I recently launched SocialSave Hub (https://socialsavehub.com) — a free browser-based tool to download videos from Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X. Here's a quick look at how it works technically.
Architecture
Pure PHP 8.2, MVC pattern, no framework, no Composer. Hosted on shared hosting. The whole thing runs without Node.js, no npm, no build step.
How Scraping Works
Each platform has a scraper with a fallback chain:
Instagram: graphql → embed_page → page_source
Facebook: mobile_page → page_source
Twitter: syndication_api → fxtwitter_api → oembed
The scrapers hit public CDN URLs — no authentication bypassing, only publicly accessible content.
Stack
- Backend: PHP 8.2, PDO, custom router
- Frontend: Tailwind CDN + vanilla JS
- DB: MySQL 8.0
- No Composer, no npm
Key Design Decisions
- No watermarks — deliver the original CDN file directly
- No login required — zero friction for users
- Rate limiting — IP-based, stored in DB
- Cache layer — 30-min TTL on extracted URLs to reduce CDN load
The full tool is live at https://socialsavehub.com — supports Instagram Reels, Facebook videos, Twitter/X videos and GIFs.