Introducing BlackHole - I built a video downloader that doesn't suck

Hey IH! 👋

I'm Younes, a senior network engineer from Sweden building side projects to hit $10K MRR.

The problem: Every video download site is either full of malware, drowning in pop-up ads, or both. I needed to save videos for offline viewing and content creation, and every tool I tried felt like navigating a minefield.

The solution: BlackHole — paste a link, get your video. That's it.

What it does:

• Downloads from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, X, Facebook, Pinterest, Bluesky and more

• Up to 4K quality

• No ads, no malware, no BS

• Free tier (5 downloads/day) + Pro for power users

Tech stack: Next.js 15, React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind, Clerk auth, Convex DB, self-hosted backend on Hetzner VPS running yt-dlp + Cobalt.

Where I'm at:

• Launched on Product Hunt Feb 2

• Free + Pro ($39 lifetime launch special) + Business tiers

• Solo founder, bootstrapped, built in ~6 weeks

The biggest challenge so far has been YouTube's constant changes to block downloaders. I built a cookie management system with automated health monitoring that alerts me via Telegram when things break.

Would love feedback from the IH community. What would make you switch from your current download tool?

Check it out: https://blhole.com