Need Advice from Experienced Users to Scale Up YT-DLP Downloader

[scapper_0x]

I'm facing a scalability issue with my current setup getting detected and blocked too quickly. I've built a programmatic downloader using yt-dlp that supports TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Here’s how my current system works:

• I run everything on a single Virtual Machine (via VirtualBox).
• Inside that VM, I run 7 Surfshark VPN containers, each exposing a SOCKS5 proxy.
• Due to Surfshark’s terms of service, I’m limited to using 7 concurrent VPN/proxy connections.

To manage this, I divide these 7 proxies into two groups:

1. Usage Proxies (e.g., 4 ports) – These are actively used for downloading, with each proxy handling one video at a time.
2. Fallback Proxies (e.g., 3 ports) – These remain idle unless a Usage proxy gets flagged, throttled, or blocked. When that happens, the system automatically switches to a Fallback proxy to maintain continuity.

Even with this fallback logic, my IPs still get flagged quickly — likely because Surfshark IPs are already heavily used or blacklisted. As a result, I can only manage 20–40 downloads per day, which is far below my requirement of 1,000–1,500 videos daily.

My Questions:​

• Is there a better way to scale up this setup without hitting IP bans so quickly?

NOTE: I don't have an additional budget, so I need to scale my process using the resources I already have.

Any insights, especially from those who've handled large-scale yt-dlp workloads, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Proxy Cake]

I don't think so honestly, using VPN's probably isn't a scalable solution because like you said they will be heavily abused. You could have a pool of Static proxies to do this however

 

[scapper_0x]

I don't think so honestly, using VPN's probably isn't a scalable solution because like you said they will be heavily abused. You could have a pool of Static proxies to do this however

That makes sense — but wouldn’t static proxies end up getting abused or flagged the same way VPN IPs do, especially if traffic patterns look automated?

 

[Backlink Guru]

that setup's solid, but yeah, surfshark IPs get flagged fast since they’re shared and overused. to scale without extra budget, maybe try rotating your download timing more randomly and throttle the speed slightly to act more “human.” also consider using public or university IPs sparingly if you have access, they’re often less flagged. you could test using lightweight headless browsers with delays too, instead of just straight yt-dlp hits. anyone else here cracked stable scaling without premium proxy spend?