A Watch-Only PeerTube instance would:
Allow users to create accounts, subscribe, like, comment, make playlists, and follow channels.
Not allow local video uploads or creators (no hosting load on the server).
Instead, it would simply fetch and display videos hosted across the wider PeerTube federation.
This would effectively create a “viewing portal” into PeerTube, without the cost and complexity of maintaining video storage.
Why this matters
Lower hosting barrier: An instance like this would cost far less to operate (no need to handle uploads and storage).
Accessibility for non-technical users: People who just want to watch and explore PeerTube without understanding federation or instance selection could have an easy entry point.
Appeal to older or casual users: A single, simple, “official-looking” watch-only portal would help people who might find the federated model confusing.
Good for outreach and discovery: Similar to how Mastodon has mastodon.social or Lemmy has lemmy.world, PeerTube could have a recognizable “main” watch-only instance—maybe something like peertube.video.
Potential benefits
Easier onboarding: people just sign up and start watching.
A familiar alternative for those coming from YouTube, where uploading isn’t the main goal.
Could help spread awareness of PeerTube by being a more “mainstream-ready” entry point
You must log in or # to comment.
It’s not really an unheard thing. The only problem is that most PeerTube instances only federate with a select few instances. That’s why I made peertube.wtf. It federates with everything and it gives users the option to upload video.
Nice idea. An alternative would be to have user classes on traditional severs:
-
a viewer user that cannot upload videos, bilut can watch, subscribe, comment etc
-
a “creator” user that admins can limit that can also upload video content
That’s already possible.
-
That makes a lot of sense. Very good idea.
Thank you very much
The main issue with peertube federation is not disk space to host content and even not bandwidth. It is the lack of content, creators and viewers.
I would say the biggest problem is discovery. There is a lot of content on Peertube already, but it is nearly impossible to find interesting videos based on preference.
The algorithm needs to be better, or at least the search needs to.
I am running a Peertube instance since like less then a few weeks (systemofchips.net). I am still ironing out some crinkles, and actually plan to run it as a personal instance for the foreseeable future. However, if I ever intend to “open up” a bit more I possibly would allow “viewer accounts” as a first step.
