Youtube Playlist Free Downloader Python Script (A-Z Original)

python yt_playlist_dl.py "PLAYLIST_URL" --audio

Let’s start with a minimal script that downloads an entire YouTube playlist as the best available quality (audio + video).

Create a file named playlist_downloader.py: youtube playlist free downloader python script

import yt_dlp
def download_playlist(playlist_url, output_path="./downloads"):
"""
Downloads an entire YouTube playlist to the specified output path.
"""
ydl_opts = 
'outtmpl': f'output_path/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s',
'ignoreerrors': True,  # Skip videos that fail
'quiet': False,        # Show progress
'no_warnings': False,

with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
    try:
        ydl.download([playlist_url])
        print(f"\n✅ Playlist successfully downloaded to output_path")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"❌ Error: e")

if name == "main":
url = input("Enter YouTube Playlist URL: ").strip()
download_playlist(url)
 python yt_playlist_dl

Run it:

python playlist_downloader.py

This script will create a folder named after the playlist and save each video as 1 - First Video.mp4, 2 - Second Video.mp4, etc.

Change output path or filename template via outtmpl. See yt-dlp docs for placeholders.

Resume/incomplete downloads: yt-dlp handles resuming by default; interrupted downloads can be retried.

Rate limiting: use "ratelimit": 500000 to set bytes/sec limit.

Authentication: for private playlists, pass "username" and "password" in ydl_opts or use cookies.

ydl_opts = 
    'format': 'bestvideo[height<=1080]+bestaudio/best[height<=1080]',
    'merge_output_format': 'mp4',
    'outtmpl': f'output_path/%(playlist_title)s/%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s',

┌─────────────────┐
│  User Input     │
│  - Playlist URL │
│  - Quality      │
└────────┬────────┘
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  Fetch Playlist │
│  (pytube.Playlist)│
└────────┬────────┘
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Iterate Videos  │
└────────┬────────┘
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ For each video: │
│ - Get stream    │
│ - Download      │
│ - Handle errors │
└─────────────────┘

| Web Downloader | Python Script | | :--- | :--- | | Limited to 10-20 videos | Download entire playlists of 500+ videos | | Displays ads & popups | Clean, no distractions | | Slows down after 2 downloads | Unlimited, free bandwidth | | Requires upload/download to third-party servers | Direct connection to YouTube | with yt_dlp

Python gives you complete control. You choose the output folder, the file naming convention, the video quality, and you can even resume failed downloads.

ydl_opts = 
    'continue_dl': True,           # Resume partial downloads
    'retries': 10,                 # Retry failed videos 10 times
    'fragment_retries': 10,
    'ratelimit': 5000000,          # Limit to 5 MB/s to avoid IP bans
    'sleep_interval': 5,           # Wait 5 seconds between videos

To follow along, you need: