Unisonvsyoutube-dl
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Unison | youtube-dl | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 65/100 | 51/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 15 in File Sync | #6 of 12 in Video |
| GitHub stars | 5 557 | 402 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +64 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 2 | 0 |
| Latest release | v2.54.0 · 1 May 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | OCaml | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Unison scores 65/100 against 51/100 for youtube-dl, so it is the safer default.
Unison ships more often: 2 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for youtube-dl.
If you want the quickest setup, youtube-dl is easier to run; Unison needs more configuration.
Unison is growing faster right now (+64 stars in 30 days).
Unison details →youtube-dl details →