With the rapid rise of streaming services, it’s time to use a DVD ripper to digitize your DVD collections.
The good news is that there are many free DVD rippers for Mac on the market. Some even have almost all the features of a paid one, just without the cost.
But we know, ripping DVD is a time consuming task. We don’t want a dodgier free Mac DVD ripper that:
Below is the best free Mac DVD rippers we found that are safe without watermarks or other limits. We’ve used all of these programs and our favorites are Cisdem DVD Ripper for Mac, HandBrake, and MakeMKV.
Cisdem Video Converter
Free Download| Number of DVD Rippers we tested on Mac | 16 |
|---|---|
| How long we took to take and exam DVD Rippers | 1 months |
| Type of DVD we test | Home DVD, CSS, region-locked DVDs, Disney DVD, Japanese DVDs, old and new DVDs |
| Device we test the quality of the output DVD | Mac, MacBook, iPhone, Android, HDTV, iPad, Xbox One S |
There is a vast variety of free Mac DVD ripper software on the market. Each of them has a common advantage, which is to help you rip DVD for free. But it's not enough, and more aspects you should take into consideration while choosing a free DVD ripper for Mac. I've sorted out several tips below for your reference.
1. Rip Copy Protected DVD - Now many DVDs are copy protected, the ability to defeat copy protection is a key factor to consider.
2. Support for Blu-ray - Ideally, you want a program that can also rip digital files from Blu-ray Disk. Over the past 2024, Blu-ray has had the second highest share of sales among optical media including DVD, Blu-ray and UHD, at 29%.
3. DVD Ripping Speed - DVD videos are usually in large sizes and need to spend some time to convert. Using a super-fast free Mac DVD ripper will save you a lot of time.
4. The Output Quality - To enjoy the high-definition video is of great pleasure. Or else, not only your eyes may get hurt, but also the annoying jumpy and mosaics will also bother you.
5. Supported Format - The output format compatible with your digital player device is another point you should take in. The more output options, the better the DVD ripper.
6. Additional Customization Features - It will be the icing on the cake if a free DVD ripper lets you configure the output parameters and edit DVD videos before ripping them out.
7. Easy to Use - A good free DVD ripper for Macintosh should also be simple to set-up and use and doesn’t get in the way of your workflow.
8. macOS Compatibility - As we are ripping DVD on Mac, support for the new macOS Sequoia and M1/2/3/4 Macs is also very important.
The following 6 are 100% free. The first 3 are well known in the open source community. But the number of free Mac apps for digitizing DVDs is very limited, so it's worth checking out a commercial app.
OS Platform: Current version 1.9.0 supports macOS 10.13 or later. macOS Sequoia included.
Supported DVD Type: Homemade DVD,VIDEO_TS Folder, Blu-ray
Watermark: No
Free Features: Rip DVD, convert video to MP4/MKV.
HandBrake is an open-source video transcoder. It's the most welcomed free DVD ripper for Mac and Windows. The app was produced by Eric Petit and originally designed for ripping movies from DVD.
Today, Handbrake allows you to rip non-protected DVDs, Blu-ray to MP4, MKV, and universal device presets like iPhone, iPod, Apple TV (3/4), Android Tablet, etc. But this free Mac DVD ripper can only output MP4 or MKV video files. If you wish to make the ripped video compatible with other formats such as AVI, MOV, MPEG, MP3, etc., HandBrake can't help.
Its ripping speed depends on the files upload. For a small file, it won’t take too long. For a large one, it maybe takes a long time. The final quality is not bad. If you are not hurrying to get your converted video, you could take it.
1. Free and open source DVD ripper and video converter.
2. Supports multiple platform (Windows, Mac and Linux)
3. Supports converting DVD and Bluray sources.
4. With the help of libdvdcss handbrake can also rip copy protected DVDs.
5. Tough it is totally free, it get free update at a relatively high frequency.
When ripping DVD movies, handbrake will re-encodes the video into AVC, this will output the video in smaller size, but this also means there will be quality loss. So if you want to get the exact 1:1 copy of the DVD, then handbrake is not what you need.
If you get error messages like "no valid source or titles found" using Handbrake, it means that is DVD is encoded with CSS or region code, please go and download libdvdcss.
Even pared with libdvdcss, handbrake can only handle basic DVD encryptions, for complex DVD copyright, you may found it will failed to rip or the converted video and audio are often out of sync.
On DVD ripping speed, we find that on a normal machine ripping a 3h DVD disc on Mac it needs about 45 minutes, output in a 2.2GB around file. But for copy protected DVD it will become very slow sometimes.
1. Just download handbrake totally free at https://handbrake.fr/
2. Choose the platform you need, and here we will choose macOS.
3. Follow the detailed guide here to rip DVD with Handbrake.
OS Platform: x64 or ARM64 Mac OS X 10.7 or above. macOS Sequoia included.
DVD Types: Homemade/Copy Protected DVD Discs, Blu-ray
Watermark: No
Free Features: Rip home made or copy protected DVD to MKV.
For users who want to free rip DVD movies for archival and have a very strong demand on original quality, MakeMKV is the best free DVD Ripper for them. it only repackages the DVD contents and changes the container from DVD to MKV. Also, the ripping speed is quite fast.
1. Supports DVD and Blu-ray discs.
2. Support ripping copy protected DVD.
3. Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Just as its name suggests, MakeMKV can only rip DVD to MKV. which is not compatible with most of the Mac software like quick, iMovie, etc.
MakeMKV is the best free software that will rip DVD while maintaining 1:1 quality. But at the same time you will get gigantic file, so be prepared to have large space for storing it. In this case we recommend using a cloud storage.
Also MakeMKV don’t supports any editing and adjusting
Download MakeMKV at:https://www.makemkv.com/ it is extremely easy to use. Insert a disc, process it, then save it in MKV format.
OS Platform: Mac OS X 10.7.5 or up. macOS Sequoia included.
DVD Types: Homemade
Watermark: No
Free Features: Rip and play home made DVD, VIDEO_TS/BDMV folder.
VLC, we mean the popular media player you may already installed on your Mac. It has a hidden feature of ripping DVD. The free app makes it effortless to convert DVD disc or VIDEO_TS folder to MP4, AVI, MOV, TS, VOB, MPG, OGM, ASF, and RAW format. It offers transcoding capabilities to help you fine-tune the codec, scale, bitrate, and audio channel.
As a powerful open source media player, we can use it to play selected DVD titles and chapters. But when it comes to ripping DVDs, VLC for Mac will digitize the entire DVD even after we specify specific titles and chapters. This is not the case with the Windows version.
Also, you have to accept the fact that VLC can’t crack any kind of DVD DRM and it will result in a loss of quality.
1. Can be a DVD player to play DVDs with menus, and select episodes, language for audios/subtitles.
2. Provide some encapsulation methods and transcoding options for selection.
3. Available for Mac, Windows, Ubuntu, Mint and many other platforms.
Once the DVD disc is detected, be sure to “Disable DVD menus”, otherwise VLC will loop to rip the DVD menu.
You need to manually select the output format and encoder. The most commonly used are MP4 (H264, AAC) and MP4 (H265, AAC). But VLC does not provide H265 in DVD output. So the combination I recommend for you is Encapsulation (MPEG 4) + Video (h264) + Audio (mp4a).
Although VLC includes libdvdcss, it can’t bypass DVD copy protection to rip a DVD.
Go to https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ to download and install VLC. In VLC, click “File” > “Open Disc” to load the DVD, check “Stream output” and open the “Settings” window to set streaming and transcoding options.
OS Platform: Mac OS X 10.6 to 10.14
DVD Types: Homemade/Copy Protected DVD Discs
Watermark: No
Free Features: Rip home made DVD.
MacX offers a free DVD ripper for Mac users. The free version can rip DVD movies to MP4, MOV, M4V, MP3, AAC, AC3, Apple TV, and iTunes.
But compares with its paid version, it's unable to back up & rip the latest copy-protected DVDs for free, and rip DVDs for some hot devices, like iPad Pro, iPhone (15/Pro/Max), Android, Samsung Galaxy S series, HTC, PS5, etc.
If you can bear the limited output formats and unsatisfying speed, this Mac DVD ripper free is a decent option. Anyway, it can meet your basic DVD ripping necessary.
Note: MacX seems to have given up upgrading and promoting DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition. The download link on its official website has been replaced by MacX DVD Ripper Pro (the paid program). Fortunately, you are able to find its free version on some app download sites like softonic.com, download3k.com, etc. Since it's a 32-bit app, it can’t be installed on macOS Catalina and newer versions.
OS Platform:OS X 10.7 Lion to 10.14 Mojave
DVD Types: Homemade
Watermark: No
Free Features: Rip home made DVD.
ffmpegX is an open resource free DVD ripper for Mac. It was first to run on Linux, and later it can be compiled under most operating systems, including Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, AmigaOS.
ffmpegX is a very experimental and developer-driven project. It supports the most popular formats except HD video. Based on the customers' review, its output quality is not too bad. The components mpeg2enc (mpeg-2 encoder and multiplexer), mencorder (mpeg-4 encoder with subtitles support), myplayer are not distributed with ffmpegX and must be self-installed.
This free DVD ripping software for Mac has not been updated for over 10 years. When you start encoding, it's prone to failure. Meanwhile, ffmpegX doesn't recognize a DVD disk device, just a DVD folder & VOB file, and can't remove any DVD decryption.
Note: The download link is not available on its official website. You can head to videohelp.com or macupdate.com to get the app. On videohelp.com, there are old versions for OS X 10.3 to 10.6 users.
OS Platform: Mac OS X 10.6 Leopard or older
DVD Types: Homemade/Copy Protected DVD Discs
Watermark: No
Free Features: Copy home made or encrypted DVD.
MacTheRipper (a.k.a. MTR) is Mac’s oldest and smartest DVD backup application. The copying speed of MTR is good. It merely takes a short time to convert a DVD, even with encryption measures, to the VIDEO_TS folder. It will retain the entire data contents from the disc and keep the original structure.
However, this free DVD ripper for Mac doesn't allow you to rip DVDs to digital files, and only version 2.6.6 and before are free.
The latest version is 5.4.0.9, which supports OS X 10.10 or above but needs to pay. Licensed owners of version 5.3 who paid after December 5, 2019, can upgrade to 5.4.0.9 without charge. Those who paid before then should upgrade for $15. If you are using an older version, full upgrade cost is necessary.
From the above introductions, we can judge that the free Mac DVD ripper has obvious shortcomings, for example:
It seems that no free Mac DVD ripper meets the criteria mentioned in part 2, but paid one does. Therefore, you are better off using the commercial and effective DVD ripper instead.
Cisdem Video Converter is the best alternative to the free DVD ripper Mac. It's a highly interactive program that delivers lossless ripping of media content at an ultra-fast speed and obtains high-quality possible results. It provides a free trial version for you to test its performance before purchasing. The trial version can rip the first 5 minutes of the DVD. If your DVD video is less than 5 minutes, it will convert half of the content.
Features of the best DVD ripper for Mac:
Step 1. Launch Cisdem Video Converter
After installation, run the software. You will see five tabs for different functions. The second tab is for DVD ripping.
Step 2. Import DVD videos
Insert your DVD into the Mac slot. Its icon will appear in the sidebar of the Finder app. Then you have two ways to add the DVD disc:
Step 3. Configure output profiles
Click the format icon to open the output file panel. All the output formats have been already divided into various categories. For example, if you desire to play the DVD movie on your iPhone, you can go to "Device" > "iPhone", and choose your phone model. Or select the universal format - MP4, just head over to "Video" > "MP4" or "HEVC MP4".
For further configuring video/audio quality, click the setting icon to open a window, and tweak the output parameter settings.
Step 4. Choose titles and languages
A DVD movie may contain multiple titles, audio languages, and subtitle languages. You can manually choose what you want.
Step 5. Rip DVD to digital files
Hit 
button at the lower right corner to begin ripping your DVD to MP4, Apple TV, or other formats.
Pro tip: edit your DVD videos
Click 
button to find your ripped videos. Drag-n-drop them to the “convert” interface.
Click .png)
button, and you'll able to edit the DVD movies by rotating, adding 3D effects, and external subtitles & audio.
No, Though it is called ripping a DVD, not infact ripping does not damage the physical DVD and it will not change the content on it. All it does is reading the data from a DVD disk.
The time to rip DVD movies varies greatly based on DVD-ROM performance, HDD performance, CPU performance and cleanliness of the disc itself. Typically, it will take 10-30 minutes to rip a standard DVD movie.
DVD ripping is aimed at ripping DVD movies into video and audio files for playback on media players and devices. While, DVD copying is aimed at back up DVD movies as DVD folder or ISO image file.
| DVD Ripping | DVD Copying | |
|---|---|---|
| Destination | Plex, HardDrive, Cloud, SSDs, PCs, Mobile Device | Back up |
| Output Format | MP4, MKV, AVI, FLV, H264, HEVC, MP3, etc. | ISO, VOBs, IFOs, BUPs |
| Idea For | Change DVD to digital for playing back on devices or for edit | For backup and save for a long time |
If you’re considering whether to get a free DVD ripper or go for a paid dvd ripping software for Macintosh. You first need to figure out what you want to digitize you DVD for.
If you just need a digital copy of DVD movies, The DVD is not copy protected and you have no or little requirements on output quality? A free Mac DVD Ripper might be a sensible choice. However, if you’re looking to rip copy protected DVD, have high demand on out put quality or you need advanced features like video editing or converting to a specific format, a paid DVD Ripper is what you need.
These are the 6 free DVD rippers for Mac you should have a try. If you only want to rip DVD to a common-used format without editing feature, I recommend Handbrake, MakeMKV, and VLC for beginners. For users who are using macOS 10.14 or lower, MacTheRipper 2.6.6 and ffmpegX are nice options. To make everything easy and efficient, an all-in-one DVD ripping software for Mac like Cisdem Video Converter is the best choice, which can rip copy-protected DVDs as well.
Jenny is a technology editor who has been blogging since she was a student. Since joining Cisdem, she focuses on writing articles about video software and how-to guides. She loves exploring new tools and techniques.
Dennis Mahaffay
Great article, Rosa. Thank you! Dennis