JDownloader2 is an open source alternative and I cannot imagine using anything else (there are too many features). And I'm saying that as a python developer.
> I find JDownloader2 to be very scammy feeling. It feels like adware software.
That's because it's not in fact open source. From Wikipedia:
> Some parts, but not all, of JDownloader are open-source.
> Mid-2012 there were complaints that JDownloader's installer added adware without the user's consent.[4] The JDownloader installation contains adware according to several sources, including the developer's own forums.[5][6] There were further complaints mid-2014.
JD is basically junkware. There's a reason why it doesn't seem to be packaged on any Linux distribution. It's not community-focused OSS in the ordinary sense.
JD is just way too slow and bloated for me, especially on an old machines. While I'm sure its power extends beyond this, its value as I remember them lies on downloading rapidshare-like file sharing links.
But with those kind of stuff going out of fashion, I nowadays just use uGet for a GUI download manager and youtube-dl, gallery-dl, streamlink, et al. for specialized download helpers.
I looked over their pricing tiers [1] and it's definitely not for me. The free tier is just absurdly limited (2 simultaneous torrent downloads, capped video quality, ads(!), etc). This might be acceptable in 2003 but I'm surprised this kind of stuff can survive nowadays when there are so many other free and probably superior alternatives.
If you just need a simple script to download youtube videos, here's a very basic one I made as a wrapper to youtube-dl.
You'll need to edit the option string to the path you want it to save videos to. I have it set to not download playlists, but you can do whatever you please with the option string.
Just copy the youtube url, mouseover the input field(it will grab the url from the clipboard, and press the get file button. No frills but it works fine for my needs.
