Niconico is Japan's largest original video-hosting platform where cover multiple channels including anime, games, entertainment, cuisine, music, nature, and more. It let users easily watch popular anime like Naruto, Dragon ball, Pokémon, etc. as well as upload, and share own video clips. But the site often comes with low image quality and frequent lags during crowded hours. To solve it, you'd better download from Niconico with workable Nicovideo downloaders.
Cisdem Video Converter
Free Download macOS 10.13 or later
Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
Cisdem Video Converter is a safe and powerful Niconico video downloader for Mac and Windows. Not only does it allow you to download videos from Niconico but from YouTube, Bilibili, AcFun, Chrunchyroll, Twitch, Vimeo, Hulu, and more. It also has the ability to download any Japanese drama, anime, music, OST, and movies from other websites.
Besides downloading Nicovideo HD videos fast and safely with the simple URLs, this software can also make the downloaded Nico videos into many other formats like AVI, TS, MKV, MOV, MP3, etc., or even into other formats for third-party devices, like iPhone, iPad, LG TV, Sony TV, Panasonic TV, Android phones, iPod, etc.
Step 1. Download the app on your system. Launch it once the installation process is complete.
Free Download macOS 10.13 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
Step 2. Visit Niconico website on your browser. Find the video you desire to download, then copy its URL.
You can copy the URL from the white bar at the top of the browser. Or right click on the video and select the first option.
Step 3. Download Niconico Videos to Computer.
Return to Cisdem Video Converter, and go to the "download" interface by clicking the 
button.
Paste the copied video address to the blank box at the bottom. Click “+” to parse out the contained video, then click on the Start button to begin the download process.
Pro tip: The software support batch Nicovideo download, so you can continue to add other video links to it before starting to download all videos in one click.
Step 4. Convert Niconico to MP3, FLAC, WAV, etc. (optional)
After downloading, you will get Nico Nico videos in MP4 format. If you intend to convert them to different kinds of media formats, you can:
1. Hit the 
icon to open the folder where stores the downloaded Nicovideos.
2. Drag and drop videos to the "convert" interface.
3. Open the format drop-down box and choose the outputs.
4. Click the Start button placed in the bottom right corner.
Many video downloaders like Nukabira, Kode, VidMate, etc. on Android have geographic restrictions and do not allow you to open the Nicovideo website using its built-in browser. But iTubeGo YouTube Downloader for Android is such one that can work well with Nicovideo.
Don't be fooled by the name. Actually, it's also a decent Nico Nico video downloader for Android. The app makes it easy to save Nicovideo to MP4, MP3, AAC, and M4A. You can download multiple videos from Nicovideo at the same time.
Documents by Readdle is a superior Nicovideo downloader for iOS devices. Due to the embedded browser, it is able to download videos from any websites safely and easily in a few clicks. In addition to prowess in downloading, it can also manage files, play media files, edit photos, sync your content to cloud services and more. Upon possessing it, it ensures you have an ultimate experience with it.
Gettvid.com is a free web service to download Niconico videos online. It includes more 200+ websites, like YouTube, Twitter, SendVid, DVTV, Pear Video, Voot, YouNow, Vidme, Nowness, etc. Although the tool can grab all video resolutions and save a video within a few steps, it's merely able to download Nicovideo to MP4 and MP3 format.
Awesome NicoNico Downloader is a Niconico video downloader for Chrome and Firefox powered by fbion.com. The tool lets you download video, thumbnail, avatar from Nicovideo, and copy the video tags and owner id. As a multilingual extension, you are able to change it panel to a language you are familiar with.
However, it can merely download Nicovideo to TS format (no audio format options), which makes it incompatible with many portable devices.
In my tests, it failed to save videos in most cases. Furthermore, there is no better Nicovideo downloader Chrome extension or add-on for people to choose, either can’t read data from the site or can only download a small part of the whole video. So, you’d better choose other ways to accomplish your download task.
Niconico, previously called Nico Nico Douga (ニコニコ動画), is designed to provide interesting Japanese video content. Its anime, computer games and pop music are widely loved by otaku. The biggest feature of Niconico is that it can publish real-time barrage (コメント机能, danmu, bullet comments). That means your comments responding to the events in the video will also be seen by viewers.
To download the original Nico video, in addition to use a great Niconico downloader, another condition needs to be met as well. Upgrade to premium member or download video from Nicovideo at low peak.
Niconico carries out low-quality economy mode to save the line bandwidth, which lead to a low bit rate videos and sounds. Only VIP members can watch high image quality all the day, even during congestion. If general members want to get high-quality playback, you have to avoid peak periods (e.g. 10:00 - 22:00, holiday, weekend) to enjoy and download videos.
I must emphasize that you can’t download paid Nico Nico videos. These videos are protected by copyright. Even if you are a premium member, you can only download JASRAC trust songs and the time-shift data of your own live user broadcast program.
Of course, you can! Just execute the command line yt-dlp nicovideo url in Mac or Windows terminal to download Niconico videos or playlists. It is, however, targeted exclusively at proficient users and coding technology experts. yt-dlp installation is very complex. The average user doesn't know how to operate it. If you're interested, you can read some tutorials.
By reaching this line, you should have learned how to download Niconico videos on computer and mobile by adopting various methods. I will always recommend professional Nicovideo downloaders such as Cisdem Video Converter, which can download & convert hundreds of Nico Nico videos and preserve the quality.
I am not very satisfied with the Chrome and Firefox plugins, which have many bugs during my tests. If you want to download videos without installing extra software, the online video downloader is a decent choice.
Emily is a girl who loves to review various multimedia software. She enjoys exploring cutting edge technology and writing how-to guides. Hopefully her articles will help you solve your audio, video, DVD and Blu-ray issues.
