Switched Off YouTube Premium to the Open-Source Frontend Invidious, Author Says

Spanish-language poster naldz. (@naldzyul) said in an X post dated October 11, 2026 that they had cancelled YouTube Premium and switched to Invidious, an open-source YouTube frontend. According to the author, Invidious is a free open-source project maintained by volunteers on GitHub, advertising ad-free viewing, use without a Google account, and freedom from tracking.

Invidious is an alternative frontend that shows YouTube videos outside Google's official apps and website. Per the author's description, existing YouTube subscriptions can be migrated in one batch, and users who want full control can install and run it on their own server. It suits viewers weighing a Premium cancellation, people who want a subscription feed without Google login, and self-hosters already running a home server or small VPS.

What the Author Claims and What Is Actually Confirmed

The author's core claims are threefold: no ads, no Google account, and no tracking. Subscription batch migration and self-hosted installation are added on top. In a follow-up post, the author shared the repository address iv-org/invidious.

That said, the evidence here is a single first-hand account, and no cross-check against official documentation was performed. Marketing-style phrasing ("no tracking", "0 euros a month") should be read as the author's claims; real privacy coverage and real cost (server fees, maintenance effort) vary by setup.

The Public-Instance Takedown Claim and the Self-Hosting Advice

The most practically important point is the author's warning: according to the author, Google has been taking down public instances since 2024, so running your own at home is the better deal.

In other words, relying on someone else's public Invidious site can break, while a self-hosted copy is comparatively stable — presented as lived experience, not as an officially confirmed fact. Thread replies point the same way: one user says they self-hosted a month ago and would never go back to regular YouTube, while another asks a tech-savvy cousin to install it, showing self-hosting is the entry barrier. Questions about mobile support were asked, but no author answer remains in the thread.

Who It Fits and Where to Start

Invidious is worth a look for viewers considering cancelling Premium, anyone wanting a subscription feed without Google login, or people already running a home server or VPS — judged on the author's account, not independent testing.

The starting point is the repository the author shared. Detailed install and usage steps were not part of this desk memo, so readers should consult the repository's README and docs for the path matching their environment. This article deliberately gives no install commands, client lists, or license details; the repository is the single source of truth.

Sources

• naldz. (@naldzyul) original X thread: Switching from YouTube Premium to Invidious
• Invidious repository shared by the author: iv-org/invidious