Is PeerTube Free and Open Source, and How Can Users Contribute?
Yes. PeerTube is free and open-source software, developed by Framasoft, a French non-profit, and created for non-commercial purposes. Because it is released under a free/libre license, you can use it, inspect it, and improve it — and the code is not a private formula owned by any company. The same page contrasts this with YouTube (owned by Google) and Dailymotion (owned by Vivendi/Bolloré), positioning PeerTube as an ethical digital common rather than a corporate product.
What "free and open source" means here
The JoinPeerTube site describes PeerTube as "a free software, not a secret formula." Two practical consequences follow:
- You are treated as a person, not a product. PeerTube does not depend on advertising and does not track you, so there is no profiling or algorithm-driven loop designed to lock you into watching.
- The license protects user freedoms. The free/libre license is what "guarantees our fundamental freedoms as users," according to the site — meaning the terms of use cannot be revoked by a single owner the way a proprietary platform's can.
This is also why PeerTube is described as belonging to you: no single company holds a monopoly over it.
How users can contribute
The site lists three ways to help improve PeerTube, and they require very different levels of effort:
| Way to contribute | What it involves | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Share ideas | Send suggestions for improving PeerTube | Anyone using the software |
| Make suggestions | Propose changes or improvements | Users with opinions on features or direction |
| Modify the source code | Edit the code yourself | Developers and technical contributors |
The key point is that contributing is not limited to programmers. If you only have feedback, that still counts as participation — the code being open is what makes the third option possible at all.
Why the open-source nature matters for choosing a platform
If control over your videos and your viewing data is the deciding factor, PeerTube's model differs structurally from Big Tech platforms:
- No advertising dependency and no tracking are stated as built-in properties, not settings you toggle.
- Non-commercial purpose means the project is not optimizing for ad revenue or engagement metrics.
- Independence means each PeerTube platform is built, managed, and moderated by its own owners — there are no opaque algorithms or obscure moderation policies imposed from above.
Where to go next
The JoinPeerTube site points visitors toward guidance if they have questions, and its recommendations section highlights content across the wider network — which the site describes as roughly 1,000,000 videos and 1,600 platforms. If your goal is to contribute, start with ideas or suggestions; if you write code, the source is open for you to modify directly.