WinX DVD Author Review: Is It Free & Still Working in 2025

DVD authoring software allows you to create a playable DVD from videos with custom menus and chapters. WinX DVD Author, as the name conveys, is one such program. There has been a lot of talk about it, both positive and negative. So, is WinX DVD author free and safe? Does it still work well on burning a DVD? Check out our WinX DVD Author reviews and find out.

 Cisdem DVD Burner

Best WinX DVD Author Alternative

• Burn DVD disc from videos in any format
• Support any DVD type
• Also burn videos to DVD VIDEO_TS folder and ISO image
• Tim, crop, rotate videos
• Add subtitles, watermarks, effects, chapter breaks to videos
• adjust volume of each video
• Craft a compelling menu from professionally designed templates or Customize the menu the way you want it to
• Preview the finished DVD before authoring
• Full control over DVD settings, like burning quality, aspect ratio, NTSC or PAL, output playback mode
• Set how many DVD copies you want the video to be saved to
• Faster speed, better output quality, and easier-to-use than WinX DVD Author

Free Download Windows 10 or later Free Download macOS 10.13 or later

What is WinX DVD Author?

WinX DVD Author is a DVD creator software for users who want to make a DVD-Video. It contains a few DVD authoring components, enabling you to trim videos, add external subtitles, produce a simple menu, and more. It also lets you convert videos to VOB files, burn DVD folder/VOB videos to a playable DVD for the DVD player, and download movies/music videos from YouTube.

Is WinX DVD Author Really Free?

During the period from 2006 to 2010, WinX DVD Author was priced at 39.99/lifetime, or 29.95/lifetime when discounted. But since 2011, perhaps due to poor sales, WinX DVD Author's parent company, Digiarty Software Inc. has changed its strategy and made it free to drive traffic to its other apps such as DVD Copy, DVD Ripper and Video Converter. So, WinX DVD Author is complete free now.

WinX DVD Author Upgrade

Since its creation in 2006, the software has undergone over 20 upgrades. All upgrades, except for the 2012 one that integrated the YouTube Downloader module, only address bug fixes. Therefore, the interface of WinX DVD Author bears a striking resemblance to its 2006 counterpart, with an outdated style and menu template. In addition, WinX DVD Author has ceased updating since 2019, and it seems that it has given up on upgrading.

Is WinX DVD Author Safe to Download?

Although WinX DVD Author has not been upgraded for many years, it is a safe software with no viruses or malware. You can download it on the official website https://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-author/, or download historical versions from authoritative download sites such as CNET, Softonic, FileHorse, and so on. Note that the latest version is WinX DVD Author 6.3.10.

Does WinX DVD Author Support Mac Downloads?

No, it doesn’t. WinX DVD Author only available for Windows 11/10 and lower. As you can tell from the name, Digiarty Software Inc. initially focused exclusively on catering to Windows users. Later on, in response to market demand, other apps such as WinX DVD Ripper started offering support for the Mac version in 2012, while DVD Author has remained unsupported.

WinX DVD Author Installation

Get the .exe file above. Run the installer, choose a language and follow the instructions in the setup wizard to complete the installation. Once finished, the app will be launched automatically. The startup was slow. I waited for more than 20 seconds for the software to open. You can check the app size, it’s about 44.7 MB.

WinX DVD Author Features

In its main interface, you can see that it consists of 5 modules. Now I will introduce the specific functions of each module in detail.

Video DVD Author - the main module for burning videos to DVD with subtitle and menu

1. Import videos

Click the “+” button to add multiple videos that you want to burn into the software. It supports any video format. Note that it doesn’t allow direct drag and drop.

2. Add subtitles

There is a vertical "Subtitle" word next to each video thumbnail, click it to call up the "SUBTITLE PROPERTY" window. Then, you can add your downloaded .srt subtitle file and select the subtitle language.

3. Finish basic settings for DVD including editing videos

On the left side of the interface, you can edit the video by trimming the beginning and end length, choosing 4:3 or 16:9 TV standard, and enabling the “auto add letter box” option.

To do more settings, click the wrench-like icon at the bottom to enter the "Parameter settings" window, where you can pick NTSC or PAL format/DVD type, specify DVD menu duration, etc.

4. Create a DVD menu

Click the “Next step” button to move to the menu creation window. There are 4 less fashionable background picture templates on the left. You can click the button below to add a picture from your computer as a background.

In the right area, you can adjust the size and position of the title menu button and chapter menu button. If you wish to change the button image, double-click it to open the "CLIP PROPERTY" window and drag the progress bar to the frame you want.

Plus, you can add background text and music to the DVD menu. To split a chapter into more parts, choose to auto split chapter or input split chapter time.

5. Burn a DVD

Hit the “Next step” button to bring up the “DVD BUILDER” window. There are 3 encoder engines. Choose one from them.

If you want to burn videos to a DVD disc, insert a blank DVD, click the “Start” button, and choose “Yes”. If just to make a DVD folder, specify the output location, click “Start” and select “No”.

Convert Video to VOB - for compile to DVD folder

There's not much difference between this module and "Video DVD Author", except it doesn't create DVD menus. When you click "Next step", the "VOB CONVERTER" interface will pop up. Select the output folder, output format, and encoder engine, then click "Start" to convert videos directly to VOBs.

VOB to DVD Compiler - only create DVD from VOB files

This module only supports adding VOB videos. You can make a DVD menu, and then burn VOB videos to DVD disc or DVD folder.

DVD Disc Burner - burn DVD folder and VOB files to disc

When you import a DVD folder or VOB files, the app will tell you what format, size, and duration each file has, so you'll know whether to insert DVD 5 or DVD 9. Click “Next step”, the “DVD DISC COMPILER” window appears, and begin authoring a DVD disc.

YouTube Downloader - download YouTube video with URL

Copy a URL from YouTube, in YouTube Downloader panel, click “Paste”, and the software will analyze the URL. Choose a path to save the YouTube. Click “Download”.

The original intention of designing this module was to help users burn YouTube to DVD. However, through testing, I uncovered that WinX DVD Author can't download YouTube videos successfully, making this feature purely decorative.

WinX DVD Author Cons

Although WinX DVD Author can burn DVD-Video for free, based on my experience and feedback from other users, I have summarized the following shortcomings:

1. Does not support the Mac version.
2. When initiating the software, you must endure a lengthy waiting period.
3. Can't add 4K videos, otherwise it will crash.
4. There are only 4 DVD menu templates. No themes for holiday or others.
5. Can’t change the playback button in menu.
6. Does not recognize DVD Burner.
7. The burning process was wrong and ejects the disc.
8. Sound and image are out of sync when playing finished disc.

The Best Alternative to WinX DVD Author

It is a typical problem that WinX DVD Author is unable to detect DVDs, and I am at a loss to determine the exact cause. I can only try multiple DVD discs to see which one can be successfully detected. Since WinX DVD Author was not satisfactory, I tested many other DVD authoring software. Cisdem DVD Burner is the best alternative.
Free Download Windows 10 or later Free Download macOS 10.13 or later
The app is partitioned into four main divisions, each division is easily comprehensible and user-friendly.

Source - import videos and bring up editing window

You can import multiple videos in various formats such as MP4, H264, HEVC, WMV, MPEG2, WebM, AVI, MKV, M2TS, FLV, etc. No matter what size or resolution, including 4K videos, all can be imported into the "Source" interface.

At the bottom, select the TV standard and desired video quality. "Fit to disc" is the best option.

If you want to edit your videos, click the “edit” button, and you will see the panel with 8 video editing tools.

Menu - more powerful menu creation

On the right side, there are 30+ stylish DVD menu templates, choose one of the themes that matches your project.

Switch to the "Background" and "Element" tab, customize the background image (can also import your native image or use your favorite color as background), title frames & labels, menu buttons, and text. If you want to play DVD menu with music, manually upload a soundtrack.

Preview - see what the final DVD looks like on your DVD player

Test the DVD menus, navigation, and video playback.

Burn - start to burn a DVD on Windows or Mac

It allows you to choose output type, playback mode (whether to loop), and copies’ number. All are easy to set. Once done, click “Burn”.

WinX DVD Author vs. Cisdem DVD Burner Test Result

I used these 2 apps to burn video to DVD on Windows 11 Pro. Both of them can choose the burning mode. For this test, I chose the standard mode.

Input info

Output result

The DVD authoring speed of WinX is slow. I also used it to convert the same MP4 video to VOB, and it took about 31 minutes. But if you can burn a DVD with WinX DVD Author successfully, you are lucky.

Through above review, you should understand the features and shortcomings of WinX DVD Author. Whether you need an alternative, I believe you already have the answer in your mind.