Show HN: A drop-in, open-source replacement for YouTube embed iframes

#1

Post by corentin88 » Sun, Apr 19, 2026, 5:44 PM UTC

Hi HN! I built this some time ago to reduce the load size of YT iframes. It's serving us very well since then. Hope it'll help you too.

Show HN: A drop-in, open-source replacement for YouTube embed iframes
embedlite.com

Re: Show HN: A drop-in, open-source replacement for YouTube embed iframes

#2

Post by gisanokharu » Sun, Apr 19, 2026, 11:17 PM UTC

the iframe bloat problem is real. been using lite-youtube-embed for similar reasons. curious how yours compares - do you render the thumbnail server-side or client-side, and how do you handle the cookie consent modal that youtube forces now

Re: Show HN: A drop-in, open-source replacement for YouTube embed iframes

#3

Post by corentin88 » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 7:07 AM UTC

gisanokharu wrote: post #2

the iframe bloat problem is real. been using lite-youtube-embed for similar reasons. curious how yours compares - do you render the thumbnail server-side or client-side, and how do you handle the cookie consent modal that youtube forces now

It's a static site that renders the youtube thumbnail + a red play button. When you click on it, it loads the youtube iframe. So it's basically deferring the cookie consent and all.

We implemented it as a drop-in replacement:

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Nothing else needed.