What happens to a link
The web downloader reads a video page on a server and hands you the file. The Downpipe app does the same on your own computer, and much more.
- 01
You paste a link
The server asks yt-dlp, an open-source tool, to read the video's page. Nothing is downloaded yet: it only learns the title and the qualities the site offers.
- 02
You pick a quality
When the site has one file with both picture and sound, the server passes it to your browser as it arrives. It is never stored on the server.
- 03
Or it is prepared first
Many sites send picture and sound apart. Then the server joins them with ffmpeg, keeps the result for up to 10 minutes until your browser fetches it, and deletes it 2 minutes after the last request for it, so the Downpipe app can take the download over. Those qualities say Prepared.
The server is shared by everyone who uses the site, so a few things are capped. None of them apply to the app.
| A video | Up to 3 hours long |
| A prepared file | Up to 500 MB |
| Preparing one file | Up to 5 minutes |
| Download buttons after a look-up | Work for 30 minutes |
| Look-ups | 20 a minute |
| Prepared files | 6 a minute |
| Files being prepared | One at a time per visitor |
| Playlists and channels | Not here; the app lists them |
Downpipe is a download manager for Windows, macOS and Linux, with a browser extension.
It downloads any file over several connections at once, survives pauses, restarts and crashes without starting over, and only shows a file under its real name once every byte is in place. YouTube pages go to yt-dlp, which the app runs on your computer: you pick the quality, sound track and subtitles, and whole playlists and channels are listed so you choose the videos.
The extension adds Download with Downpipe to links, can catch the downloads your browser starts, and finds the videos a page plays. The app never sends your downloads or links to any server; the source is on GitHub.
Is it free?
Yes. The web downloader needs no account, and the Downpipe app is free and open source.
Which sites work?
X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Pinterest, Twitch and Kick clips, Dailymotion, Imgur, Streamable, LinkedIn, SoundCloud and many more of the sites yt-dlp supports. Only public videos: the server has no account on any site, so private and members-only videos do not work, and neither do Reddit and some Vimeo videos, which ask every visitor to sign in.
Why does YouTube download only in the app?
YouTube refuses most downloads from servers in data centres, where this one is, and asks them to prove they are not a bot. The Downpipe app downloads YouTube from your own connection, so it does not run into this, and it handles whole playlists and channels too.
Can I download a whole playlist?
Not on the web. The Downpipe app opens a playlist or channel, lists its videos with check boxes and downloads the ones you pick into a folder named after the list.
Can I save photos too?
Yes, from Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky posts: a post's photos appear as a grid, each in the size it was posted, to save one by one or all at once. A TikTok photo post also offers its sound as MP3.
Which quality and sound do I get?
For each height the downloader picks the file that plays everywhere (H.264) when the site has one, and joins it with the site's AAC sound. MP3 converts the sound; M4A, when offered, is the site's own track with nothing converted. On TikTok the sound is the clip's own, not the song it used.
Can I send a link from my phone?
Yes. Add the site to your home screen and it appears in your phone's share menu: share a post to it and the downloader opens with the link already read.
Why is there a size limit?
Joining picture and sound takes the server's time and disk, so a prepared file can be up to 500 MB and take up to 5 minutes. Files that pass straight through have no limit of their own. The app has no such limits, and it can pause and resume.
What does the site keep?
The server keeps the qualities it found for 30 minutes, in memory, so the download buttons work. A prepared file is deleted 2 minutes after your browser fetches it, or after 10 minutes if nothing fetches it. There are no accounts. Like any web server, its access log records your IP address and which of its own addresses was called, not the video link. A quick browser check by Cloudflare Turnstile keeps bots off the server.
Am I allowed to download a video?
That depends on the video and the site's terms. Download what you have the right to keep, such as your own uploads or videos their owners allow. See the terms for how to report a video.
Is the app safe to install?
Its source is public on GitHub, and the releases list SHA-256 checksums for their files. The installers are not code-signed yet, so Windows and macOS ask once before the first start.