Free tool

YouTube or Vimeo video, without cookies

The code YouTube gives you loads its player, and its trackers, as soon as the page opens. Paste your link: you get a lighter, more respectful embed code, ready for WordPress.

Video link

YouTube (watch?v=, youtu.be, shorts, embed, with or without t=) or Vimeo (including an unlisted link with its h= code).

Video title (read by screen readers)Start (seconds or 1:30)ShapeSubtitle and player language

Subtitles on by defaultIf the video has them. Helpful for people watching without sound. Suggestions from your channel onlyYouTube: no videos from other channels at the end (rel=0).

Kind of code Facade: nothing loads before the clickAn image and a Play button; the player loads only when the visitor clicks. The lightest and most respectful option. Direct embed, privacy modeThe player loads with the page (youtube-nocookie.com, Vimeo with dnt=1). No script to add.

Everything happens in your browser: your link is sent to no one, not even our server.

What changes compared to YouTube's code

Standard code

Loads at once

The player, its scripts and Google's identifiers load as soon as the page opens, even if nobody watches the video.

About a megabyte per video, before anyone clicks.

Privacy mode

youtube-nocookie.com

YouTube says it does not use what visitors watch on your site to personalise their experience until they play the video. Vimeo's dnt=1 asks the player not to track the session.

Fewer traces, but the player still loads and can still use browser storage.

Facade

Nothing before the click

The page only shows an image and a button. The player is loaded when the visitor chooses to watch.

The most respectful option, and the fastest page.

Being honest about the limits

Privacy mode reduces what is stored; it does not eliminate it.

Once the video plays, it is streamed by Google or Vimeo, who receive the visitor's IP address and technical information, as with any embedded content. The facade's thumbnail, if you use YouTube's, comes from i.ytimg.com, a Google server: loading it sends the visitor's IP address to Google, but no cookie is set. To avoid even that, upload the image to your own site and paste its address in the “Facade image” field.

Quebec's Law 25 asks organisations to be transparent about the technologies that collect personal information. Loading third-party content only after a visitor's click makes that easier to explain in your privacy policy. This tool shows technical facts; it is not legal advice.

Adding it to WordPress

Add a “Custom HTML” blockWhere the video should appear, click +, type “HTML” and choose Custom HTML.
Paste the codeUse the Preview tab of the block to check it.
Facade: the script must surviveThe facade code ends with a small script. WordPress keeps it for administrators; on a multisite network or for editor accounts, it may be removed. In that case, the link still opens the video on YouTube in a new tab — or choose the direct embed.

Several videos on the same page? Paste each code: the script only runs once.

Accessibility

The title you enter becomes the title of the player and the label of the Play button: screen reader users know what they are about to launch. Subtitles on by default help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and anyone watching on a bus without earphones.