Download your favorite clips with these video downloaders for Chrome

Best Video Downloaders for Chrome

Everyone loves watching videos, it’s a great way to stay entertained, catch up news, learn something new, etc. Sometimes, when you come across an interesting clip, you may want to download the video. An offline copy of it could be helpful for reference or educational purposes. How do you do that? We selected the best video downloaders for Chrome, and tell you what each one of these do.

List of video downloaders that you can use with Chrome

Video DownloadHelper

Video DownloadHelper Chrome Extension

Video DownloadHelper features & specifications summary

Rating: 3.5/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: Free
Features: Download videos from websites, Convert media

Pros

User-Friendly
Freemium
Detects media on web pages
Renames files automatically
Can convert videos

Cons

Not open source
Requires a companion application to be installed
Slow to download files
Videos converted by the free version have a watermark.
Does not support YouTube videos (Firefox version does)

This is one of the most popular video downloader extensions, and for good reason. It’s free, easy to use, and works quite reliably. Go to a video’s page, click the add-on’s button, choose the format and resolution you want to download the media in. Video DownloadHelper will do the rest. It even has a built-in video converter that helps you convert the downloaded media so you can play it on other devices.

There are a couple of things you need to know about the extension, it needs a companion program to download videos. The video converter function is sort of a freemium thing. While you can use it for free, Video DownloadHeloer’s converter adds a QR Code in the top left corner of the video, as a watermark. And this is not a small box, the QR Code is huge, and very distracting since it blocks the content behind it. Unless you want to pay for the premium license to remove the watermarks, you might as well just use the extension to download videos, and convert the videos manually with a third-party software.

Another issue with Video DownloadHelper is that it’s slow to download videos, even more so if you convert the media.

Download the Video DownloadHelper Chrome extension here.

Video Downloader Professional

Video Downloader Professional Chrome Extension

Video Downloader Professional features & specifications summary

Rating: 3.5/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: Free
Features: One-click method to download videos

Pros

Free
Easy to use
One-click download

Cons

Not Open Source
Does not support YouTube videos
Many options are locked behind a premium tier

Video Downloader Professional is an extension that can detect and download videos from online sources. Access the add-on’s menu click the button next to the listed video’s title to download the content. It doesn’t get simpler than this. The lack of support for YouTube videos can be overlooked, but the extension failed to detect videos on some websites. And even when it did, it does not allow you to choose the resolution or format to save it in. That’s because these options are locked behind a paywall. But the reason I’m recommending Video Downloader Professional, is because of its user-friendliness.

Download the Video Downloader Professional Chrome extension here.

Easy Video Downloader

Easy Video Downloader Chrome extension

Easy Video Downloader features & specifications summary

Rating: 3.5/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: Free(Open Source)
Features: User friendly way to download videos, multiple renaming options

Pros

Free (Open Source)
User-Friendly
Supports other download managers
Advanced Renaming Options

Cons

Does not support YouTube videos
Has issues downloading videos from social sites

Easy Video Downloader is another handy add-on that can fetch online media from pages. It is capable of handling advanced commands, and supports third-party download managers like IDM, so even if the official plugin fails, you can rely on this plugin. The extension offers renaming options which is a nice bonus. That said, Easy Video Downloader had issues detecting videos on Twitter, Facebook, while IDM had no trouble with those. The Chrome extension like all the other add-ons mentioned here does not support YouTube videos.

Download the Easy Video Downloader Chrome extension here.

Turbo Download Manager

Turbo Download Manager Chrome extension

Turbo Download Manager features & specifications summary

Rating: 4/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: Free (open source)
Features: Multi-threaded downloading, Good interface, No desktop application required

Pros

Free
Browser-based (no desktop program)
Multi-threaded downloading
Nice interface
Media link grabbing

Cons

Struggles with video detection, especially segmented media
Does not support YouTube videos

Turbo Download Manager is a nice replacement for the built-in download manager in Chrome. It has a nice interface to manage your queue. Multi-threading support is enabled by default, making the download process faster. The media grabber context menu option is handy for detecting images, audio and video content. All that’s left is to add the videos to the job queue, click the download button.

The lack of a desktop program means that Turbo Download Manager lacks support for YouTube videos. Unfortunately, it also falls short when trying to download videos from websites like Twitter, Facebook, where the media is embedded in the form of M3U8 playlists (segmented videos). The extension grabbed the playlist files which were a few KB in size instead of the media, making the files unusable. Strangely enough, it worked on other sites that I tried, including Steam video trailers.

Have you read our Turbo Download Manager review?

Download the Turbo Download Manager Chrome extension here.

Internet Download Manager

Internet Download Manager features & specifications summary

Rating: 4.8/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: $25 for a Lifetime License (Has a 30-day free trial)
Features: Multi-threaded downloading for high speed downloads, Media Grabber, Can download YouTube videos

Pros

User-friendly
Multithread downloading
Can grab media from almost any web page
Supports YouTube videos
Batch downloading
Has an official browser extension

Cons

Premium Software
Requires the desktop application to work
Does not support YouTube playlists
Windows only

Chrome extensions can only do so much, and even some of those we tested rely on a desktop program to function properly. If that’s the case, why not use a proper download manager which can do a better job?

Internet Download Manager doesn’t need any introduction. It is not just a video downloader, but the best file download program ever made. IDM, as it’s abbreviated by its users, comes with an official browser extension called IDM Integration Module. It serves as a link grabber, which excels at detecting and extracting media URLs. You can use it download images, files, music, and of course videos, from nearly any website.

Load a web page that contains a video (non-DRM), and you will see the “Download Video” button appear. Click on it, and you will find all the formats and resolutions that the media is available in. Select the one you like and it does the job for you. And yes, it supports YouTube videos too. The only thing it lacks is support for YouTube playlists, but you can get the links for all videos in the list using a third-party solution, and add them to IDM’s download queue. The main drawback regarding Internet Download Manager, is of course the premium price tag, but I think it’s worth its weight in gold.

Martin has good things to say about IDM in his review.

Download the Internet Download Manager extension here. Don’t to forget to pick the application from Tonec’s website.

Xtreme Download Manager

Xtreme Download Manager Chrome Extension

Xtreme Download Manager features & specifications summary

Rating: 4.8/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: Free (Open Source)
Features: Multi-threaded downloading, Supports YouTube videos, Cross-platform

Pros

Free (Open Source)
Linux, Windows
Has an official browser extension
Multi-threaded downloading
Batch Downloading
Media link grabbing
Video Converter

Cons

Needs a desktop program
Resource heavy (compared to IDM)

If you want a free alternative for Internet Download Manager, the best you can get is Xtreme Download Manager. XDM’s official browser extension can be used to download videos from most websites, and this includes YouTube media. The add-on works quite similar to IDM’s, just hit the download video button that pops-up, and let XDM fetch the files for you. It can even convert the videos into other formats. The open source program excels at regular downloads and supports multi-threading that allows downloading at the highest speeds, and you can use it to batch download files, making it a perfect replacement for its premium counterpart. My only complaint is that Xtreme Download Manager tends to use more resources than IDM.

Take a moment to read our XDM review to know more about it.

Download the Xtreme Download Manager Chrome extension here, and its desktop client from the developer’s website.

Neat Download Manager

Neat Download Manager Chrome Extension

Neat Download Manager features & specifications summary

Rating: 4.5/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: Free
Features: Multi-threaded downloading, Downloads videos from most sites

Pros

Free
User-friendly
Works with most websites
Has an official browser extension
Available for Windows, macOS

Cons

Not open source
Chrome extension does not work with YouTube (Firefox version does)

Neat Download Manager was quite the revelation when I tested it a few months ago. It is nearly at the same level as XDM and IDM. I had no trouble downloading videos from most websites, thanks to the official browser extension, except of course when it came to YouTube videos. But as mentioned throughout the article, that is a Chrome webstore limitation, the Firefox extension of NDM does not suffer from this flaw.

Read my review of Neat Download Manager to see why I liked the program.

Download the Neat Download Manager Chrome extension here, and the main program from the official website.

Free Download Manager

Free Download Manager Chrome extension

Free Download Manager features & specifications summary

Rating: 4.5/5
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi
Pricing: Free
Features: Multi-threaded downloading, Can download YouTube videos

Pros

Free
Supports YouTube videos
Offers multiple resolutions when available

Cons

Not Open source
Does not work with segmented videos e.g. Twitter, Vimeo

Free Download Manager used to be my favorite along with Orbit Downloader over 10 years ago. While the latter has been discontinued, the former is still in good shape. FDM’s desktop client has a good interface which looks better than the legacy version, which makes it user-friendlier than before. The official Free Download Manager extension offers easy integration with the main program. Use the right-click menu in Chrome to access FDM’s options, to find and download videos on the web page. The application shows you a preview of the content that it’s downloading.

The only flaw in it is the way it handles segmented videos which can be found on Twitter, Vimeo and other sites. FDM downloaded the playlist files, which seems to be a common issue with some of the other extensions here.

Check out our review of Free Download Manager.

Download the Free Download Manager Chrome extension here, and the standalone client from the official website.

List of popular Chrome video downloaders that are worth trying

Download with JDownloader

Pros

Free
Easy-to-use

Cons

Requires a desktop program

This free browser plugin adds support for a popular free download manager called JDownloader. You may know it as JDownloader2. The Java-based program supports multi-threading, is easy to use. The Download with JDownloader extension makes it even simpler to use the program, by eliminating the need to paste links from the browser.

Why is Download with JDownloader not included in our recommended Chrome video downloaders?

The browser extension (perfectly safe to use) is made by a third-party developer, but doesn’t work without the desktop program. This is where the water gets a bit murky. The default installer for JDownloader ships with some adware, which is why it didn’t make it to our recommended list of Chrome video downloaders. But the developer offers a clean adware-free version which you can get from the official website, it’s safe to use. (VirusTotal link for reference).

Bulk Media Downloader

Pros

Free
Detects media files on the web page
Captures the media links
Supports external applications like IDM

Cons

Not the most user-friendly of extensions
Slow to detect media
Doesn’t work with YouTube videos
Cannot download segmented media

The Bulk Media Downloader extension can detect media content that are available on the current web-page. You can use the list to extract the links, send them to an external program like IDM, or download the files using a custom command.

Why Bulk Media Downloader wasn’t included in our list of video downloaders for Chrome?

Bulk Media Downloader is slow to detect the media content on the page, so you will be waiting around for it to finish grabbing the links. Speaking of which, you can use the links and download them with Turbo Download Manager, also from the same developer, which I think is a functionally better choice.

Frequently asked questions about video downloaders for Chrome

Why can’t I download YouTube videos with these extensions?

Google does not allow Chrome extensions to download YouTube videos, since it is against its streaming service’s terms of use. However XDM, IDM, and similar standalone programs can download the media, and since their extensions are merely considered as link grabbers, the plugins do not violate the rules of the web store.

I found a Chrome extension that can download YouTube videos, is it safe to use?

As mentioned above, Google forbids extensions on its web store from downloading YouTube videos. Any add-on that claims it can download these videos, even if it is legit, will likely get removed from the webstore soon. But chances are the plugin is a malicious one, and is just trying to trick users into downloading it.

What if I use a different browser, can I use these extensions to download the videos?

No, and yes. No, because all Chromium based browsers like Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi rely on the Chrome webstore for extensions, and hence suffer from the same limitation. The only exception to this is Opera, which has its own add-ons, but it doesn’t seem to have any video downloader extensions that are better than the ones we have mentioned here.

Yes, but you will have to use Mozilla Firefox. The AMO has all these video downloader extensions (and more) and they do the job just fine.

Can I use these extensions to download videos from streaming services?

You may use the extensions and download managers to get videos from free services like Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, etc. As long as the plugin can capture the streaming URL, you will be able to download the videos.

However, you cannot use these software on premium streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. Not only is that illegal, but also the videos are encrypted. Even if you somehow manage to download the video, you will not be able to play the media in your video player because of the embedded DRM (usually Widevine).

Can I use the XDM or IDM extension without installing the programs?

No. The extensions send the link from the browser to the download manager, and that is all they do. The file downloads are handled by the desktop applications.

Bottom line/Conclusion

It is very difficult to pick one of the extensions as the best video downloaders, considering they all have some limitations. Video DownloadHelper is the one I’d select, since it worked on most sites. But if we take YouTube videos into consideration, Internet Download Manager, Xtreme Download Manager, and Neat Download Manager are the top options. Choosing between those three boils down to the price tag, and being free programs, XDM and NDM have a slight edge over the lone premium offering, IDM.

If you want standalone video downloaders, take a look at the command-line tool youtube-dl, or if you prefer a GUI version, youtube-dlp and TarTube are quite nice. Despite being touted as YouTube downloaders, these programs support many services.

Don’t forget to check our best security extensions, and ad blockers for Chrome, to stay safe while you browse the internet.

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