There are roughly four legitimate ways to save a YouTube video to your device in 2026. Each has trade-offs in cost, convenience, what file you end up with, and what rights you have to use it. Most "how to download YouTube videos" guides only cover one of these and pretend the others do not exist. This one covers all four — with a recommendation at the end.
Just want to download a video right now? Paste a YouTube URL into TubePull — no signup, MP4 or MP3, takes about 15 seconds. The rest of this guide explains why you'd pick a web-based downloader over YouTube Premium, yt-dlp, or browser extensions.
The four legitimate methods
1. YouTube Premium offline downloads
YouTube's own offline feature is the simplest path if you only need to watch a video offline inside the YouTube app. Premium costs $13.99/month in the US (as of 2026), and downloaded videos:
- Live only inside the YouTube app on the device that downloaded them
- Expire after about 30 days unless the app phones home
- Cannot be exported as MP4 or MP3 to other apps
- Are encrypted and DRM-protected
Use it when: You want to watch on your phone on a flight, you only watch through the YouTube app, and you do not need a transferrable file.
Don't use it when: You want an MP4 you can edit, share, or play in VLC. Premium does not give you that.
2. Web-based downloaders
Browser-based tools like TubePull let you paste a YouTube URL and get a plain MP4 or MP3 file. No software install, works on any device with a browser. Quality varies by tool — the best ones support 4K and MP3 at 320 kbps; the worst are buried in ads and cap at 480p.
We wrote a full guide on picking a safe, ad-free downloader — it is the most important decision in this category, because the bad sites are bad in actively harmful ways.
Use it when: You want a real MP4/MP3 file, you do not want to install anything, and you need it to work on any device.
Don't use it when: You are downloading hundreds of videos at once and want to script the process — for that, see option 4.
3. Creative Commons + YouTube's filter
If you only need Creative Commons content, YouTube's own search has a filter for it. Go to YouTube, search a topic, click Filters, and tick Creative Commons under "Features." You will get a list of videos whose creators have released them under CC-BY — meaning you can legally download, redistribute, and remix them with attribution.
Most CC-BY videos still need to be downloaded with one of the other methods (YouTube does not offer a "save Creative Commons video" button). The CC filter just narrows your options to content where the rights are unambiguous.
Use it when: You are looking for footage, B-roll, or content to remix — and you want to avoid copyright concerns entirely.
4. yt-dlp (the power-user option)
yt-dlp is a free, open-source command-line tool. It is the engine that powers most web-based downloaders behind the scenes. Direct use looks like:
yt-dlp -f bestvideo+bestaudio "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."Pros: scriptable, supports every format YouTube offers, handles playlists and live archives, no rate limits beyond YouTube's own. Cons: command-line only, requires basic terminal comfort, breaks occasionally when YouTube changes its internals (yt-dlp updates within hours, but you have to update too).
Use it when: You are downloading hundreds of videos, you want full control over format selection, or you are building automation around video archival.
Don't use it when: You want a friendly UI or you do not want to maintain a tool that occasionally needs pip install -U yt-dlp to keep working.
A simple decision tree
Do you only need to watch on your phone, inside the YouTube app?
├── Yes → YouTube Premium (sanctioned, simplest)
└── No
│
Do you need to script or automate the downloads?
├── Yes → yt-dlp
└── No
│
Do you need an actual MP4/MP3 file you can edit and share?
├── Yes → Web-based downloader like TubePull
└── No (you're done — Premium covers it)For most people the answer is the third branch — they want a real MP4 they can play anywhere. That is exactly the case web-based tools like TubePull are built for.
Step-by-step: downloading a YouTube video on the web
Using TubePull as the example, here is the full flow.
1. Copy the YouTube URL
From the YouTube video page, click Share under the video, then Copy link. The URL looks like https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ. Either format works.
2. Paste into TubePull
Open tubepull.com and paste into the input box. The tool fetches the video metadata: title, thumbnail, available qualities and formats.
3. Pick format and quality
You will see two big choices:
- Format: MP4 (video) or audio-only (MP3, M4A, or Opus)
- Quality: 360p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p Full HD on the free plan, plus 1440p (2K) and 2160p (4K) on the Unlimited plan (for MP4); or a bitrate up to 320 kbps (for audio)
Higher quality means a bigger file. For a 5-minute song saved as 1080p MP4, expect ~80 MB. The same song as 192 kbps MP3 is ~7 MB.
4. Click Download
The file streams to your default download folder, named with the video title. No queueing on a remote server, no email-me-the-link nonsense — it appears on your device immediately.
5. Done
That is the whole flow. Total time: about 15 seconds for a typical music video.
Common questions
Can I download a YouTube video on iPhone?
Yes. iOS Safari supports file downloads. When you tap Download in TubePull, the file lands in Files → Downloads → On My iPhone. You can move it from there to your Photos library or any app that takes file imports. The iPhone is the platform where most users get tripped up — see our mobile section below for specifics.
Can I download YouTube videos as MP3?
Yes. Switch the format dropdown to Audio only and TubePull extracts a clean audio file in MP3, M4A, or Opus. For a deep dive on which bitrate to pick, see our bitrate guide.
Can I download an entire playlist?
TubePull is designed for one video at a time so each download finishes fast and you can pick the right format per video. Paste the individual video URL — even if it's part of a playlist, only that single video is fetched. If you want a whole playlist, open each video and grab them one by one (it's faster than it sounds, and you only download what you actually want).
What about YouTube Shorts?
Shorts use a different URL pattern (/shorts/... instead of /watch?v=...) which breaks some downloaders. TubePull handles both. See our Shorts guide for details.
Is it legal?
It depends on the video. Your own uploads, Creative Commons, and public domain content are clearly legal. Other content is governed by fair use and YouTube's Terms of Service. Read our legality guide for the specifics — written without scare tactics or hand-waving.
Downloading on mobile
The iPhone deserves its own section because the workflow is different.
iPhone (iOS 16+)
- Tap and hold on the YouTube share link to copy it.
- Open Safari and paste into tubepull.com.
- Tap Download. iOS will ask "Do you want to download this file?" — tap Download.
- Tap the download icon at the top of Safari (the down-arrow, top-right) to see your downloaded file.
- From there you can save it to Files, Photos (for MP4), or share it with another app.
Android
The flow is even simpler. Chrome on Android handles file downloads exactly like a desktop browser. The file lands in your Downloads folder and you can open it with any video or audio player.
iPad and Chromebook
Identical to desktop — paste, pick format, download.
What about browser extensions?
Browser extensions for YouTube downloading are a bad idea in 2026. They were banned from the Chrome Web Store years ago because they violated YouTube's Terms of Service. The ones still available are loaded onto Firefox or sideloaded into Chrome, and they are routinely abused as malware delivery vectors. Use a website. There is no benefit to running a downloader as an extension.
What about desktop apps?
Apps like 4K Video Downloader and Free YouTube Download are popular and most are legitimate. They make sense if you download large volumes daily and want a local queue manager. For occasional use, a website is faster — no install, no update prompts, works on every device.
The TubePull pitch
We built TubePull because the existing web-based options were either covered in ads or missing key features. Our take:
- Free tier: 3 downloads per day, no signup, no ads, no tracking. MP4 up to 1080p Full HD plus MP3, M4A, and Opus audio.
- Unlimited plan: $4.99/month for unlimited downloads, batch up to 5 URLs at once, videos of any length, plus 4K (2160p) and 2K (1440p) Ultra HD.
- Privacy: No third-party scripts, no notification prompts, no upsell popups. Files stream through to your device and are deleted from our servers immediately.
That is the whole product. Try it.
Related reading
- Is it legal to download YouTube videos? — fair use, Terms of Service, the responsible-use checklist.
- YouTube to MP3 bitrate guide — pick the right quality.
- Best quality settings for each use case — pick the right resolution for phone, laptop, or TV.
- Shorts downloader guide — why Shorts URLs break some tools.
- The YouTube downloader without ads — how to spot a safe, ad-free tool.