The Best DVD Ripper Software for Mac/Windows

04Apr

In the era of digital technology, it is almost surprising to see DVDs lying around and cluttering up our homes. Although DVDs are an affordable storage solution that we have used for years, with the advent of terabyte drives and online streaming services, they are now a hassle to deal with. Nobody wants to keep swapping discs every time they want to watch something, especially when you can simply tap a button on your phone to access your favorite movies or music.

The solution to this problem is to digitize your entire DVD collection. You can achieve this with the help of DVD ripper software, which can quickly convert your DVD collection into digital files that you can store on your computer or any other device.

Quick navigation

Is DVD ripping legally and ethically correct?
Why should I pay for a ripper?
Our pick: WinX/MacX DVD Ripper Platinum
Upgrade pick: Wondershare UniConverter
Honorable mentions

Is DVD ripping legally and ethically correct?

Some people might be apprehensive about the legality of ripping DVDs. Generally speaking, distributing and pirating copies of DVDs is illegal and immoral, but creating copies for personal use is acceptable. Although some regions, such as the Netherlands and Spain, allow people to make personal copies of their DVDs, it is still illegal in countries like the US and the UK. This means that if you’re caught copying your DVDs, you could potentially face legal action, fines, or even imprisonment. And while it may be tempting to turn a blind eye to this legal gray area, it’s always a good idea to err on the side of caution and abide by the law.

But why is DVD copying such a contentious issue? Well, it all comes down to copyright law. DVDs, like all forms of media, are subject to copyright protection, which means that the creators of the content have the right to control how their work is distributed, copied, and used. By making copies of DVDs without permission, you could be infringing on these rights and depriving the creators of their rightful income.

Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, in some countries, it may be legal to make copies of DVDs for educational or research purposes. Additionally, some DVDs may come with digital copies or allow for limited copying under certain conditions.

Why should I pay for a ripper?

As you probably already know, there are quite a lot of free DVD Rippers out there with Handbrake being one of the most popular ones. So, what’s the point in paying for a premium one?

Well, first things first, there is a reason that premium Rippers are, well, premium. The developers behind such programs spend a lot of time and resources into perfecting them – which is why they tend to work more often with advanced DRM protection.

Do keep in mind that some kinds of protection, such as Sony’s ArccOs, can end up damaging your original disc if you try to create a copy of it. Unfortunately, that’s a risk that you have to take with freebies like Handbrake.

So, if you want our opinion, premium DVD Rippers are worth it not only because they work more often with more formats and forms of DRM protection, but also because you’re not running the risk of ruining a disc or multiple ones.

Our pick — WinX/MacX DVD Ripper Platinum

WinX or MacX, depending on the OS that you’re using, is top rated and most trusted software from the same developer – Digiarty.

Leaving features aside for a moment, one of the things that we absolutely loved about it is how easy it is to use it. In this article, we review the WinX DVD Ripper Platinum in detail.

Using it is as simple as opening it and following the 3 simple steps that it displays in the welcome screen. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

In terms of features, you can expect to find full compatibility with pretty much every kind of DRM protection, tons of output options, hardware acceleration for shorter conversion times, and more.

The various conversion profiles are very useful for literally everything from simple file formats to custom-made rips for latest devices like smartphone, tablet and gaming consoles.

There are additional quality settings that you can manage before you start the ripping process. For example, you can choose which codec to use, change the resolution, the frame rate, and the aspect ration, among other things. If you don’t know what any of these things are though, you should leave them as they are. WinX DVD Ripper will know which settings are best for the format you’ve picked.

Now, granted, the exact time that you’ll have to wait for a conversion to finish will differ from computer to computer. Mostly due to hardware differences. Processor power, optical drive speeds, etc.

Speaking of which, one of the few downsides, if not the only one that we discovered with WinX is that it only supports hardware acceleration for Intel and Nvidia hardware. So, AMD users are missing out a bit in terms of performance.

Still, most modern computers shouldn’t have any issues with such lightweight software. WinX can run on pretty much anything.

Now, if you’re interested in numbers, you’ll be glad to know that this software:

Converts a DVD video with an average time of just 5 minutes, at 47x faster speed (Again, that time can greatly vary from PC to PC.)
Offers more than 390 formats – including some of the most popular like MP4, AVI, MOV, and WMV.
Supports conversion with an average speed of 300-500FPS (Frames per second).
And it supports decryption and conversion of 99-title movies.

Price and avability

WinX and MacX DVD Ripper are built by Digiarty, a leader in home-use video/audio applications for Windows and macOS.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum is fully compatible with Windows 11 and lower systems, and also comes with a MacX variant supporting macOS Catalina and earlier.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum costs $39.95/1-year and $65.95/lifetime, while MacX DVD Ripper Pro retails at $34.95/1-year and $59.95/lifetime. Both include lifetime free upgrades and unlimited technical support, with free trial versions available for both platforms.

Upgrade pick: Wondershare UniConverter

Wondershare has long been known as one of the most popular software creators. We’ve actually previously included one of their video editors in one of our top listicles, so this just goes to show how great they are at making software – and UniConverter is not an exception!

This program is actually a video converter. However, it thankfully also makes for a DVD Ripper – and a great one at that.

Now, sure. It’s definitely nowhere near as simple and easy to use as WinX. But you get used to it fairly quickly.

And while we’re at it, let us not forget to mention that you can use this program not only to write files from a DVD to your PC but also to write a file from a PC to an empty DVD (Burn). Why? Well, maybe for taking a music CD with your old car or something. The option is there and that’s what matters.

But, as we mentioned above, as far as UniConverter is concerned. It’s not all about DVDs. In fact, there’s much more to it than what meets the eye.

There are things such as the metadata editor, a compressor, a video editor, a screen recorder, a video downloader, a VR converter, and so much more. It’s frankly one hell of an overpowered program.

And if you want to talk about numbers:

More than 1000 supported formats
Can optimize videos for more than 5 different devices (Android phones, iPhones, tablets, laptops, etc)
30x times faster than conventional free software (According to Wondershare’s claims)
And offers tens of features into one package

Overall, if you feel like getting multiple programs into one package that’s easy to use, consider investing in Wondershare’s offering instead.

Wondershare UniConverter is available for both macOS and Windows. You can keep using the free version, with some limits, but the full version is priced at $39.95 per year or $59.95 for Lifetime.

Honorable mentions

Those were our top 2 picks. No need to worry. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Plenty of other decent programs to choose from.

Here are some of the best DVD Ripper alternatives!

DVDFab

DVDFab is all about, well, DVDs! Apart from standard DVDs, you can also use it with Blue-ray discs, 4K Blu-rays, or even as an online video downloader

Similar to WinX DVD Ripper, the Ripper function converts a DVD to your computer in standard formats, it can also rip only the audio. So if you’d like music from a film or show, then DVDFab can grab it for you.

It’s obviously nowhere near as advanced as Wondershare’s UniConverter. It’s a bundle of software tools (Copy, Ripper, Converter, and Creator) dedicated to the work on DVD Copy, DVD ripping, Video Conversion, protection removal from DVD, 4K video converter and much more. DVDFab DVD Ripper is a function of the bundle. But, then again, that’s one of the reasons that it’s not in our top 2!

You can find it on both Windows and Mac – just do keep in mind that it’s rather expensive, which is probably the only downside that you’ll find. The full package generally comes in at more than $200. So, it’s definitely not everybody’s cup of tea.

Check DVDFab out on its Website

DVD Shrink

DVD Shrink is more of a compressor rather than a full-fledged DVD Ripper. But, at the same time, it’s freeware that gets the job done. So, at the very least it’s worth a mention.

It may not come with the most beautiful interface around. But, hey, it’s free and it usually gets the job done – which is all we could ask from it.

If there’s one big downside, then that’s not in the actual app – it’s with its website. The big ad on top of the website makes it hard to navigate and finding the actual download button is a challenge when you’re constantly trying to avoid the donation button.

And while we’re all about supporting developers, there is no doubt that some of them need to take a step back.

Check DVDShrink out on its official website

MakeMKV

As the name suggests, MakeMKV is a program that, well, makes MKV files. It basically converts and stores everything you throw at it into the MKV format which is supported by a variety of different programs – including the very popular VLC player.

Just like the rest of our freeware options, MakeMKV uses that dull looking UI. And while that doesn’t prevent us from using the program per se, it can definitely become a bit annoying for some people.

This program has been on Beta for quite some time now and we’ve no notion on when the stable version is going to be released. So, don’t blame us or the developers if you come across a bug or two while using it.

Check MakeMKV out on its official website

DVD Decrypter

This is another very simple DVD Ripper/Decrypter. It basically does the same thing with MakeMKV.

All you have to do is give it an optical drive to work with then you select a destination folder and that’s about it. After that, the program copies the DVD over to your selected destination in .MKV format where you can do whatever you want with it.

It’s completely free to use and while official support has been dropped for a long time now, you should still be able to use it on a modern machine without any massive issues. Sometimes it bugs out for us while we’re trying to close it – but that’s something that can easily be fixed with task manager.

Check DVD Decrypter out on its official website

Aurora Blu-ray Copy

Aurora comes in multiple variants with Blu-ray Copy being one of them. As the name suggests, this variant is mainly focused on ripping Blue-ray discs!

You can find it for free on both Windows and Mac computers. But, just like most of the other freeware that’s out there, the UI and the overall experience of using it is kind of subpar compared to the premium variants.

But, hey, if all you need is some basic Blue-ray ripping for free, it gets the job done.

Just keep in mind that on the Windows side, the program seems to be made for Windows 8. And while it’ll probably run just fine on Windows 10 computers, there is no doubt that it’s outdated which is something that slightly raises security concerns!

Check Aurora out on its official website

FAQs

Does VLC have a DVD ripper?

VLC is an open-source application that can handle audio and media playback. In addition, it comes with the capability to convert any audio and video to the desired format. Additionally, VLC offers users support to rip DVD movies, and you can watch content without needing a disc.

Are DVD ripper software safe to install?

DVD ripper software is safe to install and can be used without issues unless they are from reputable developers. Hence, check the reviews and ratings of the software you’re downloading. We suggest installing or purchasing the prominent ones for this purpose.

What to look for in DVD ripper software?

There are multiple factors that one has to consider before purchasing or installing DVD ripper software. Here are some critical elements we have considered before suggesting the software to you.

Multiple Output formats
High-quality video and audio production.
High-speed DVD ripping.
Ease of use.
Multiple customization options.
Great compatibility.
Reliable customer support.

Wrapping up

That’s all we’ve got for now. As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, we generally recommend getting premium/paid DVD Rippers rather than free ones – especially if you’re dealing with a ton of different DVD discs.

Not only because they make the process much easier while also offering a ton of other features that can come in handy, but also because they support a bunch of extra formats and different forms of DRM.

The free programs that we mentioned as alternatives are a decent option if you’re broke or don’t want to spend any money. But remember that they generally offer the most basic of features.

Not to mention that they are often outdated and have the risk of corrupting a DVD with Arccos or a similar form of DRM. Sure, it’s not like this never happens with premium offerings. But at the very least the chances are much lower. So, pick your poison.

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The Best DVD Ripper Software for Mac/Windows

Is DVD ripping legally and ethically correct?

Why should I pay for a ripper?