What is Return YouTube Dislike used for?

Return YouTube Dislike is a browser extension that restores the YouTube dislike count using archived data, scraped statistics and estimates from extension users. It is a good fit for judging video quality before watching and using vote data in third-party tools.

Is Return YouTube Dislike open source?

Yes. Return YouTube Dislike is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at Anarios/return-youtube-dislike and is written mainly in JavaScript.

Is Return YouTube Dislike free?

Yes. Return YouTube Dislike is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Return YouTube Dislike?

Yes. Return YouTube Dislike can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What are some alternatives to Return YouTube Dislike?

Similar open-source tools in the Media & Streaming category include SponsorBlock, Invidious and FreeTube. SaaS products in the same category include Antatube, Cloudinary and Last.fm.

Is Return YouTube Dislike actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Return YouTube Dislike was on 7 September 2026, and the latest release is v4.0.6, published on 7 September 2026. The project has 14k stars on GitHub.

Return YouTube Dislike: open-source media & streaming

About Return YouTube Dislike

Return YouTube Dislike is an open-source extension that shows the dislike count on YouTube videos again. YouTube announced in November 2021 that public dislike counts would disappear and removed the dislike field from its API a few weeks later, which made it harder for viewers to judge a video before watching.

Since the official data is gone, the project's backend combines scraped dislike statistics with estimates extrapolated from the votes of extension users. The extension is available as a web extension for Chrome and Firefox and as a JavaScript userscript for other browsers. A public API exposes the vote data over HTTP, with attribution required and per-client rate limits.

The extension is written in JavaScript and licensed under GPL-3.0. The README is available in more than twenty languages, and the project website explains the background and links to an FAQ. Third parties may use the open API if they credit the project and respect the documented limits.

Key features

Shows dislike counts on YouTube videos
Chrome and Firefox web extension
Userscript option for other browsers
Estimates built from extension user votes
Public API for video vote data

Good fit for

→Judging video quality before watching
→Using vote data in third-party tools

Built with: JavaScript
Tags: youtube; browser-extension; chrome-extension; firefox-extension; dislike; userscript; api

Return YouTube Dislike: questions and answers

What is Return YouTube Dislike used for?: Return YouTube Dislike is a browser extension that restores the YouTube dislike count using archived data, scraped statistics and estimates from extension users. It is a good fit for judging video quality before watching and using vote data in third-party tools.
Is Return YouTube Dislike open source?: Yes. Return YouTube Dislike is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at Anarios/return-youtube-dislike and is written mainly in JavaScript.
Is Return YouTube Dislike free?: Yes. Return YouTube Dislike is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Return YouTube Dislike?: Yes. Return YouTube Dislike can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What are some alternatives to Return YouTube Dislike?: Similar open-source tools in the Media & Streaming category include SponsorBlock, Invidious and FreeTube. SaaS products in the same category include Antatube, Cloudinary and Last.fm.
Is Return YouTube Dislike actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Return YouTube Dislike was on 7 September 2026, and the latest release is v4.0.6, published on 7 September 2026. The project has 14k stars on GitHub.