DVDs are still commonplace even after the invention of Blu-ray. It's a great budget choice for people who don't plan on spending too much money on physical media. It delivers relatively good viewing experience while maintains a lower price compared to Blu-ray. And it's cheaper than Blu-ray for good reasons. The video and audio qualities of a Blu-ray disc are superior compared to DVDs. And DVDs are much less durable than Blu-ray discs. It's not an easy thing to keep DVD discs in good condition as it's just incredibly easy to leave scratches on them. One thing that all DVD collectors should do is have their precious DVD collection backed up properly. If you want to do that, you are going to need DVD decoders.
A proper DVD decoder program should be able to do different things. Some DVD decoders can help you back up your DVDs by directly copying the DVD content to your computer, or convert the DVD data to an ISO image. Some can even create a digital video from your DVD disc. There are various kinds of DVD decoders on Windows and macOS that you can use. If you want to give this a try, check out our recommendation of the top 5 free DVD decoders for Windows and macOS and how to use them in the content below.
Part 1: Top 5 Free DVD decoder for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and Mac
Free Dvd Encoder For Mac Software
- Just download Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate for Mac. It helps you convert video, download video (e.g. YouTube), rip DVD, burn DVD, edit video, all at one place. Mac 10.6 or later is fully supported, including the latest Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
- Free PDF to PNG Converter for Mac. Free and Safe DVD Ripping Software for Mac. Free DVD Ripper helps Mac users rip and convert unencrypted DVDs to common video/audio formats, like MP4, MOV, M4V, AVI, WMV, MKV, FLV, MP3, etc. After that, you are enabled to playback, edit, backup or share DVD files easily.
It is not a dedicated DVD copy software for Windows 10 and Mac, but it is free and open source. It works nicely to copy homemade DVDs, as no decryption is required. For DVDs that you bought from stores, such as music videos or movies, Handbrake cannot skip the copy protection to rip the media.
No.1. Leawo DVD Ripper
Leawo DVD Ripper is made for the purpose of helping users decode and rip their DVDs to common video and audio files for playback on different devices. It can decode basically all kinds of DVDs out there thanks to its advanced DVD decoding technology. It's a great DVD decoder for Windows XP/7/8/8/1/10 users to decode their DVD collection. Also it supports both Windows and macOS so Mac users can also use the program to decode DVDs. Leawo DVD Ripper is a powerful DVD decoder Windows 10/8/8.1/7 and macOS users could try but it's not free, technically, but it does have a free version which allows users to decode and convert the first 5 minutes of a DVD movie.
No.2. VLC Media Player
Most of you might know VLC as a free video player. In fact, VLC is also capable of DVD decoding and ripping. This cross-platform video player can decode and play DVDs as well as rip and convert DVDs to MP4 videos. It's an excellent free DVD decoder for Windows Me/XP/Vista/7/8/10 and macOS.
No.3. DVD Shrink
DVD Shrink is a free piece of DVD decoding and copying software. According to its official site, it's and will always be Windows freeware. It's free and Windows-based, so macOS users won't be able to use it to decode DVD. But it works pretty well for Windows users. It helps them copy their DVD movies to their computers as a DVD folder or a DVD ISO. It also has DVD burning capability which allows users to burn the DVD backup it creates to DVD discs.
No.4. AnyDVD
AnyDVD is a DVD decoding application that runs in the background and removes restrictions of DVD. With AnyDVD running in the background, you can use other programs to play or copy a DVD that has copy protection or region code on it. Such kind of DVD disc is usually unreadable or playable by normal media players but AnyDVD is able to disable all those restrictions and allows you to access them with other programs. The program offers a 21-day period for users to try out the program before purchasing. It's a Windows based program so there's no macOS version available.
No.5. MakeMKV
MakeMKV is most famous for decoding Blu-ray and DVDs and converting them to lossless MKV videos. It supports both Windows and macOS. And the DVD ripping functionality is provided to users for free. You won't be charged when using the program to decode and process your DVD collection. And the best part about MakeMKV is that it rips your DVDs to an MKV video with no quality loss. The only drawback about it is that the lossless file would be significantly larger than normal video files.
Part 2: How to Decode A DVD with Leawo DVD Ripper
In case you haven't used this kind of software before, I will be showing you how to decode a DVD using several of our recommendations above. Leawo DVD Ripper is a free DVD decoder Windows 8.1/8/7/10 users could try. Follow the steps below to decode a DVD with the help of Leawo DVD Ripper. Note: Leawo DVD Ripper is one of the modules inside Leawo Prof. Media.
Leawo DVD Ripper
☉ Decrypt and rip DVD discs with disc protection and region code
☉ Convert DVD to MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLV, and other 180+ HD/SD formats
☉ Convert DVD main movie to videos for space saving
☉ Convert 2D DVD movies to 3D movies with 6 different 3D effects
☉ Fast conversion with NVIDIA CUDA, AMD APP and Intel Quick Sync acceleration technologies
Step 1. Start Leawo Prof.Media up and click DVD Ripper from its main interface to open DVD Ripper.
Step 2. Place the source DVD disc in your CD-ROM and click Add UHD/Blu-ray/DVD in the upper-left of DVD Ripper's interface. Continue to click Add from CD-ROM and when a new option shows up with the title of your DVD disc on it, click on it to load DVD data to DVD Ripper.
Step 3. Use the 3 buttons provided on the following interface to pick different videos in the disc for ripping later. The Full Movie button selects all the videos for ripping and Main Movie button only selects the main movie from the video list. Custom Mode allows you to select multiple videos manually from the list. Click the OK button in the bottom right to add the chosen videos to a new list.
Step 4. Click the button on the left of the green Convert button. By default, you will see the 'MP4 video' label on the button. A menu will show up below the button after clicking on it. Continue to click Change on the menu to open the Profile page. All the output video and audio formats are shown on this page. Select a format you want to convert the chosen videos into and click on it to set the target format as the default format.
Step 5. Click on the previously-mentioned Convert button in the upper-right corner to display a sidebar. On top of the sidebar you can see the default output path which can be reset if you want. Click the '…' button next to the output path to select a new folder for storing the output videos. And then you can start decoding and ripping the DVD by clicking the Convert button at the bottom.
Part 3: How to Decode A DVD with MakeMKV
MakeMKV has a clean and simple interface. And just like its interface, the DVD decoding and ripping process would be simple. Follow the instructions below to decode and rip a DVD with MakeMKV.
1. Enter the DVD disc you want to decode to your optical drive and kick off MakeMKV.
2. Click on the DVD drive icon to start loading DVD data to MakeMKV.
3. Select the videos, audio tracks and subtitles you need from the content list on the right side.
4. Set where to save the output video in the Output Folder box by clicking the folder icon next to it.
5. Click the MakeMKV button on the right to start decoding and ripping the DVD disc.
Part 4: How to Decode A DVD with DVD Shrink
If you've decided to go with DVD shrink for decoding your DVDs, here's how to use it.
1. Insert the DVD you want to decode and fire up DVD Shrink. Click the Open Disc button below the menu bar and then choose the DVD drive with your DVD disc in it and then click the OK button. DVD Shrink will start to scan your disc and show you all the content in it after it's done scanning.
2. Choose the right compression ratio from the ratio drop-down menu. After setting the compression ratio, select the audio tracks and subpictures you need from the respective lists on the right side of the interface.
3. Click the Back Up button from the toolbar at the top and a Backup DVD window would pop up. Click on the box under Select backup target to see more output options. Select 'ISO Image File' from the drop-down menu to copy the DVD to your hard drive as a DVD ISO file. To copy the DVD folder to your hard drive, choose 'Hard Disc Folder'. Set where to save the DVD backup file by clicking the Browse button and then start the DVD decoding and backup process by clicking the OK button.
Part 5: Comparison among DVD Ripper, MakeMKV and DVD Shrink
To help you pick the best DVD decoder, here's a comparison chart that shows you what the three DVD decoders can and can't do. Check it out carefully and pick the most suitable DVD decoder for yourself.
As you can see from the chart, all 3 DVD decoders have their own merits. You can choose one according to what you need from a DVD decoder. Choose one and get the DVD backup process started.
Leawo DVD Ripper | MakeMKV | DVD Shrink | |
Decodes protected DVD | √ | √ | √ |
Removes DVD region code | √ | √ | √ |
Converts DVDs to videos | √ | √ | x |
Converts DVDs to audio files | √ | x | x |
Saves DVD to ISO | x | x | √ |
Copies DVD to DVD folder | x | x | √ |
DVD burning capability | x | x | √ |
Price | 29.95/1year | € 50 for Blu-ray decoding/free for DVD decoding | Free |
When everything is available to stream, the media content (movies, music videos, etc.) stored on the physical DVDs becomes obsolete. Moreover, DVD discs can be easily scratched, damaged, and lost.
If you have spent years amassing an extensive DVD collection, it will be wise to rip your DVDs to video files for full backup and playback on portable devices.
What’s the best DVD ripper for Mac? After trying several programs, you may find it hard to judge which is the best, and your time is wasted. In this article, we invested effort into making a list of the 10 best Mac DVD rippers.
- >> Top 10 Best DVD Rippers for Mac 2021
- >> The Best DVD Ripper for Mac Review Summary
- >> How to Rip a DVD on Mac Using the No.1 Pick?
Top 10 Best DVD Rippers for Mac 2021
#1 Cisdem Video Converter (Editor’s Choice)
Compatibility: macOS 11.0 Big Sur, 10.15 Catalina, 10.14 Mojave, 10.13 High Sierra, 10.12 Sierra, and earlier
Cisdem Video Converter is the NO.1 best DVD ripper for Mac we would like to recommend. It helps you leisurely rip videos straight from the DVD into 300+ formats without quality and data loss.
Apart from processing unprotected DVDs, this best DVD ripper for Mac can also decrypt any type of DVD encryption, including CSS, RPC, RCE, Disney X-project DRM, UOP, ARccOS, etc.
Cisdem best DVD ripping software for Mac works at high speed, which will greatly save you valuable time. For example, the common DVD ripper may take one hour to rip a movie while Cisdem DVD ripper only takes a quarter.
In addition, it's packed with other superb features such as the ability to convert video & audio, download video, combine video, etc. You can make video conversion among numerous incredibly useful outputs, and tweak DVD videos you intend to rip with editing tools (trim, crop, rotate, apply effects, etc.).
#2 HandBrake
Compatibility: macOS 10.11 or later (Intel 64bit) and Apple Silicon
Free Dvd Encoder
HandBrake is an open-source, free DVD ripper available on multiple platforms - Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, Xfce.
As a video encoding tool, this best Mac DVD ripper includes the ability to rip encrypted DVDs to video format and compress the files in the progress. You can select chapters, add subtitles and change storage size to get a satisfy result.
However, HandBrake seems to offer limited outputs. It only supports the output file format: MP4 and MKV, video: MPEG-4, H.264, Audio: AAC, MP3.
The speed of ripping DVD is not fast enough. You may have to take one hour or several hours to copy a small video. Plus, HandBrake sometimes closes unexpectedly when ripping DVD videos.
NOTE: Libdvdcss was removed from Handbrake best DVD ripper for Mac 0.9.2, meaning that you are unable to rip encrypted DVDs with CSS. But the solution is to download and install VLC libdvdcss.
#3 MakeMKV
Compatibility: Mac OS X 10.7 or higher
MakeMKV is extremely a piece of the formidable and versatile software for handling DVD and Blu-ray discs. It's able to maintain the DVD menu structure and full contents, like meta-data, audio tracks, chapters, and more.
As the name implies, videos ripped from MakeMKV will be in MKV format. It's not good news, because you can't play MKV files on iTunes, QuickTime, Apple TV, iOS, or other Apple devices. The MKV format ensures 1:1 DVD copying, which also means that the files are large.
Although this best DVD ripping software for Mac can read Blu-ray encrypted by AACS and BD+, it takes a very long time and fail to recognize the correct film scenes (merely works with about 15-25% Blu-rays).
#4 Any Video Converter Ultimate
Compatibility: Mac OS X 10.7 or later
Any Video Converter Ultimate is an amazing DVD ripper that can meet your simple needs within the minimalist interface.
Before going to download this best Mac DVD ripper, make sure your current operating system is compatible. If you are using Mac OS X 10.6, you should download Version 5.2.2.
Besides ripping files from discs, Any Video Converter Ultimate can convert plenty of video formats including ASF, AVI, WMV, MOV, MP4, and more. It is also a YouTube video downloader that supports 100+ online video sharing sites.
But the output format and presets of Any Video Converter Ultimate are a bit outdated. For example, you can only rip DVD to iPhone 6s Plus - the highest version currently supported. The final videos will lose some images. And it took more than 30 minutes to rip an hour-long DVD video. So you have to put up with its imperfection.
#5 iFunia DVD Ripper
Compatibility: OS X 10.10 Yosemite or above
iFunia DVD Ripper, one of the best DVD ripper for Mac, gives an easy and fast solution to rip both encrypted and unencrypted DVDs without destroying them.
It enables you to rip DVDs to various video formats like AVI, MOV, WMV, MP4, MPG, 3GP, H.264/MPEG-4, VOB, FLV, RM, and MKV, etc., as well as extract soundtracks from DVD movies to a variety of audio formats.
Nevertheless, iFunia DVD Ripper can only rip DVD video. That is to say, you can’t regard it as a general video converter, converting video from one format to another. Either, you are unable to download online video from the sites with iFunia Mac DVD ripper.
That is why iFunia best DVD ripping software for Mac is ranked behind Cisdem Video Converter, HandBrake, MakeMKV, and Any Video Converter Ultimate.
#6 MacTheRipper
Compatibility of version 2.6.6: OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or previous
MacTheRipper is a fast and free DVD ripper for Mac. It has three most common versions – MacTheRipper 2.6.6, MacTheRipper 3.0, and MRT 4. To use MacTheRipper on macOS Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, etc., you have to install MRT 4 or above version. But only MacTheRipper 2.6.6 or lower versions are free.
It helps you to create a playable copy of the contents of a video DVD by defeating the Content Scramble System. During the process, MacTheRipper may optionally modify or disable the DVD region code or the User operation prohibition features of the copied data.
But MacTheRipper is unstable. It may suddenly exit or crash when you rip DVD on Mac OS X system. And the interface is a little confusing at first take it. You need to take time to know the functions. Once you overcome those problems, you could take it as your most reliant DVD ripper.
#7 MacX DVD Ripper Pro
Compatibility: Mac OS X 10.6+
MacX DVD Ripper Pro for Mac is a commercial DVD Ripper coming with 16X faster speed and affordable price. It allows you to copy DVDs to your Mac so you can easily view them without wasting your laptop’s battery - life, spinning a disc in your optical drive.
Also, this best DVD ripper Mac can convert 320+ videos and 50+ audios with encryption formats, like 4K UHD, MKV, AVCHD, M2TS, MP4, AVI, WMV. Altogether it is an all-in-one program that lets you convert your videos to any other format, and play on your iPhone 11 Pro/Max, iPad Air 2/Mini 4, Android, Samsung Galaxy Note 7/Edge, and so on.
However, MacX DVD Ripper Pro doesn’t contain the advanced DVD video editing features and the option for conversion to h.265 codec like Cisdem Video Converter.
#8 Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate
Compatibility: OS X 10.6 or above
Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate is the antepenultimate DVD ripper. In spite of the relatively high selling price, it still made into the 10 best Mac DVD rippers due to its 90X faster.
In addition to ripping DVD video, it can convert video and audio, download video and audio from some popular sites, edit video and burn DVDs as well.
But its interface is too dark to see the text in it clearly. And the output and input of Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate are not as many as you think. The software may not support some of the popular formats.
What is more, there is always quality loss with 90X faster ripping speed on Mac.
#9 RipIt
Compatibility: OS X 10.9+
RipIt, developed by the Little App Factory, is a free best DVD ripping software for Mac OS X. It enables users to break encryptions and create a playable copy of the contents. With RipIt, you can compress the DVD main movie to a small file on your device. It would save some place for you to keep another video.
However, RipIt only can rip DVD video. It does not have any custom option to remove region codes, nor does it allow the option to select certain titles or chapters for extraction. If you want to do some edition before ripping DVD, you would better not take RipIt.
#10 DVDFab
Compatibility: OS X 10.10+
DVDFab is dedicated to the work on DVD/Blu-ray ripping, DVD copy, and video conversion. It can copy any DVD, rip DVD to hard drive, burn videos to blank DVD disc, clone DVD in 1:1 ratio, or copy with compression.
Furthermore, it has 6 modes available to customize your DVD copy, including merge, split, clone, full rip, and so on. It also offers various settings to personalize your DVD.
DVDFab is free to try (30-day trial); $84.99 to buy the software. Although it is a multi-functional software, the price is a little bit expensive. Other negative sides are that the speed of DVDFab is slower than Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate, and the output quality actually is not as good as they described.
The Best DVD Ripper for Mac Review Summary
| Easy to use | Speed level | Output quality | Supported formats | Edit fundtion | Rip encrypted DVD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cisdem Video Converter | Yes | Fast | Excellent | 300+ | Yes | Yes |
| Handbrake | Yes | Slow | Good | MP4, MKV | No | Yes |
| MakeMKV | Yes | Fast | Good | MKV | No | Yes |
| Any Video Converter | Yes | Slow | Fair | 50+ | Yes | No |
| iFunia DVD Ripper | No | Fast | Fair | 50+ | No | Yes |
| MacTheRipper | No | Slow | Fair | 30+ | No | No |
| MacX DVD Ripper Pro | No | Fast | Good | 120+ | Yes | Yes |
| Aimersoft Video Converter | No | Fast | Good | 120+ | Yes | Yes |
| RipIt | Yes | Slow | Low | MP4 | No | Yes |
| DVDFab | No | Fast | Fair | 30+ | Yes | Yes |
How to Rip a DVD on Mac Using the No.1 Pick?
The Best DVD Ripper for Mac 2021
- Rip DVD to all popular digital video & audio formats
- A great array of basic editing tools to enhance & customize videos
- Adjustable resolution and bitrate parameters
- Convert hour-long DVD videos in less than 5 minutes
- Download online videos from most sites
- Cope with UHD 4K video resolution
Step 1Install Cisdem DVD ripper on Mac
Best Dvd Encoder
Download and install Cisdem Video Converter and launch it on your Mac.
Step 2Import DVD source to the software
Have the DVD inserted into your Mac optical drive. Its icon will show on the Finder.
Just drag the DVD to the program interface (“convert” tab or “rip” tab). Cisdem best DVD ripper for Mac will load the source immediately.
Step 3Choose the titles as well as languages of subtitle and audio
If you don't wish to rip all the titles, you can click the checkmark in the upper right corner to cancel.
Free Video Encoder Download
The DVD videos might cover multiple subtitles or audio tracks in different languages, select your familiar languages.
Step 4Rip DVD to digital file
Click on the format-choosing icon nearby 'Convert all tasks to'. You will see a wide range of digital formats, devices, and players for you to select. Choose a suitable one and ensure the output location.
At the final step, hit the convert button to rip DVD to file on Mac.
Conclusion
When it comes to choosing the best DVD ripper for Mac, we ought to take the output quality, and the speed of conversion into personal demand. From the review, we know Cisdem Video Converter is superior to other peers on the speed, quality, and availability of encrypted DVDs. Although Blu-ray cannot be imported, all the needs of DVD can be met. I think Cisdem Video Converter is the best DVD ripper for Mac that deserves your try.