About SnapVid

SnapVid is a free online tool for downloading YouTube videos as MP4 or extracting audio as MP3. It runs entirely in the browser — no install, no account, no daily limits, no ads inside the download flow.

Why we built it

Every existing YouTube downloader had a problem. Some made you wait through pop-ups and shock-redirects. Others demanded you install a desktop app or browser extension. Most forced low-quality downloads unless you paid for "premium" access. We wanted something that just worked — paste URL, click download, file on disk. That's SnapVid.

How it works

When you paste a YouTube URL, our backend queries YouTube's media servers and asks for the direct download URLs of each available video and audio stream. We cache these results for four hours (per video) to reduce load on our infrastructure. The actual download — the bytes of your video file — go directly from YouTube's CDN (googlevideo.com) to your device. We never touch the file bytes.

That architecture has two benefits: downloads are fast (no middleman bottleneck) and we don't need expensive bandwidth infrastructure to run the service. It scales as cheaply as a simple website.

What we don't collect

We don't ask for accounts. We don't track which videos you download. We don't store your download history. The only data we keep is a per-video cache (the YouTube video ID and its available formats) so we don't have to fetch the same video twice. See our Privacy Policy for the full breakdown.

How we keep it free

Costs are minimal because we don't proxy video bytes. The only operational expenses are a small API budget for fetching video info from YouTube, and the cost of hosting the static website. We may add unobtrusive advertising to support the service. We won't add forced waits, captchas, or fake download buttons.

Our position on copyright

SnapVid is a tool. Like a recording device or a web browser, what you do with it is your responsibility. We recommend using SnapVid only for content you own, content released under Creative Commons or similar permissive licenses, content in the public domain, or where you have explicit permission from the copyright holder. Downloading copyrighted material may violate YouTube's Terms of Service and copyright law in your country. Please respect creators and their rights.

Contact

Questions, bug reports, takedown requests, or feedback? Get in touch.