Private DownloaderPrivate Downloader and Video DownloadHelper
Video DownloadHelper is the best-known video downloader extension, and it has been around for almost twenty years. If you are choosing between the two, this page sets out where each one stands. Everything about Video DownloadHelper comes from its own pages and store listing, as of 29 September 2026.
| Private Downloader | Video DownloadHelper | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19, once | $39, once |
| Free stream downloads | Ten, with no cooldown | Three, then one every two hours |
| Direct files | Free without limit | Free without limit |
| Subtitles | Free: the track you choose, inside the video and as a .vtt file; picture subtitles as a .sup file | Premium only: one track, inside the video |
| Firefox for Android | Yes | No, desktop Firefox only |
| Chrome and Edge | Built, coming to both stores | Yes |
| Pause, and resume after closing the browser | Both | Not in its documentation |
| Live and multi-period DASH, Smooth Streaming | Yes | Not in its documentation |
| Where your license lives | A key checked offline on your device; lost keys can be claimed again at any time | An activation stored in your browser, which clearing browser data can remove; restored by an emailed link |
| Contact with its own server | None | Fetches detection rules every 24 hours, sending nothing |
| Problem reports | You copy a report with no page addresses and decide whether to send it | The Report button sends the page address, version, browser, and error details |
| Refund window | 30 days | One month |
Where Video DownloadHelper is ahead
- It speaks 29 languages to our seven.
- It has site-specific support for a number of sites, where Private Downloader works by format.
- It can save MKV and MP3 files; Private Downloader saves MP4, M4A, and WebM.
- It downloads from YouTube in Firefox and Edge; Private Downloader refuses YouTube everywhere.
- It has almost twenty years of history and millions of users.
What they share
Both refuse DRM, both need no account to start, both keep direct file downloads free, and both assemble streams in your browser without a separate application.
The ten free stream downloads let you try Private Downloader on your own sites first.
Sources
- downloadhelper.net/premium
- help.downloadhelper.net/article/29-non-premium-restrictions
- help.downloadhelper.net/article/26-subtitles
- help.downloadhelper.net/article/23-its-asking-me-to-buy-it-again
- help.downloadhelper.net/article/6-what-is-vdh
- downloadhelper.net/privacy
- addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper
Video DownloadHelper is a trademark of its owner; Private Downloader is not affiliated with it. If anything here has changed, email us and we will correct it.