7 Best Niconico Downloaders Tested in 2026: MP4 & Audio Guide

Niconico (ニコニコ動画) has a rich library of Japanese ACGN culture, including official anime and exclusive user-generated content. But it doesn't provide a download service. What's worse, if you don't have a subscription, the quality of online viewing can be down to 360p or even 144p during peak hours.

Whether you want to download from Niconico to bypass the annoying peak-hour buffering or you just need a straightforward way to build your own Vocaloid collection, you need a reliable Niconico downloader that actually works. I tested 7 tools, including a dedicated desktop program, online downloaders, and add-ons, to share my experience of finding the best Niconico downloader available today.

How Did I Test Niconico Downloader?

I tested desktop software and web tools on both a Windows 11 Pro (23H2) rig and a MacBook Air running macOS Sonoma to ensure cross-platform compatibility. The Internet is a stable 500 Mbps fiber-optic connection. To show the most objective results, I tested by downloading the same 2 videos: 

1. Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活, 4th season #77 (about 24 minutes, encrypted)
2. ビッグ・ラヴ・ミュージック - 初音ミクV6 (about 5 minutes, not encrypted)

Each tool was graded on four main criteria:

• Output Quality: Can it bypass the free-tier limitations and download in 720p and 1080p?
• Success Rate: Does the tool actually cross the finish line, or does it freeze halfway because Niconico just tweaked its site code again?
• User Experience: Are you going to get bombarded by sketchy, flashing ads, or is the interface actually clean and easy to handle?
• Audio Extraction: Can you use it to seamlessly strip away the video and grab high-bitrate MP3 or M4A files for your playlist?

Review: Professional Desktop Niconico Downloader

If you're tired of dealing with endless shady redirects or messing around with complicated settings, a dedicated desktop app like KeepStreams is the way to go. It just cuts straight to the chase.

KeepStreams works based on an internal browser, so that it can directly extract the original streams from Niconico, skipping the heavy re-encoding process. Apart from Niconico, it supports 180+ video sites, such as Bilibili, Gaia, NHK, Plex, etc.

After downloading Niconico videos into MP4 files with KeepStreams, they are not affected by peak-hour DRM changes and stay 1080p forever offline. Here's how to use this Niconico downloader:

If the video or the quality you want to get is only available for Premium users, you need to log in to your Niconico account first.

If there is no such orange download button, refresh the page and try again.

In a pop-up window, you can choose the resolution, format, audio, subtitles, etc. If you just want to save a Vocaloid song and play it offline on phones, like me, change the "Download as" to Audio. It's very convenient. Click on Download Now to start.

Wait for 2 minutes, the videos will be saved in local folders, just like the following pic shows:

Review: Web-Based Online Niconico Downloaders

While online downloaders sound convenient, my deep review revealed a much harsher reality.

First, almost none of these web tools can download premium-exclusive videos (such as the latest premium-locked seasonal anime episodes).

Second, the vast majority of top-ranking online downloaders are essentially bait, designed to push you toward other paid desktop products rather than providing a genuine one-click download, such as TUBEOFFLINE, TUBENINJA, and AmoyShare (Best Nicovideo Downloader). Be careful.

Available Online Niconico Downloader in 2026: PasteDownload

In a sea of non-functional and deceptive web tools, PasteDownload is one of the very few top-ranking options that genuinely lives up to its promise. In my testing, it successfully analyzed both the anime and the music video:

But it can only download the free-to-watch music video. There is no audio extraction option, and the ads are aggressive. What's worse, I found that the downloaded video can't be opened directly on my Mac. We need a more powerful player like VLC that can handle more video formats.

Review: Browser Extensions

Browser extensions also offer a "one-click" solution right on the playback page. I tested these on Chrome and Firefox, and the first thing I found is that the recent 2026 Chrome Manifest V3 updates really have broken many legacy ad-blockers and downloaders.

When it comes to browser extensions, Video DownloadHelper might be the first one you think of. Unfortunately, this "Swiss Army knife" of a tool doesn't seem to work on Niconico at the moment.

Available Extensions for Niconico in 2026: Nico Downloader

We need a more specific extension, such as nico downloader. In my testing of 5 video downloader extensions, it's the only one that can successfully download videos from Niconico.

Here's how I set and used nico downloader to download from Niconico:

After adding the extension from the Chrome Web Store, open any Niconico video. Click the extension's settings button located at the bottom right of your screen. In the menu that pops up, you must turn OFF "Initial Setup Mode". If you skip this, your downloads will fail.

Refresh the video page. Wait for about 2 seconds, and a dedicated "[video ID].mp4 Save" button will automatically appear at the bottom right corner of the video player.

Click the button. The extension will automatically run the download and conversion process in the background to stitch the video and audio together (in the highest available quality up to 720p). If you only want a separate audio file, just change the setting to AAC.