identifier out of your browser preferences, it will identify you and start looking at your behavior / figuring out an algorithm.
Just fyi.
Sure, it can start building it again just with what I search to watch. Then I get to close the browser again and wipe it clean again. I know that fingerprinting exists, but I'm not seeing its behavior for video suggestions. In fact, I do see tracking by IP because I'll get suggested things I know my wife is looking at (and we're coming from the same IP). Even those are few and far between though.
I would strongly recommend using a VPN and changing servers regularly in that case.
I don't think this is true. Every time i reset the app on my tv, i see zero recommends that would fit my browsing history. Also I've tested it on 3 browsers (including default Chrome and edge) after clearing everything and it is default. Nothing i see recommended fits my history. So yea, no, this is not true. I'm sure they try to fingerprint but it doesn't seem to work well or it's just not sophisticated enough to track it through a browser/app clear. I'm not even using a VPN when i tested this.
That's fine, I'm not tempted by the sidebars to partake in the algo at all because I've removed them with extensions. Without an account, yeah then I'd be using NewPipe and whatever desktop equivalents are surely out there.
Wait, what do the other 93% do?
Homepage. That's where those complaints that people never see a youtuber's videos "anymore" comes from.
It's still not as popular but it's making headway with makers.
Or if you want to stay on YouTube itself others have added clients that don't have algorithms.
They need to fix their instance list with filters. Wasn't a fan of having to scroll through pages <20 user instances with closed registration.
Surprise no one mentioned odysee
Odysee is completely overrun by lunatics. And i mean "Europa: The Last Battle" type of lunatics
you can disable YouTube history
Inside newpipe. No feed or homepage (as long as you set it to that), just a list of the channels I've subscribed to. I just manually go through them if I'm looking for something to watch.
Yes!
If you have a Linux OS on a PC then Freetube is a terrific desktop app.
You can import your subscriptions from YT there.
If it's only ads that you hate then Revanced mobile app is the way. Unless you are on iPhone - then it won't work. It's Android only.
PipePipe is still yt but its only a subscription feed and integrates perfectly with other services like peertube
Piped.video is an option directly in the browser. Or Invidious.
On mobile (android) I've seen NewPipe as an option
I have seen others say that youtube channels have their own RSS feeds. Could plug each YouTube channel you want to follow into an RSS app of your choice. Not ideal, but should avoid algorithms
Maybe don't get news from social media?
said the person on a social media site 😑
I'm not here for news?
Algo? I'm assuming algorithm? I rarely if ever use that. Just find creators you enjoy and subscribe to them, I have a giant list of them I watch and never have to deal with YouTube algorithms at all.
Rumble if you are racist white trash....
what if you're just a trash can?
Then I guess you don't have bloody eyes now do you? So what is watching rumble going to do for a trash can OCEAN?
I added my subs to an RSS feed but honestly I really like the algorithm...