4 Cool Sites to Watch YouTube Videos Without YouTube

Quick Tips

• If you want to watch YouTube videos without distractions, try websites like SafeShare and VideoLink. They get rid of comments, video suggestions, etc.
• You can also try Watch2Gether. It blocks all the distractions and lets you watch YouTube videos together with your family and friends.
• Another great option is to add a Minimal YouTube extension to your browser. It converts YouTube’s UI into a minimal, no-fluff UI.

1. SafeShare – Ad-Free YouTube Viewing

SafeShare offers a distraction-free YouTube-watching experience. It’s designed as a safe space for educational settings, presentations, or other such scenarios where you want to focus solely on the content.

The great thing is that it strips away the clutter like ads, comments, related videos, etc. But maintains YouTube’s standard interface complete with captions (if available) and video descriptions.

Moreover, using SafeShare is straightforward, simply paste the video URL into the input field. A new, clean link will be generated. You can view the video by yourself or share it with others.

The platform also allows you to trim the videos and view/share only the relevant parts. While the test SpaceViews (video links) are valid for an hour, you can sign in to create permanent ones. If you sign in, the platform also lets you build playlists, create contact circles, and more.

Although there is a premium subscription involved, the free version is pretty decent as well, allowing up to 20 SafeViews(permanent links) and 2 playlists.

Price: Free, subscription starts from $4.99/month.

2. Video Link – Create And Share YouTube Video Link

Video Link is an alternative to SafeShare to view YouTube videos without YouTube. Both websites are almost similar, so much so, that even their freemium offerings and premium prices are the same. So, it just comes down to picking your vice. It is completely ad-free, allowing you to focus only on the content.

You can trim the video, edit the description if needed, and then share the links with whoever you want. No ads, comments, related video links, or other such distractions will come to disturb you. The one key benefit is that it boasts a similar video URL as YouTube, so you can avail of features like captions, speed, and quality control.

If you don’t sign in, the validity of the generated link is a few hours. Whereas, if you sign up for premium, you can avail of up to 20 permanent video links. You can even create a playlist to share it with your students, friends, family, colleagues, etc.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort; paste the video URL in the input field. Once the video is generated, edit it and then share the link. If you subscribe to the premium, you can even generate short URLs or QR codes for easier sharing.

Price: Free, subscription starts from $4.99/month.

Check out Video Link

3. Watch2Gether – Watch YouTube Videos Together

Why watch ad-free YouTube alone, when you can watch it together with friends and family? Watch2Gether is a unique platform (similar to SharePlay) that facilitates real-time, synchronized video watching. It’s ideal for a collaborative viewing experience.

The platforms allow you to create virtual rooms and invite people to watch YouTube videos in sync with each other. It removes the standard YouTube interface elements such as ads, comments, and related videos, enabling a distraction-free environment.

You can copy-paste video URLs or use the built-in search feature to browse YouTube. Moreover, it even lets you create playlists and put them on repeat/shuffle. Incredibly, you can chat, video or voice call with others in the room.

It also offers YouTube built-in playback features for speed, quality, and caption controls. So, you’re getting a complete package with this website. However, I feel the UI is a bit cluttered, and finding your way initially through the features might not be a cakewalk.

Price: Free, subscription starts from $2.90/month.

Check out Watch2Gether

4. WatchKIN – Distraction-Free YouTube Videos

WatchKIN has just one goal, to allow you to watch YouTube videos without the distracting add-ons you get on YouTube’s website or app. When you copy-paste the video URL, it plays just the video. You don’t have to deal with comments, video suggestions, etc.

And that’s all it does, no other features or special purposes. Thanks to it, the website is simple and minimal. However, the homepage UI might look childish and distracting at first. But when the video plays, you only get a white/black background depending on the theme selected.

The platform maintains the YouTube video interface, allowing you to play around with the video speed, quality, captions, etc. So overall it’s a win-win situation.

The only complaint I have is that you can not browse videos directly from WatchKIN’s page. Copy-pasting a video URL every time can be tiresome unless you want to hear one song on a loop.

Price: Free.

Check out WatchKIN

Bonus: Minimal YouTube – Make YouTube’s Website Minimal

If the only reason you want to watch YouTube videos without YouTube is the cluttered, distracting UI then you can use the Minimal YouTube extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Arc. So instead of struggling with third-party websites, you can minimalize your YouTube experience on YouTube.

All you have to do is download the extension and follow the instructions on the page. Once set up, your YouTube will be distraction-free, as shown in the screenshot below.