Hermes is a free, open-source video downloader built for self-hosted deployment. Using yt-dlp, it supports YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, and more than 1,000 other sites. A web interface and API let users manage downloads, while queued background processing handles playlists and batches asynchronously. The project includes JWT authentication, API-key management, administrator controls, and account management. Self-hosted installations can permit or disable public signup, allowing administrators to control who creates accounts. Interactive Swagger documentation describes the API. Hermes can run from pre-built Docker images or from source with Docker Compose; the documented setup uses SQLite and directories for downloaded and temporary files. The quick start exposes the application on port 3000. For production, the project recommends HTTPS, a strong secret key, restricted CORS origins, disabled public signup for non-personal deployments, and regular updates. It is intended for lawful fair-use media collection.
Who it is for
Hermes suits content creators and technical users who want to run a downloader themselves through a browser or API. It is intended for lawful use of freely available media under fair use.
What is good
- Supports more than 1,000 sites
- Playlist and batch downloads
- Web interface and API
- JWT and API-key controls
- Free and AGPL-3.0 licensed
What to know first
- Requires self-hosted deployment
- Docker setup uses SQLite storage
- Production security needs manual configuration
- Intended for lawful fair-use media
Verdict
Hermes provides broad site coverage, queued downloads, and administrative controls in a self-hosted package. It is a practical fit for users comfortable managing Docker and production security settings.
Compared on video downloaders
- Supported sources
- YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, and 1, 000+ other sites
- Playlist downloads
- Yes
- Batch downloads
- Yes
- Device platforms
- Web interface and API; self-hosted Docker deployment
