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Top 6 Best DVD Authoring Software for Mac or Windows (2026 Edition)

Updated on December 23, 2025 Preview 23.5K Preview 0
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No robots used, this article has been written and edited by our team under strict editorial guidelines.
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Written by Jenny Hung
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Approved by JK Tam

DVD authoring remains a great way for archiving and sharing videos. It turns digital files into physical discs you can play on any DVD player and TV, while also freeing up valuable space on your computer's hard drive.

Creating a polished DVD with interactive menus and chapters requires the right tool. In this article, I've made a round-up for the best DVD authoring software for Mac or Windows, which can help you to pack your multiple videos into a disc easily.

Here is a quick list of the top 6 software:

6 Best DVD Authoring Software for Mac or Windows

#1 Cisdem DVD Burner

Support OS: macOS 10.13 or later; Windows 10, Windows 11

Based on the results of the test, Cisdem DVD Burner should be the No.1 best DVD authoring software for Mac and Windows that gives your project a specialized sheen. It is equipped with tons of interesting and useful features, which brings you a great user experience. Also, it is a comprehensive tool to burn any video to DVD with subtitles, menu, and background music.

All the SD/HD videos to DVD authoring are supported, including video files from Internet downloaded, camcorder recorded, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, and more. You can do some fine-tune works for the loaded videos. And when you start to burn, the output window would allow you to adjust the DVD presetting.
Free Download   Free Download

Benefits of Cisdem DVD authoring software for Mac and Windows:

  • Easy to use with the step-by-step workflow
  • Perform DVD authoring from multiple large videos in any popular format
  • Contain a full array of advanced editing features, such as Crop, Trim, etc.
  • Split one chapter to several chapters
  • Add external SRT file to DVD or burn with embedded subtitles
  • Fine-tune video effects
  • Create DVD menus for better defining the structure and navigation
  • Customize DVD menu with multiple elements, like text, free themes, etc.
  • Add background audio & image
  • Offer 5 output DVD playback modes, including 3 DVD looping modes

How to Use the Best DVD Authoring Software?

Download the software and take some time to learn how to start the DVD authoring on Mac/PC effectively. It’s worth the investment if you want to make professional-level videos.
Free Download   Free Download

Step 1. Load video files to the software

Load all video files into the DVD authoring software on Mac or Windows. There are three ways to add files:

1. Drag-n-drop video files from the folder to the main interface.

2. Click the "add videos"​ icon to upload files from local folders.

3. Click "File" > "Add File" or "Open Project" to import videos.

load video

Step 2. Make edition (optional)

Once all video files are loaded, you can get down to works of editing and enhancing your video.

Click under the video thumbnail and enter into the video editing window. You are able to fine-tune the video visual effects, like crop/rotate video footage, create special effects, add watermarks, divide chapters, and add SRT or ASS subtitles.

edit the videos

Step 3. Choose DVD menu templates

When editing is done, you can make a DVD menu for your disc. This professional DVD authoring software has a DVD menu creator built-in.

Click the “Menu” tab to go to the menu designing window > choose a template and button style.

Additionally, you can labels to title & menu button, modify the font/size/color of the texts, import a favorite song from the local folder as the music background, etc.

choose the DVD menu

Tips: Click the tab to preview your works. You can check if all needs are met, it’s convenient for you to go back to modify if something is not satisfying.

Step 4. Perform DVD authoring Mac/PC

Insert a blank DVD into your optical drive.

Click burn button, choose an output type as DVD disc, DVD folder or ISO files. Put a name for the disc and adjust the DVD settings to improve the output viewing experience.

Click the “Burn” button to burn DVD quickly with the best DVD authoring software.

start dvd authoring mac with cisdem

#2 DVDStyler

Support OS: 10.15 Catalina+; 32-bit and 64-bit Windows

DVDStyler is a piece of DVD authoring software free on multiple platforms. You are able to burn multiple video files into a disc and make a simple DVD menu with some ready-made templates, buttons. You can also load the external image file and set it as a background.

Although it is one of the most comprehensive tools for DVD authoring, as a freeware, it has its own shortcomings compared to some peer DVD authoring software, you can’t expect it works fast or 100% original output quality.

  1. Run the free, open-source DVD authoring software on Mac or Windows. (A “Welcome” dialog will come up by default. You can name the DVD and modify the project settings via disc capacity, bitrate, format, ratio, etc. Or just select the option to have it not to appear again.)
  2. Add your video files to the software and drag them to the customizing area.
  3. Double-click the videos to bring up the “Properties”, which let you change the “Action” and “Look” of your videos.
  4. Choose a template for the DVD menu or upload other background picture.
  5. Click on the burn icon to start DVD authoring on Mac/PC.

dvdstyler interface

#3 Wondershare DVD Creator

Support OS: Mac OS X 10.10+; Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP

Wondershare DVD Creator is industry standard DVD authoring software with support for all kinds of formats and discs. What makes it extraordinary lies in that there are 136 free menu templates for memory, holiday, sport, movie, and more. And when you edit your videos, you can choose from trendy effects with sample images provided.

Its interface and features are actually similar to Cisdem DVD Burner, but it ranks lower due to slower installation and authoring speed. Also, when you import videos to Wondershare, your videos will become too bright and cause visual discomfort.

  1. Click “DVD Video Disc” to get the primary interface of DVD disc authoring.
  2. Hit the “+” sign to browse and add video files from your local folder.
  3. Click the pencil-like icon in the bottom right corner of the thumbnail, and start editing your footage.
  4. Move to “Menu”. Select a DVD menu design from the right column.
  5. Preview the created DVD.
  6. Go to “Burn” and hit the “Burn” button.wondershare interface

#4 Express Burn

Support OS: macOS 10.5 or higher; Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP

Express Burn offers a free version (limited functions) to burn audio, video, and data to DVD. It allows you to make audio, video, data to DVD, but it loads files with slow speed, and doesn’t provide more advanced features, like video editing, and output presetting. It is a simple case of drag and drop to click and burn.

There are 3 Pro versions of this DVD authoring software for Mac or Windows. For the “Express Burn Plus CD + DVD Authoring” version, it has a discount price of $24.49. To edit video and audio, you need to extra pay for the WavPad Sound Editor ($26.25) or VideoPad Video Editor ($26.25) bundles.

  1. Go to "Video" tab and choose "Video DVD" as the disc compilation.
  2. Click on “Add File(s)” or “Add Folder” button to upload local videos.
  3. Click on the "Create Menu" button, in the new opening window, pick a template like Birdies or Butterflies from left panel. Also edit the title/subtitle, and set a custom background image.
  4. Optionally, click "Manage Chapters" to add chapter points at specific times.
  5. In the "Video Settings" window, configure TV System and output quality.
  6. Burn a video DVD with Express Burn.

express menu interface

#5 4Media DVD Creator

Support OS: 10.14 Mojave or above; Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP

4Media DVD Creator is an exceptional DVD authoring software Mac/PC for making DVD from video files. It supports plenty of editing tools and enables you to obtain a decent quality output with its advanced algorithm. But the program still has some bugs that may cause the DVD authoring failed on computer.

  1. Click on "Add Video File(s) to load your videos.
  2. Tweak the output settings: destination, volume label, writing speed, and copies.
  3. (Optional) Make DVD menu.
  4. Perform DVD authoring on Mac or Windows.

4media dvd creator interface

#6 Apple DVD Studio Pro

Support OS: Mac OS X 10.5 or before

Apple DVD Studio Pro is a piece of well-designed DVD authoring software for Mac. It lets you create menu with a range of elements and transition effects. But the software was discontinued in June 2011. That means you can only install it with the old Mac operating system. If you are using Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia, etc. it will be incompatible, just like iDVD.

  1. Set the DVD (SD or HD) and video standard.
  2. Add your videos to Apple DVD Studio Pro.
  3. Create and edit menu according to the supplied templates, styles, and buttons.
  4. Begin the DVD authoring process on Mac.

Apple DVD Studio Pro interface

 

Basic Knowledge about DVD Authoring Software for Mac or Windows

1. What is DVD Authoring Software?

DVD authoring is the process of creating and structuring content for playback on standard DVD players. While "burning" refers to writing data to a disc.

Authoring involves designing the interactive elements, such as menus and chapters, that make up the final DVD experience. To make a DVD with personalized menus, you should burn videos with DVD authoring software.

Note that most DVD authoring software pays attention exclusively to video DVD, and can’t perform DVD-Audio discs authoring.

2. What is Blu-ray Authoring Software?

Blu-ray is a high-definition disc format capable of storing hours of content in HD (720p, 1080p) or 4K resolution, offering significantly higher video quality than standard DVD. To burn content to a Blu-ray disc requires dedicated Blu-ray authoring software, which is typically more expensive than general DVD authoring tools.

 

Conclusion

Based on your own demands and budgets, you can make a choice from the 6 best DVD authoring software for Mac or Windows introduced above. But I have to emphasize that Cisdem DVD Burner should be a cut above the rest. As a professional, rich-featured and reputed program, it ensures the process of your DVD authoring more smooth and effective.

About the authors
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Written by Jenny Hung

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.

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Approved by JK Tam

JK Tam is the lead developer at Cisdem, bringing over two decades of hands-on experience in cross-platform software development to the editorial team. He is now the lead technical approver for all articles related to Data Recovery and DVD Burner.

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