Between Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and everything else asking for your monthly subscription, the streaming fees add up fast. And you know what? Sometimes you just want to listen to your favorite playlist on the subway without burning through data, or unwind in your car after a long shift without worrying about spotty cell coverage.
The good news is you don’t need another paid subscription. You can download a complete playlist from YouTube and keep your music, podcasts, or videos right there on your device, ready whenever you need them. Whether you’re looking to download music from YouTube for offline listening or grab entire video series to watch later, we’ve got you covered.
Everything is better with music (or the right content), so we’re showing you the three best YouTube playlist downloaders that actually work and will make your everyday life easier. No nonsense, no hidden paywalls for basic features, just tools that get the job done.
The 3 Best YouTube Playlist Downloaders
1. Loader.to – Best for Quick Playlist Downloads (Free)
Loader.to is straightforward and completely free, which already puts it ahead of a lot of options. It’s a web-based tool, so there’s nothing to install: just open your browser and you’re ready to download YouTube playlists.
How to use it: Go to YouTube and find the playlist you want. Copy the playlist URL from your browser’s address bar. Head to Loader.to and paste the URL into the search box. The site will analyze the playlist and let you pick your format: MP3 if you want audio only, or MP4 for video. You can also choose your quality (anywhere from 360p up to 8K for video, or various bitrates for audio).
Here’s what makes Loader.to useful: you can select a range of videos from the playlist instead of being forced to download everything. If there’s a 50-video playlist and you only want videos 10 through 30, you can specify that. Most other tools make you download the whole thing or nothing.
Restrictions: Loader.to caps playlist downloads at 20 videos for free users. If your playlist has more than 20 videos, you’ll need to break it into chunks or go with their premium version. The site also has ads, not overwhelming, but they’re there. As long as you’re careful not to click fake download buttons (stick to the actual download link the site generates), you’re fine.
Converts to MP3: Yes, and you get quality options from 128kbps up to 320kbps for audio. If you’re building a playlist to listen to in the car or at the gym, this works perfectly. You can download music from YouTube in MP3 format and load it straight onto your phone.
2. Y2Mate – Fast and Free with Multiple Format Options
Y2Mate has been around for a while and handles YouTube playlists without requiring registration or payment. Like Loader.to, it’s web-based, so it works on any device with a browser.
How to use it: Copy your YouTube playlist URL. Go to the Y2Mate website and paste the link into the input field. Hit “Download” or “Start” (depending on which Y2Mate version you’re using. There are a few variants floating around). Y2Mate will parse the playlist and give you format options: MP3, MP4, M4V, WEBM, and others. Pick your format and quality, then download.
Y2Mate processes playlists quickly, and the downloads are fast compared to some other online tools. The interface is simple enough that you don’t need instructions once you’ve done it once.
Restrictions: Y2Mate is ad-supported, which means pop-ups and redirects. You’ll need to close a few extra tabs that open when you click around. It’s annoying but manageable if you’re patient. Some versions of Y2Mate also have daily limits on how many videos you can process, though this varies depending on which site you’re on (there are multiple Y2Mate domains).
Converts to MP3: Absolutely. Y2Mate lets you convert entire playlists to MP3 at 320kbps, which is high-quality audio. If you’ve got a music playlist you want to download from YouTube, this handles it cleanly.
3. DDownr – Simple Interface, Unlimited Free Downloads
DDownr is another online option that focuses on simplicity. No account creation, no payment, just paste and download. It’s designed specifically for downloading YouTube content, so it doesn’t try to do a hundred other things. It just handles playlists well.
How to use it: Copy the YouTube playlist link. Visit DDownr’s site and paste the URL. Select your preferred format: MP3 for audio or MP4 for video. Choose your quality level (DDownr supports multiple resolutions). Click download and wait for the site to process everything.
DDownr doesn’t have the 20-video cap that Loader.to has, which makes it better for larger playlists. If you’ve got a 100-song music playlist or a full podcast series, DDownr can handle it without choking.
Restrictions: The main downside is that DDownr doesn’t support copyrighted content. If the playlist includes videos with strict copyright protections, DDownr will skip those. For most user-generated content, covers, remixes, and a lot of music, this isn’t an issue. But if you’re trying to download major label albums uploaded to YouTube, you might run into blocks.
Converts to MP3: Yes, with quality options up to 320kbps. DDownr also offers M4A and other audio formats if you prefer those over MP3.
Read also: How to Download MP3 From YouTube in 2025
Quick Heads Up: Staying Safe on Download Sites
Now that you know which tools to use, let’s talk about staying smart when you’re actually on these sites. Most of these online downloaders are free because they run ads, and some of those ads can be sketchy.
Watch out for fake download buttons. You’ll see the real download link the site generates, and then you’ll see three or four ads designed to look like download buttons. They’ll say things like “Download Now” or “Get Your File” in big green buttons. Don’t click those. Scroll past them and find the actual download link from the tool itself. It’s usually smaller and less flashy.
Don’t enter payment information. If a site asks for your credit card “just to verify you’re human” or offers you a “premium trial” that requires payment details, close the tab. The tools we’re recommending either work completely free or have legitimate paid versions with clear pricing. Random pop-ups asking for your credit card aren’t legit.
Close extra tabs immediately. When you click around on these sites, new tabs will open with ads or redirects. Just close them. Don’t interact with anything in those tabs, don’t download anything they’re offering, just close and get back to what you were doing.
Never download additional software from pop-ups. If something pops up saying “You need to install this codec” or “Download our app for faster speeds,” ignore it. The web-based tools work in your browser without installing anything extra. Desktop tools like 4K Video Downloader Plus are downloaded from their official sites, not from random pop-ups.
Basically, be skeptical of anything that seems too eager to get your attention or your information. Stick to the actual functionality of the tool, close the noise, and you’ll be fine.
What If You Don’t Need the Whole Playlist?
Here’s the thing: sometimes you don’t actually need to download an entire playlist. Maybe there are just three or four videos you really want, or you’re testing out a new album before committing to the full download. In those cases, downloading video-by-video might actually be smarter and faster.
If that’s your situation, browser extensions like Tubly offer a cleaner alternative to the ad-heavy websites we’ve been talking about. Instead of dealing with pop-ups and fake download buttons every time you want a single video, you install the extension once, and it integrates directly into YouTube’s interface. You see a video you want, you click download, and it’s done. No redirects, no extra tabs opening, no navigating away from YouTube.
The advantage here is security and convenience. Browser extensions work within your browser’s secure environment, so you’re not constantly exposing yourself to sketchy third-party sites. And because they’re built into YouTube’s page, the download process is faster and more intuitive than copying URLs back and forth.
Of course, this approach only makes sense if you’re cherry-picking individual videos rather than bulk-downloading 50-song playlists. But for a lot of people, that’s exactly what they need: grab a few specific videos quickly without the overhead of processing entire playlists.
Wrapping Up
You’ve now got three reliable YouTube playlist downloaders at your fingertips: Loader.to for quick downloads with video range selection, Y2Mate for fast processing with multiple format options, and DDownr when you need to handle larger playlists without caps. Each one gets the job done without requiring a monthly subscription.
And if you find yourself only needing a few specific videos instead of entire playlists, tools like Tubly offer a cleaner, more secure way to download individual videos directly from YouTube’s interface – no ads, no redirects, just straightforward downloads.
Whatever route you choose, just stay sharp about those fake download buttons and pop-up traps. Once you’ve got your playlists (or favorite videos) saved, you can enjoy your music, podcasts, and videos anywhere – subway commutes, long drives, or anywhere else your internet decides to quit on you.
Now go build that offline library.
