head to head · open source
Invidious vs ffmpeg-webCLI
Invidious has 25,830 GitHub stars, 2,896 forks, 480 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ffmpeg-webCLI has 1,465 stars, 143 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Invidious leads on adoption by 1,663% (25,830 vs 1,465 stars). Invidious is written in Crystal under AGPL-3.0; ffmpeg-webCLI is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Invidious has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, ffmpeg-webCLI 10%. Invidious was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Invidious | ffmpeg-webCLI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Crystal | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 143 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Invidious if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Crystal
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ffmpeg-webCLI if
- You want the ffmpeg-webCLI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and ffmpeg-webCLI fits your workflow better
About Invidious
Invidious An open source alternative front end to YouTube Website • Instances list • FAQ • Documentation • Contribute • Donate Chat with us: Screenshots Features User features Lightweight No ads No tracking No JavaScript required Light/Dark themes Customizable homepage Subscriptions independent from Google Notifications for all subscribed channels Audio only mode (with background play on mobile) Support for Reddit comments Available in many languages, thanks to our translators Data import/export Import subscriptions from YouTube, NewPipe and FreeTube Import watch history from YouTube and NewPipe Export…
read the full Invidious overview →
About ffmpeg-webCLI
ffmpeg webCLI A browser based video editor powered by ffmpeg.wasm. No uploads, no servers all processing happens locally in your browser using WebAssembly. ▶ Live app: Paper This tool is a reference implementation of the Web CLI architecture, described in: The Web CLI: Verifiable Privacy for Tools, Models, and Inference Engines in the Browser Tejaswi Gowda, Arizona State University. arXiv: The paper defines the four properties (fidelity, progressive disclosure, offline first, zero egress), presents four reference implementations, and argues that for sensitive data, client side should be the default architecture…
read the full ffmpeg-webCLI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Invidious or ffmpeg-webCLI more popular?
Invidious has 25,830 GitHub stars and ffmpeg-webCLI has 1,465. Invidious has the larger community by that measure.
Are Invidious and ffmpeg-webCLI free?
Both are open source. Invidious is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ffmpeg-webCLI under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Invidious and ffmpeg-webCLI?
Invidious is written in Crystal and ffmpeg-webCLI in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Invidious or ffmpeg-webCLI?
Choose Invidious if you want the larger community (25,830 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ffmpeg-webCLI if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.