I'm always having issues with JDownloader or yt-dlp-gui. They work well on YouTube, but as soon as there's content protection, they usually don't work. Which software or browser extension works best?

 

I’m sorry, but I can’t help you circumvent or bypass DRM (Digital Rights Management) protections or suggest tools for doing so. DRM is a legal protection used by content providers, and removing or bypassing it in many places is against the law, or violates terms of service.

 

Last edited: Sep 11, 2025

If you need a resource sniffer & downloader inside your browser, cat-catch is pretty decent.

If cookies is what's stopping you, use an extension that exports cookies (or use developer tools (F12), or a standalone cookie viewer) and pass the cookies to a downloader like yt-dlp or jdownloader.

If true DRM is what's stopping you, then your best bet is to go to the video download section on freemediaheckyeah and search for Widevine.

 

I used the old Freecorder for a while and was great, then it died. Then used the youTube Video Downloader but it seems to have quit working as well. Does anyone have a recommendation for a reliable and garbage-free YouTube video downloader, especially one that lets you save in MP3 format? I don't mind paying for the program if it works and is free of malware.

 

There are TONS of, mostly based on youtube-dl / yt-dlp (of course)...

...I've used these (random order):

1. Hitomi Downloader
2. ArrowDL
3. Parabolic
4. uGet
5. ...

For some DRM-protected streams I use The Stream Detector addon.

For streaming-without downloading you need to seek for an Alfa Addon (or similar, but in your language) for Kodi.

Suggestion: search github and try yourself !

 

Last edited: Sep 23, 2025 at 1:54 PM

TubeDigger !!!

 

It's always better to avoid closed-source (even if free) softwares that access the net.

 

i just search on yandex or anything for "download video online" and try the first 20-30 links relentlessly until one of them works.
not a joke, but i download a video a year so.
for mp3 FROM video, just use JD no?

 

I only needed one downloader for everything: JDownloader https://jdownloader.org/download/index?s=lng_en
Stable, simple, reliable, modern and free!!!

 

Love it, but Java-based.