Invidious vs Tube
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
| Feature | Invidious | Tube |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0-only | MIT |
| Language | Crystal | |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22,442 | — |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | YouTube | Dailymotion, Vimeo, YouTube |
Why pick each one
Choose Invidious if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0-only license
- Mature project with 22.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Crystal
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Choose Tube if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Invidious or Tube better?
Neither is universally better. Invidious has the larger community, while Tube is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Invidious and Tube free and open-source?
Yes. Invidious is licensed under GPL-3.0-only and Tube under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Invidious and Tube with Docker?
Invidious: check the project docs for container support. Tube: check the project docs for container support.