Niconico Douga video downloader
Paste a Niconico Douga watch link and ClipVault returns the video renditions the site exposes — commonly 360p and 240p on its older uploads — plus an MP3. Public videos work; region-locked and login-required ones cannot be read.
- No sign-up
- No watermark
- No daily limit
How it works
- 01
Copy the watch URL
Open the video on nicovideo.jp and copy the address, which looks like nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9. Short links work as long as they resolve to that watch page. The IDs are stable, so a link saved years ago still names the same upload today.
- 02
Paste it and check the tiers
The parse asks Niconico for the video streams and lists what comes back. On our sm9 reference case that is 360p and 240p — two entries, no 1080p — because that is the ladder the site publishes for it, not a limit of the parser itself.
- 03
Download, or take the audio
Pick a rendition and the server pulls the stream with yt-dlp, muxes it with ffmpeg when the container needs it, and sends back an MP4. Nothing is drawn over the picture, and nothing is re-encoded beyond what producing a single file requires.
What this page actually does
- Tiers on sm9
- 360p and 240p, plus MP3
- Language
- Japanese site; Japanese watch links are accepted as they are
- Access
- Public videos only; some are region-locked or need a login
- Length cap
- 2 hours per video
- Account required
- No account needed for a public video
- Concurrency
- 2 downloads at once; 1 per IP
Questions about Niconico
Why do I only see 360p and 240p?
Because those are the renditions Niconico publishes for the video you asked for — sm9, our oldest reference case, returns exactly those two. The parser lists every stream it is handed, and a page that offers no 720p cannot be upgraded from this side.
Does it work on a Japanese-only page?
Yes. The site interface is in Japanese and the downloader reads the watch URL rather than the page text, so 「日本語のニコニコ動画のリンクにも対応」しています. Titles, tags and descriptions written in Japanese need no translation before a parse, and nothing in the pipeline reads the page language at all.
Why does a video fail because of my region?
Some Niconico uploads are geo-restricted, and a few require a logged-in account. Both conditions are checked on the platform's side, so the request is refused before any stream is returned. There is no workaround here, and credentials are never requested.
Is Niconico the same thing as Nico Nico Douga?
Yes, the same service under two names. Niconico is the site; Nico Nico Douga is the older and longer name of its video section. Links written either way resolve to the same nicovideo.jp watch pages, so pasting one is no different from pasting the other.
Can I download a video I can only preview?
No. If the site shows you a preview instead of the full video, the server receives the same preview or nothing at all. Downloads follow what the platform will serve to an anonymous request, not what your own session happens to have unlocked through a subscription.
How long can a Niconico video be?
Two hours per video, a ceiling that covers essentially every upload on the platform. Longer requests are refused before the transfer starts, which also keeps the two-job concurrency limit from being spent on a single file for its whole duration.
Does it work on very old uploads?
Yes, and old uploads are most of the archive. Niconico keeps watch IDs stable, so a link from a decade ago still resolves to the same video and the same stored renditions. Expect the modest ladder on those files rather than a modern set of tiers.
Where do I get just the audio?
Use the Niconico to MP3 page with the same link. Vocaloid uploads, utaite covers and music videos are usually wanted as audio, and that route skips the video stream instead of downloading an MP4 and stripping the sound out afterwards.
Niconico is an unusual case: a deep archive, a modest rendition ladder, and a real language barrier for anyone outside Japan. This page reads the watch URL, lists the tiers that actually exist for that video, and stops there. If the ladder looks small on an old upload, that is the platform answering, not the parser guessing. One public link is all the parser needs, and an account is never part of the request.
One link is all the Niconico downloader needs.
Open the downloader