GrabletStreams: HLS and DASH
Save a streamed video as one MP4.
When a site plays video from an m3u8 or DASH playlist, Grablet puts the pieces back together in your browser.
Most video sites no longer serve one file. They serve a playlist of hundreds of short segments that the player stitches together as you watch. Grablet sees the playlist the page loads, fetches the segments from the site itself, and joins them into one MP4 on your computer. Nothing is uploaded, and the picture is never re-encoded.
Free and unlimited. No account, no tracking, no watermarks.
Your browser will ask for access to websites. That is how Grablet sees media on the page you are on. Nothing is ever sent to us. Why it needs that
On Android, install Grablet in Firefox for Android. Also available on desktop Chrome, Edge and Firefox. Grablet is not available in Chrome for Android or Firefox on iOS.
How to save an HLS or DASH stream
- Install Grablet from the Chrome Web Store, Microsoft Edge Add-ons or Firefox Add-ons. There is no sign-up.
- Open the page and start the video, so the player loads its playlist.
- Open Grablet from the toolbar. Streams are listed under Streams, marked HLS/DASH, with the qualities on offer. Click ⤓ and Grablet assembles and saves it.
The MP4 lands in your Downloads folder, filed under the site’s name.
What it handles
- HLS (.m3u8) playlists, including master playlists with several qualities. Grablet takes the best H.264 rendition, which every player opens, and tells you how many qualities were on offer.
- HLS with AES-128 encryption, the clear-key kind many sites use against hotlinking. The key is fetched like any other part of the stream and the segments are decrypted in your browser.
- DASH (.mpd) manifests with H.264 video and a sound track, joined into one MP4.
- Picture and sound served as two separate tracks, joined into one file with sound.
- Live HLS streams, recorded until you press ■, the stream ends, or nothing new arrives.
- No re-encoding. Segments are copied into the MP4 as the site sent them. MPEG-TS segments that are not H.264 are saved as a .ts file instead.
Subtitles, saved as .srt
When an HLS stream offers subtitle tracks, the popup shows a Subtitles menu. Pick a language and Grablet saves it beside the video as an .srt file, with the duplicate lines streams repeat across segments removed, where most desktop players pick it up on their own. Grablet remembers the language you chose. Subtitles from DASH streams are not supported yet.
Long videos, written to disk as they arrive
An HLS save is written to your browser’s private file storage as the segments arrive, in runs of about 16 MB, instead of being held in memory. A file of several hundred megabytes comes out whole, and nothing is refused for size. When the last segment is in, the file goes to your Downloads folder like any other save.
Free while Grablet is in beta
Assembling streams is free for everyone until 9 March 2027. After that, Free keeps three engine saves a day and Grablet Pro keeps it unlimited. Plain files a site serves directly are always free and unlimited.
What it won’t do
- It does not take a pasted m3u8 link. Grablet finds streams in what the page loads, in links on the page and on the right-click menu, on the sites it is switched on for.
- Streams with SAMPLE-AES encryption are refused, with a message that says so.
- DRM-protected services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video are blocked outright.
And, as everywhere: not YouTube. Store policy in that case, the law in the DRM one. No setting unlocks either.
Questions
What is an m3u8 file?
An m3u8 is a playlist, not a video. It lists the short segments, a few seconds each, that make up the video, often in several qualities. Saving the .m3u8 file alone gives you a small text file. Grablet fetches every segment it lists and joins them into one MP4 you can play anywhere.
Will the quality drop?
No. Nothing is re-encoded, so the picture is exactly what the site sent. Grablet takes the highest-quality H.264 rendition the playlist offers and copies its segments into the file.
Does it work in Firefox?
Yes. Saving streams works the same in Chrome, Edge and Firefox 140 or later.
Can it save a live stream?
An HLS live stream, yes: it records from the moment you start until you press ■ or the stream ends. DASH live streams are not supported.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The segments come from the site to your browser, are joined there and saved to your disk. Nothing passes through a server of ours.
Also in Grablet
Free and unlimited. No account, no tracking, no watermarks.
Your browser will ask for access to websites. That is how Grablet sees media on the page you are on. Nothing is ever sent to us. Why it needs that
On Android, install Grablet in Firefox for Android. Also available on desktop Chrome, Edge and Firefox. Grablet is not available in Chrome for Android or Firefox on iOS.