PigeonPod

PigeonPod is a free, open-source podcast feed generator that converts YouTube channels, playlists, individual videos, and Bilibili content into standard RSS podcast feeds. It automatically downloads new uploads using the bundled yt-dlp tool, transcodes them with the bundled ffmpeg, and serves password-protected RSS feeds that any podcast client can subscribe to directly. The entire pipeline — subscribing, downloading, transcoding, and feed generation — runs on your own server with no dependency on external processing services.

Common Use Cases

Podcast listeners use PigeonPod to integrate YouTube channels they follow into their regular podcast app, so new videos show up in the same inbox as their audio-only subscriptions without needing to open YouTube. Commuters and travellers subscribe to long-form YouTube content as audio-only feeds, thereby saving bandwidth and battery by downloading audio instead of video. Language learners subscribe to foreign-language YouTube channels as podcast feeds, utilising their podcast app's playback speed controls and chapter navigation for study sessions. Developers and power users leverage the RSS API and OPML export to integrate PigeonPod into existing media automation workflows, routing downloaded episodes to NAS drives or media servers. Privacy-conscious users completely bypass YouTube's recommendation algorithm by consuming subscribed channels through a podcast app with no watch history, no autoplay, and no cookies.

Key Features

• Subscribe to YouTube channels, playlists, and individual videos, along with Bilibili channels and playlists
• Generates standard password-protected RSS feeds compatible with any podcast client
• Audio-only or video output with configurable format, quality, and bitrate per feed
• Automatic new-episode sync with configurable check intervals and on-demand history backfill
• Per-feed keyword filters, duration thresholds, and episode count limits
• Cookie support for age-restricted and members-only content
• Proxy configuration for yt-dlp and YouTube API traffic
• One-click public sharing for individual episodes without requiring a login
• Email and webhook notifications for failed download digests
• OPML export for migrating subscriptions to another instance
• S3-compatible storage support (MinIO, Cloudflare R2, AWS S3) for larger libraries
• In-app yt-dlp version manager for updating without rebuilding the container
• Podcasting 2.0 chapter support and web-based player
• Eight-language interface including English, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean

Why deploy PigeonPod on Hostinger VPS

Self-hosting PigeonPod on a Hostinger VPS implies that your podcast feed subscriptions, downloaded episodes, and listening history remain on infrastructure you own. Cloud-based YouTube-to-podcast converters are often shut down due to platform policy enforcement or blocked by YouTube rate limiting — a self-hosted instance running yt-dlp under your own IP and optional cookies avoids both risks. Downloaded audio and video files are stored in a named Docker volume on the VPS, building a permanent archive of content that remains accessible even after videos are deleted or channels are removed from YouTube.

Because PigeonPod runs as a single container with no external database, the operational footprint is minimal and maintenance requires only occasional yt-dlp updates through the in-app version manager. Hostinger VPS bandwidth and storage are well-suited to growing episode libraries — upgrading the plan adds disk space for longer archives without any changes to the application or its feed URLs. VPS uptime ensures feeds are always reachable for podcast client sync, even when your personal devices are offline.