Alternatives to cobalt
Paste a link and save the media, with no ads or trackers. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
cobalt
Paste a link and save the media, with no ads or trackers.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as cobalt.
Media Downloader
Download supported online media through a desktop interface.
Media Downloader is a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux wrapping yt-dlp, so site support depends on installed backends rather than on a web instance.
Video DownloadHelper
Detects and downloads videos from a very large number of sites.
Video DownloadHelper runs as a browser extension that detects videos on pages, but it is freemium, closed source, and some formats need a companion app.
Persepolis
A download manager built on aria2 that splits a file across up to sixty-four connections and schedules queues.
Persepolis is a desktop download manager that can also grab video from YouTube and similar sites, with queues and scheduling, instead of a paste box in the browser.
MeTube
A self-hosted web interface for yt-dlp that downloads video and audio from YouTube and other sites.
MeTube is a self-hosted web interface for yt-dlp that saves video, audio, captions and thumbnails, but it needs a Docker server and is not open source.
ytDownloader
Open-source desktop app for downloading video and audio from hundreds of websites.
ytDownloader is an open-source Electron desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux that downloads video or audio from hundreds of sites, replacing the web paste box.
Stacher
A desktop GUI for yt-dlp that downloads online video and audio and organizes a library.
Stacher is a freemium closed-source desktop GUI for yt-dlp with a searchable library and managed yt-dlp and ffmpeg installs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Open Video Downloader
A cross-platform desktop interface for youtube-dl that downloads videos and playlists from many websites.
Open Video Downloader is a lightweight Tauri desktop interface for youtube-dl that handles playlists, with unstated license terms and site support tied to the underlying downloader.
Downie
A macOS app that downloads videos from YouTube, Vimeo and over a thousand other websites.
Downie is a paid closed-source macOS app supporting more than 1,200 video sites, sold as a one-time purchase and requiring macOS 13 or later.
Also worth comparing
These listings name cobalt as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
You-Get
An open-source command-line tool that downloads videos, audio and images from web pages.
cobalt is an open-source web tool where you paste a link to save media, and it can be self-hosted, though public instances are rate limited.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Bulk Media Downloader
Downloads the media a page loads by watching network requests.
gallery-dl
A command-line program that downloads image galleries and collections from many image hosting sites.
Tartube
Desktop front end for youtube-dl that downloads and organizes videos from channels and playlists.
JDownloader
A Java download manager that fetches files and videos from many hosting sites through plugins.
