What is Pinchflat used for?

Pinchflat is a self-hosted app that uses yt-dlp to download YouTube channels and playlists to disk for media centers like Plex and Jellyfin. It is a good fit for archiving favorite YouTube channels, feeding a Plex or Jellyfin library and keeping local copies of playlists.

Is Pinchflat open source?

Yes. Pinchflat is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kieraneglin/pinchflat and is written mainly in Elixir.

Yes. Pinchflat is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Pinchflat?

Yes. Pinchflat can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to Pinchflat?

Similar open-source tools in the Media & Streaming category include MeTube, TubeArchivist and HomeTube. SaaS products in the same category include Antatube, Channels DVR and Emby.

Is Pinchflat actively maintained?

The most recent commit to Pinchflat was on 16 December 2025, and the latest release is v2025.9.26, published on 26 September 2025. The project has 5.4k stars on GitHub.

Pinchflat: open-source media & streaming

About Pinchflat

Pinchflat is a self-hosted media manager for YouTube content, built on top of yt-dlp. You define rules for how to download videos from channels or playlists, and the app checks for new uploads on a schedule and fetches them. It also works for single videos, but channels and playlists are where it fits best.

Files are saved to disk rather than watched in the app, so they can be served by a media center such as Plex, Jellyfin or Kodi, or simply archived. A naming system controls where and how downloads are stored, and the web interface includes presets to get started quickly. The project is designed to be lightweight and self-contained.

Pinchflat is written in Elixir, licensed under AGPL-3.0, and ships as a single Docker container with no external dependencies. Install guides cover Unraid, Portainer and plain Docker, and username and password authentication can be enabled. The README also advises caution with reverse proxy setups.

Key features

Rules-based downloads of channels and playlists
Scheduled checks for new uploads
Flexible naming of stored files
Web interface with ready-made presets
Single Docker container, no external dependencies
Optional username and password protection

Good fit for

→Archiving favorite YouTube channels
→Feeding a Plex or Jellyfin library
→Keeping local copies of playlists

Built with: Elixir
Tags: youtube; yt-dlp; media-manager; self-hosted; docker; archiving; elixir

Pinchflat: questions and answers

What is Pinchflat used for?: Pinchflat is a self-hosted app that uses yt-dlp to download YouTube channels and playlists to disk for media centers like Plex and Jellyfin. It is a good fit for archiving favorite YouTube channels, feeding a Plex or Jellyfin library and keeping local copies of playlists.
Is Pinchflat open source?: Yes. Pinchflat is open source under the AGPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kieraneglin/pinchflat and is written mainly in Elixir.
Is Pinchflat free?: Yes. Pinchflat is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Pinchflat?: Yes. Pinchflat can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to Pinchflat?: Similar open-source tools in the Media & Streaming category include MeTube, TubeArchivist and HomeTube. SaaS products in the same category include Antatube, Channels DVR and Emby.
Is Pinchflat actively maintained?: The most recent commit to Pinchflat was on 16 December 2025, and the latest release is v2025.9.26, published on 26 September 2025. The project has 5.4k stars on GitHub.