YouTube Video Downloader

The free YouTube video downloader.

Save any YouTube video in 4K, 1080p, 720p, or audio-only — directly in the browser. No software install, no watermark, no signup. Built for creators downloading their own work and anyone with a legitimate use case.

Only download content you own or have explicit permission to use.

Paste a link, pick a quality, save the file

The flow is exactly that. Paste any YouTube URL — the standard youtube.com/watch?v=… form, the short youtu.be/… form, or a Shorts URL — into the input above and the available qualities appear in seconds. Pick what you want, click, and the file lands in your Downloads folder.

Behind the scenes the streams come straight from YouTube’s CDN to your machine. Nothing sits on a queue server, nothing is re-encoded, nothing is uploaded anywhere. The bytes you save are the bytes YouTube hosts.

Every quality YouTube actually serves

Most online YouTube downloaders cap at 1080p, sometimes 720p, because they fetch a single combined “progressive” stream — which YouTube limits below 1080p. VidPickr fetches the separate high-quality video and audio streams and combines them in your browser, which is the only way to reach 2160p (4K) and 4320p (8K) on YouTube.

If the upload is in any of these resolutions, you’ll see them in the picker:

  • 8K · 4320p (rare, but supported)
  • 4K · 2160p
  • 1440p QHD
  • 1080p Full HD
  • 720p, 480p, 360p, 240p, 144p

The size of each option is shown up front so you know what you’re committing to before clicking. For deeper detail see our guide to downloading YouTube in 4K and 8K.

More than just video

The same input handles every other YouTube extraction job we see most often:

  • Audio only — original m4a (AAC) at full bitrate, or mp3 at up to 320 kbps. Use the YouTube to MP3 page if that’s your specific need.
  • Subtitles — manual and auto-generated, in SRT, VTT, or TXT. Drop straight into VLC, your editor, or a Word doc.
  • Multi-language audio — for dubbed videos (MrBeast, Veritasium, etc.), pick the language track before download.
  • Time-range clip — Plus members save just the 30-second slice they want, no need to download the full hour.

Free vs Plus

The full quality and format range is available on the free tier. There’s no “upgrade to unlock 4K” trick. Free downloads come with light display ads on the page and a short random wait gate (5–15 seconds) between consecutive downloads — that’s how we keep the service running for everyone without subscriptions becoming mandatory.

Plus ($1/month or $9.99/year) removes both, plus unlocks the time-range clip tool. See the pricing page for the full breakdown.

Your responsibility, our position

VidPickr is built primarily for creators downloading their own work — for archive, repurposing, cross-posting, or editing. It also serves anyone with a legitimate use within copyright law: content you have explicit permission to download, content under Creative Commons or in the public domain, fair-use educational and accessibility uses.

Only download content you own or have explicit permission to use. Our Terms of Service spell out the full posture.

Frequently asked questions

Is this YouTube downloader actually free?
Yes. The free tier covers every resolution up to 8K, every audio format, every subtitle language, and every video length. The catch is light page ads and a 5–15 second wait gate between downloads. Plus ($1/month) removes both and adds clip-range download.
Do I need to sign up or install anything?
No. The free tier requires no account, no email, no software install. Everything runs in your browser. An account is only needed if you want to subscribe to Plus to remove the wait and ads.
What’s the maximum quality I can download?
Whatever YouTube serves. If the upload is in 8K (4320p), you can download 8K. If it’s in 1440p, that’s the max. We don’t artificially cap by tier.
Does the downloaded file have any watermark or branding?
No. The MP4 contains the original video bytes from YouTube’s CDN. We don’t add overlays, intro splashes, or any platform stamp.
Can I download age-restricted videos?
Yes, when you’re signed in to YouTube. We use authenticated extraction, so age-gated videos work the same way as on the YouTube site itself.
Will downloading from VidPickr get me banned by YouTube?
No. The downloads pull from YouTube’s public CDN the same way the YouTube web player does. There’s no special account state — your YouTube account is unaffected.
Can I download a YouTube playlist?
Currently we handle videos one at a time. For full playlists, we recommend yt-dlp on the command line — it’s designed for batch jobs.
Is using a YouTube downloader legal?
It depends on what you do with the file. Downloading content you own or have permission to use is generally fine. Educational and accessibility use, fair use / fair dealing, content under permissive licenses — usually all fine. Re-uploading someone else’s copyrighted work without permission is not. Read the Terms of Service for details.

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