How to Download a Vimeo Video on iPhone

Vimeo doesn’t offer a built-in download button for most videos you watch there, and hunting for a workaround usually lands you on a site full of ads or a sketchy download tool. Grabio is a free iOS Shortcut that recognizes a Vimeo link and sends you straight to cobalt.tools with the link already loaded, no manual pasting, no ads, no separate app.

Why you can’t just save a Vimeo video from Safari

Vimeo streams video rather than serving a direct downloadable file for most content, so there’s no simple long-press-to-save option like there is for a photo. Searching for “download Vimeo video” tends to surface ad-heavy converter sites, several of which are flagged for malware or misleading download buttons. Grabio skips that entirely by recognizing the Vimeo link itself and routing you to a clean, known tool.

How to download a Vimeo video on iPhone with Grabio

Add Grabio to your iPhone once, it’s a free Apple Shortcut with no App Store download and no sign-up. Add Grabio to your iPhone.
Open the video on vimeo.com or in the Vimeo app and tap the Share icon.
Tap Grabio in the share sheet, or tap Copy Link and then open Grabio yourself.
Grabio detects it’s a Vimeo link and opens cobalt.tools in Safari with the link already loaded, you don’t have to paste anything.
Tap Download on the cobalt.tools page and save the video to Photos or Files.

Is it private and free on iPhone?

Grabio itself is free with no account, no login, and no daily cap. Its own server never downloads or stores the video, it only detects that the link is from Vimeo and redirects your Safari tab to cobalt.tools, which handles the actual download on its own site. Use this for your own videos or content you clearly have the right to keep a copy of, not to redistribute someone else’s work.

Download a Vimeo video on iPhone: FAQ

Can I download a private or password-protected Vimeo video?

Grabio and cobalt.tools can only work with a link you’re already able to open. If a video is private or needs a password to view, this flow won’t be able to reach it.

Does this work for Vimeo videos with downloads disabled by the uploader?

Results depend on how the specific video was set up by whoever uploaded it. Some creators restrict their videos in ways that block third-party tools like cobalt.tools from pulling the file, in which case the download won’t go through.

Why does the link load automatically instead of needing to be pasted?

Vimeo is one of the platforms Grabio recognizes directly, so it can hand the link straight to cobalt.tools, which accepts it in the page URL and loads it for you. YouTube and less common platforms go through a different tool that needs the link pasted in manually instead.

Written by Aditya Sharma

Marketer who codes. Aditya builds Grabio himself, writing the code, running the servers, and testing every feature on his own iPhone before it ships. adityaarsharma.com

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