diff --git a/haruhi_dl/__init__.py b/haruhi_dl/__init__.py
index f4f6d8c63..95d0967e5 100644
--- a/haruhi_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/haruhi_dl/__init__.py
@@ -426,6 +426,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         'xattr_set_filesize': opts.xattr_set_filesize,
         'match_filter': match_filter,
         'no_color': opts.no_color,
+        'use_proxy_sites': opts.use_proxy_sites,
         'ffmpeg_location': opts.ffmpeg_location,
         'hls_prefer_native': opts.hls_prefer_native,
         'hls_use_mpegts': opts.hls_use_mpegts,
diff --git a/haruhi_dl/extractor/nitter.py b/haruhi_dl/extractor/nitter.py
index 9f06e1ac2..4b35158da 100644
--- a/haruhi_dl/extractor/nitter.py
+++ b/haruhi_dl/extractor/nitter.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from ..utils import (
     unified_timestamp,
     remove_end,
     determine_ext,
+    ExtractorError,
 )
 
 
@@ -76,12 +77,25 @@ class NitterSHIE(SelfhostedInfoExtractor):
         host, video_id = self._match_id_and_host(url)
         base_url = ('http://' if url.startswith('http://') else 'https://') + host
 
+        if self._downloader.params.get('use_proxy_sites') is False:
+            return self.url_result('https://twitter.com/i/web/status/' + video_id, ie='Twitter')
+
         if not webpage or '>Enable hls playback<' in webpage:
+            if self._downloader.params.get('use_proxy_sites') is None and not url.startswith('nitter:'):
+                return self.url_result('https://twitter.com/i/web/status/' + video_id, ie='Twitter')
+
             self._set_cookie(host, 'hlsPlayback', 'on')
             if url.startswith('nitter:'):
                 url = base_url + '/hdl/status/' + video_id
             webpage = self._download_webpage(url, video_id,
-                                             note='Re-downloading webpage for HLS data' if webpage else 'Downloading webpage')
+                                             note='Re-downloading webpage for HLS data' if webpage else 'Downloading webpage',
+                                             expected_status=(200, 429))
+
+        if '>Instance has been rate limited.<' in webpage:
+            if self._downloader.params.get('use_proxy_sites') is False:
+                raise ExtractorError('Instance has been rate limited', expected=True)
+            self.report_warning('Instance has been rate limited, falling back to Twitter')
+            return self.url_result('https://twitter.com/i/web/status/' + video_id, ie='Twitter')
 
         video_url = base_url + self._html_search_regex(r'(?:<video[^>]+data-url|<source[^>]+src)="([^"]+)"', webpage, 'video url')
         ext = determine_ext(video_url)
diff --git a/haruhi_dl/options.py b/haruhi_dl/options.py
index 63e11b517..aeb605b9f 100644
--- a/haruhi_dl/options.py
+++ b/haruhi_dl/options.py
@@ -198,6 +198,14 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         action='store_true', dest='no_color',
         default=False,
         help='Do not emit color codes in output')
+    general.add_option(
+        '--use-proxy-sites',
+        action='store_true', dest='use_proxy_sites',
+        help='Use proxy sites (like Nitter or Invidious) to download videos')
+    general.add_option(
+        '--no-use-proxy-sites',
+        action='store_false', dest='use_proxy_sites',
+        help='Use source sites to download videos')
 
     network = optparse.OptionGroup(parser, 'Network Options')
     network.add_option(