There are two main alternatives, AFAIK:
PeerTube is a federated video sharing platform, which is based on WebTorrent and ActivityPub. There aren't too many creators there yet, but here's a list of the channels I follow: https://lt27.de/jAyUHD
A YouTube frontend will provide YouTube videos with no ads or tracking. Here are a few that I like:
There are also apps:
https://www.privacyguides.org/en/frontends/#youtube
Peer tube is probably the closest open source freedom loving network, but the content is sparse now.
piped.kavin.rocks or Freetube on PC, Yattee on iOS, Libretube on Android, SmartTubeNext on TV
Nebula costs ~$15/year. The content is mostly great, mobile app is a disaster.
Invidous is a libre frontend for YouTube. Find a trusted public instance or start up your own.
Odysee
The moderation on Odysee is horrible, generally should avoid.
A real alternative of YouTube sadly don't exist, you can only stay private, using some front-ends (Piped, CloudTube, Invidious, etc.), a desktop-client, like FreeTube, or search and watch the YouTube video sandboxed in the search results of Andisearch. (Andi is an AI Search Assistant and one of the most privacy protecting search engine, anonymous, no account needed, no logs, no ads, no tracking, no SEO crap)
I believe that Odysee and LBRY (the blockchain-based back end technology Odysee sprung from and draws on) are separate companies with different people running them.
You don't have to touch crypto or use any crypto features to use Odysee, so I'd still suggest it as a platform in the toolbelt in addition to a lot of the other great recommendations you've already gotten here in other replies.
You can always use a privacy Frontend like Yattee, freetube or piped/invidious
I haven't checked it out in about 5 years, but PeerTube instances could be worth checking out.
It's actually surprising no-one else said it, since it's open source and federated (just like Lemmy is)
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