SafeShare.tv

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to SafeShare.tv

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to SafeShare.tv.

SafeShare.tv generates distraction-free web pages for externally hosted videos (YouTube, Vimeo) by removing ads, comments and suggested content, producing a clean, embeddable viewer page for classroom, parental or presentation use.

Alternatives List

#1
Piped

Piped

Piped is a privacy-friendly, lightweight alternative YouTube frontend with feeds, playlists, SponsorBlock support, and a public JSON API for apps and integrations.

Piped screenshot

Piped is an open-source alternative frontend for watching and listening to YouTube content with a strong focus on privacy and efficiency. It avoids direct connections to Google servers and is designed to handle large numbers of users.

Key Features

  • Ad-free, tracking-free YouTube browsing and playback
  • Lightweight UI with infinite scrolling and light/dark themes
  • User accounts with subscriptions/feeds and playlists
  • Audio-only playback and up to 4K video support
  • Integrations such as SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike (via proxy)
  • Public JSON API for third-party clients and integrations
  • Uses NewPipeExtractor to retrieve video metadata without official YouTube APIs
  • Optional federation between instances to collaborate and improve availability

Use Cases

  • Privacy-focused YouTube viewing without Google tracking
  • Hosting a shared frontend for a community, school, or organization
  • Building mobile/desktop clients that rely on a stable YouTube-compatible API

Limitations and Considerations

  • Functionality depends on continued compatibility with YouTube changes and extractor updates
  • Some content restrictions may not be bypassable in all cases

Piped is well-suited for individuals and communities that want a fast, privacy-preserving way to access YouTube content. Its API and ecosystem also make it a practical foundation for third-party apps and alternative clients.

9.7kstars
823forks
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#2
CouchTube

CouchTube

CouchTube is a Go application that schedules and plays curated YouTube videos as TV-style channels using JSON playlists, with Docker and SQLite support.

CouchTube screenshot

CouchTube is a lightweight Go application that recreates a TV-channel experience by scheduling playback of curated YouTube videos from user-provided JSON playlists. It presents channel lists and plays specified video sections according to the current time so viewers see consistent, time-aligned playback.

Key Features

  • Time-based scheduler that maps channel playlists to the current time so users see the same video for a given channel at the same moment.
  • JSON-based channel and video format (channels → videos with id, sectionStart, sectionEnd) for easy sharing and customization.
  • Trims playback to a specified sectionStart/sectionEnd within each video for curated excerpts rather than full videos.
  • Skips videos that are private, restricted, or disabled for embedding and advances to the next available item.
  • Single-file SQLite database for local state and pre-populated channel lists via a videos.json bundle.
  • Container-friendly distribution with a provided Docker image and docker-compose configuration.
  • Configurable via environment variables (port, DB file path, JSON file path, full-scan and read-only modes).

Use Cases

  • Ambient or background “TV channel” streams for co-watching, events, or office displays.
  • Community-maintained themed channels where contributors submit shared JSON playlists of clips.
  • Curated presentation mode for installations or kiosks that play selected video excerpts on a schedule.

Limitations and Considerations

  • Playback depends on the availability and embeddability of external videos; private or non-embeddable videos will be skipped.
  • Basic error handling and early-stage development: expect occasional bugs and limited production hardening.
  • Scheduling consistency requires correct server time; deployments should ensure accurate system clocks.

CouchTube is intended for simple, shareable channel-style playback of existing videos using a compact configuration format. It is focused on ease of customization and simple deployment rather than complex streaming infrastructure.

241stars
10forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running