Open YouTube links in FreeTube

RedirectTube is a browser extension that redirects YouTube links to FreeTube. It is available for Firefox and Chromium-based browsers (Chromium builds are distributed unsigned).

Installation

Mozilla Firefox

Method 1: Firefox Add-ons (recommended)

You can install RedirectTube from the Firefox Add-ons.

Method 2: Manual Firefox installation

1. Download the latest release of RedirectTube (file that ends with -signed.xpi) from the releases page. If you see an alert about installing add-ons from untrusted sources, click "Continue installation" and don’t proceed with the next steps.
2. Open the downloaded file in Firefox.
3. Click "Add" to install the extension. And that's it! RedirectTube is now installed in your browser.

Method 3: Firefox developer mode

This method is for developers and advanced users.

Important

If you restart your browser, the extension will be disabled.

1. Clone the repository.
2. Run node scripts/build.js --browser gecko --no-zip to generate the Firefox bundle inside dist/gecko.
3. Go to about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.
4. Click "Load Temporary Add-on".
5. Select the manifest.json file located in dist/gecko. The extension is now installed in your browser.

Chromium-based browsers

The Chromium package supports Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, and other Chromium-based browsers.

Method 1: Chrome Web Store (recommended)

You can install RedirectTube from the Chrome Web Store.

Method 2: Manual Chromium installation via developer mode

Note

The Chromium build is unsigned and must be reloaded manually whenever you download a new release.

1. Download the latest release archive that ends with -chromium-unsigned.zip from the releases page.
2. Extract the ZIP file to a directory you want to keep (the browser needs to access the extracted files).
3. Open chrome://extensions (or the equivalent extensions page in your Chromium browser).
4. Enable Developer mode.
5. Click Load unpacked and select the directory you extracted in step 2. The extension will appear in the toolbar once the folder is loaded.

Local builds

RedirectTube keeps a single shared codebase in src/browser. Use the provided helper to prepare browser-specific bundles:

node scripts/build.js

The script requires Node.js 16.7+ (for fs.cp) and the zip CLI. It produces unpacked bundles at dist/chromium and dist/gecko, along with ready-to-distribute archives under dist/packages. Useful flags:

• --browser chromium,gecko – build only the listed browsers.
• --no-zip – skip archive creation if you just need the unpacked directory (handy for temporary installs in Firefox/Chromium).

Once built, load the browser-specific folder from dist/ via your browser's developer mode, or upload the generated archives wherever you distribute the extension.

Usage

Via button

Click the RedirectTube button in the toolbar to open the current YouTube video in FreeTube.

Via context menu

Right-click a YouTube link and select "Open in FreeTube" to open the video in FreeTube.

Auto-redirect

You can enable auto-redirect in the extension options. When enabled, any YouTube link you open will automatically open in FreeTube instead.

Issues

If you encounter any issues, please report them on the issues page.

Translation

If your language is not yet supported by RedirectTube, you can change that! Help develop the extension by translating it into your language.

License

RedirectTube is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. For details, please refer to the LICENSE.

Note

RedirectTube is not affiliated with FreeTube or its creators. FreeTube is licensed under the AGPL-3.0 license. The name FreeTube and FreeTube logo are the property of the creators of FreeTube. Neither I nor the extension are associated with them.