Top 3 Ways to Download YouTube Videos to WebM, Free Incl.

MP4 is the most commonly used format when downloading YouTube videos, the other native YouTube format - WebM - is not often selected. Actually, WebM is a newer video format featuring high quality compression, which makes it an ideal choice for downloading HD YouTube videos, helping to save bandwidth, speed up download and save storage space. In this article, I will show you how to download YouTube videos to WebM in 3 best ways, including the best downloaders for computer and mobile, online tool, and command-line utilities.

 Cisdem Video Converter

Best YouTube to WebM Converter

• Download YouTube videos in WebM (VP9) and MP4
• Support all quality levels including 1080p, 4K and 8K
• Batch download videos, shorts, live streams and playlists/channels in one click
• Save private, region/age restricted videos from YouTube with cookies access
• Download videos and music from over 1000 websites like Vimeo, Bilibili, Onlyfans, Twitter and more
• Also convert/compress/edit local videos and rip DVDs
• User-friendly and secure, no ads or trackers

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.12 or later

Why Choose WebM Over Other Formats for YouTube Video Download

• YouTube uses both MP4 and WebM for video streaming, and WebM with VP9 codec often provides a better quality to file size ratio. This is quite noticeable when the video is large, here’s an example of a YouTube video I tested:

  Resolution	Download format (codec)	File size
  4K	MP4 (VP9)	8.15 GB
  	WebM (VP9)	7.0 GB
  1080P	MP4 (AVC)	1.4 GB
  	WebM (VP9)	718 MB
  720P	MP4 (AVC)	1.2 GB
  	WebM (VP9)	403 MB

   

• While MP4 is most appreciated for its high compatibility, WebM has also been widely supported by modern web browsers including Chrome, Edge, Safari, and popular players, ensuring smooth playback.

Therefore, if you intend to preserve YouTube video in good quality with smaller size, WebM can be a good download option.

Download YouTube Video to WebM with Efficient Downloader Software

#1. Cisdem Video Converter (for Windows & Mac)

Desktop software like Cisdem Video Converter can bulk download YouTube videos to WebM quickly and safely. It allows users to download YouTube videos in WebM and MP4 in all resolutions, up to 8K, with sound. What’s more, you can even use it to download private content such as Watch Later playlist and mixes that require sign-in.

More than just a video downloader, this converter can also be used as a video compressor, transcoder, editor and DVD ripper, helping users to manage video library with ease and efficiency.

Download the program from the download buttons below and follow the instructions to download YouTube videos to WebM. It allows you to try for free before purchasing a lifetime license.

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.12 or later

Instructions:

1. Launch Cisdem Video Converter, and click the third tab on the top to access the Video Download module.
2. Copy the link of the YouTube video you want, and paste it into the URL box at the bottom of Cisdem. Click the + icon or press Enter on your keyboard to parse the URL.
3. When the video is loaded, click Format drop-down list to determine the video format and quality you need. And normally the best quality format is auto selected.
4. To specify the output location for the downloaded files, click the “Save to” box (Windows) or click File > “Save Convert Folder to..”(Mac).
5. Click the Start button orthe arrow-down icon to start downloading YouTube videos to your computer as WebM files.
6. You can view the download progress bar and pause & resume the download as you like. When the download is finished, click a blue Checkmark icon to quickly locate the downloaded video file in the folder.

More tips:

1. Cisdem allows users to add URLs in batch, which is convenient when you need to download many videos. On Windows, click the icon  at bottom left corner; on Mac version, click File > Input URLs.

2. It includes a video converter (first tab) that lets you convert local media between hundreds of formats and device profiles, so you don’t need to worry about any compatibility problem in the future.

#2. YTDLnis (for Android)

If you want to download YouTube videos to your Phone, then WebM format is a suitable option for saving space. YTDLnis is a free and powerful video downloader app for Android, capable of converting YouTube videos to WebM and MP4 in full HD 1080p and more. It provides useful features such as cutting the video and splitting the video by chapters.

It’s not available in the Google Play store due to copyright issues, but you can download the APK installer directly from the official site.

How to download YouTube to WebM on Android devices:

1. Visit https://ytdlnis.com/ and download the latest version of the APK file.
2. Enable unknown sources in your phone’s settings, then tap on the APK file to install the app.
3. Launch the downloader and paste a YouTube link into the search bar.
4. Select "WebM" as the video container format, choose a video quality, then tap the Download button.
5. Go to the "Downloads" section to find your downloaded video files.

Note: Apple strictly prohibits YouTube downloader apps in the App Store, iOS users can use online downloader in the next part. Also, WebM is still not natively supported by iPhone and iPad, so you may need a third-party player to watch the video, such as VLC for iOS.

Use Best Online YouTube to WebM Converter

Cobalt.tools is a powerful ad-free online video download service that can convert YouTube video to WebM with VP9 or AV1 codecs, supporting 4K quality. This site looks much cleaner than other ad-supported online sites. It’s free to use and you can support the developer with a donation.

While it seems like a perfect converter without installation required, I found that the downloaded WebM videos sometimes lagging and stuttering (especially Full HD videos), which I’ve never encountered with software downloads. So after you download a YouTube video online, it’s best to open it and drag the progress bar forward/back to check it.

How to download YuoTube to WebM online:

1. Visit https://cobalt.tools/, click settings from the left zone, then click video. Here you need to set a preferred video quality and choose vp9(WebM) as the output format.
2. Click save, paste the YouTube link to the box, and click “>>” icon to begin the download process in the browser.
3. Locate the video in your browser's downloads folder.

Download YouTube Videos to WebM with Command-line tools

Yt-dlp is a free and open source command-line utility designed to extract video and audio from YouTube and many other supported sites. It doesn’t provide a user-friendly interface, and you need to use it in a command-line interpreter. And in order to download HD video from YouTube, FFmpeg, another command-line tool, must be installed to merge downloaded video and audio files. It require a steep learning curve for beginners.

Steps to download a YouTube video in WebM using command-line tools:

1. Install yt-dlp and FFmpeg on your computer.
2. Open Command Prompt(on Windows) or Terminal(on Mac).
3. Type cd [folder] to specify a location to save the videos, e.g. cd Downloads.
4. To view available formats of your desired YouTube video, type yt-dlp -F "URL". Find the WebM video & audio file in preferred quality and remember the ID code from the list.
5. Type yt-dlp -f Format-ID “URL”, and press Enter. Then yt-dlp will start to download YouTube video in the specified format. For example, if I want to download the example video in 720p WebM format, use the command: yt-dlp -f 247+250 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee0Qh_nIoHw"

Final Words

By using any of the 3 above tools, you can download YouTube videos to WebM without conversion, keeping the original high quality with compact file size. And there is no doubt that Cisdem Video Converter provides best user experience with fast downloads and rich features.

If you encounter issues like failed download, playback problems, corrupted file, etc., try to update the download tool to the latest version, or switch to another method. You're welcome to leave a comment below or send email to our support team if you have further questions.