PeerTube is an open-source, decentralized video-sharing platform developed by Framasoft, a French non-profit organization. It is promoted as a free and decentralized alternative to Big Tech's video platforms.

Here are the principal functionalities and features of PeerTube:

Core Philosophy and Architecture

• Decentralization and Federation: PeerTube is not a single centralized platform. It allows users to create their own independent video platforms. These individual platforms connect to each other to form a big network (federation) that is both autonomous and interconnected. This decentralizes video storage and decision-making power.

• Privacy and Ethics: The platform is free, open-source, and non-commercial. It does not depend on any advertising and does not track you. It considers users as people, not products to be profiled.

• Open Source and Transparency: PeerTube is provided freely, allowing users to look under the hood of its source code (it is auditable and transparent). It can be enhanced by contributions from anyone.

• Community Support: PeerTube exists thanks to donations, with over 90% of its funding coming from public interest contributions.

• Interoperability: It is based on ActivityPub to connect with other federated tools like Mastodon.

Broadcasting and Performance

• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Broadcasting: PeerTube uses WebRTC, a free and open-source project, to enable peer-to-peer broadcasting.

• Bandwidth Reduction: P2P reduces server bandwidth overload, especially if a video becomes viral.

Features for Viewers

• Mobile Access: A mobile app is available to discover, watch, and share videos across the entire federated network using a single interface.

• Smooth Experience: The powerful video player offers quality settings, subtitles, and full-screen mode. The experience is comfortable and respectful, working without tracking or ads.

• Offline Viewing: Users can download videos and watch them offline without needing a premium subscription.

• User Customization: Viewers can personalize the interface with themes, filtering, NSFW settings, and autoplay preferences.

• Content Management: Users can save videos for later, organize playlists, resume playback, and check watch history.

• Discovery: Users can easily browse thousands of channels and videos from across multiple PeerTube instances. They can follow channels and access new videos in a dedicated feed.

Features for Content Creators

• Content Synchronization: Creators can let PeerTube automatically synchronize a channel from a remote platform (e.g., Youtube, Vimeo).

• Editing and Analytics: Creators can access detailed analytics and edit videos (trim, add watermarks, intro/outro) or upload new versions.

• Live Streaming: The platform supports streaming via OBS or other RTMP software, with the ability to enable replays and interact with viewers via live chat.

• Channel Management: Creators can manage multiple channels that can be followed by ActivityPub platforms for greater discoverability.

• Mobile Publishing (Upcoming): Future features include the ability to publish videos directly from a smartphone and edit metadata or view statistics using the video manager.

Features for Administrators (Instance Owners)

• Full Control: Administrators have full control and customization through various settings, plugins, and themes.

• Branding and Layout: They can customize the homepage using Markdown/HTML, set instance branding (avatar, banner, categories), and define default user settings.

• Moderation Tools: Administrators build, manage, and moderate their own platforms. They can manage user registrations, assign moderator roles, review abuse reports, block or ban users, and mute accounts or platforms.

• Advanced Features: They can set upload limits and utilize advanced video transcoding, including using remote runners.