Top 6 Free Open Source DVD Rippers for Windows and Mac

Before we review those 6 open source free DVD rippers, we'd like to explain what "open source software" means. It's software whose source code is freely available to anyone to inspect, modify and enhance. It doesn't mean that the software is free of charge, but in most cases it does. Below are 6 free open source DVD rsippers that we want to share with you. How do they do with free DVD ripping? Let's check now.

Quick Recommendations: Best Open Source DVD Ripper

Our recommendations are based on hands-on testing and comparisons of ripping performance, output quality, format support, usability, and DVD compatibility, supplemented by real-user feedback from established review sites and online communities.

How We Tested & Evaluated Open Source DVD Rippers

Rather than simply comparing software features and vendor descriptions, we put 6 free and open-source DVD rippers through hands-on testing under the same hardware and DVD conditions. Our benchmark system used an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 CPU paired with an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT GPU, 48GB DDR4 RAM, and Windows 10 64-bit to keep the performance comparison consistent. No rankings were purchased or influenced by software vendors.

Our evaluation focused on the factors that matter most when choosing an open-source DVD ripper:

• DVD parsing and title detection;
• DVD ripping and conversion speed;
• Output quality and format flexibility;
• Hardware acceleration and resource usage;
• Process stability and error handling;
• Ease of use and available customization options.

To reduce subjective bias, we scored each tool using a 0–100 weighted scoring model based on five key performance areas: DVD parsing (20%), DVD ripping/conversion speed (30%), DVD compatibility and accessibility (20%), resource usage (15%), and process stability (15%). We also reviewed recurring feedback from established software review platforms and technical communities to account for real-world experiences beyond our own testing.

For readers who want to see the underlying performance data, including parsing time, conversion speed, hardware acceleration, resource usage, and output results, see our complete DVD ripper benchmark tests.

Quick Comparison: Free Open Source DVD Rippers

Choosing a best free DVD ripper is not just about whether it costs nothing. The source it can read, the formats it can create, support for copy-protected discs, and actual ripping speed can vary quite a bit from one tool to another. Here is a side-by-side look at the key differences among the DVD rippers covered in this guide.

1. HandBrake – Best Open Source DVD Ripper for Custom Settings

HandBrake is one of the better-known open source DVD rippers, and there is a good reason it keeps showing up in DVD ripping discussions. It is free, actively maintained, works across Windows, macOS, and Linux, and gives you much more control over the output than a basic DVD converter. You can load a DVD, VIDEO_TS folder, or supported disc image and convert the video to MP4 or MKV, with options for subtitles, chapters, filters, audio tracks, cropping, resolution, and encoding settings.

The number of options can be a little much for someone who just wants to put a DVD into the drive and get a playable MP4. Forum users commonly point out the same trade-off: HandBrake is powerful and reliable for normal transcoding, but DVD-specific issues often require extra setup or manual troubleshooting.

DVD copy protection is the bigger limitation. HandBrake itself does not decrypt commercial DVD copy protection. In our test with Wreck-It Ralph DVD ripping with Handbrake, HandBrake 1.11.1 took 31 seconds to parse the disc, 81 seconds for the preparation stage, and 575 seconds for conversion, for a total of 656 seconds. The measured ripping speed was 100.30 FPS. CPU utilization averaged 27.94%, while GPU utilization remained relatively low at 2.26%, with peak RAM usage of 6.75 GB.

More importantly, the same test showed what happens with a protected DVD when libdvdcss is not installed: HandBrake could not preview the source properly, and the resulting video contained severe blocking and was essentially unwatchable. This is why HandBrake is often paired with Handbrake libdvdcss for DVDs that use CSS encryption.

Pros:

• Free and open source, with versions for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Supports MP4 and MKV with extensive video, audio, subtitle, chapter, and filter controls.
• Measured 100.30 FPS in our DVD-to-MP4 test.
• Provides detailed encoding settings for users who want control over the final file.

Cons:

• HandBrake itself does not decrypt commercial DVD copy protection.
• Protected DVDs may require libdvdcss or a separate decryption step.
• The large number of encoding options can be confusing for first-time users.
• Our test produced severe blocking and an unwatchable result without the required DVD decryption support.

2. MakeMKV – DVD Ripper That Keeps the Original Video

MakeMKV takes a different approach from HandBrake. Instead of encoding a DVD into a smaller MP4 file, it reads the disc and saves the selected video, audio, subtitles, and chapters in an MKV container while keeping the original video quality. It can also work with many commercial DVDs and Blu-ray discs without requiring a separate DVD decryption program.

The catch is that MakeMKV can be much slower before the actual ripping even begins. In our Wreck-It Ralph test, MakeMKV v1.18.3 took 2,542 seconds to parse the DVD and another 2,597 seconds in the preparation stage. The program reported “complex multiplex encountered” and scanned 40 cells and 5,381 VOBUs before proceeding. The conversion itself took 598 seconds, bringing the total time to 3,195 seconds, with an effective speed of 145.94 FPS. For comparison, HandBrake completed the same DVD test in 656 seconds, so MakeMKV's long disc-analysis stage was the main reason it fell behind in total processing time.

Our test also showed why MakeMKV is not simply a slower version of HandBrake. The resulting MKV was 3.81 GB at a 4,996 kb/s bitrate and retained the source video rather than heavily compressing it. That means a much larger output file, but there is no need to accept the quality loss that comes with aggressive DVD to MP4 compression.

User reports also point to a few recurring frustrations: complex or poorly authored discs can take a very long time to scan, some DVDs may expose multiple titles that need to be identified manually, and occasional subtitle, audio-sync, or program-crash issues have been reported with particular discs. These are not universal problems, but they are worth knowing before using MakeMKV as an everyday DVD converter. Its strength is straightforward: preserve the DVD content first, compress it later only when necessary.

Pros:

• Preserves the original DVD video quality instead of re-encoding it.
• Can read many copy-protected DVDs and Blu-ray discs without a separate decryption program.
• Keeps multiple video, audio, subtitle, and chapter tracks in the MKV output.
• Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Cons:

• DVD parsing can take an unusually long time on complex discs.
• MKV is the only output container, so another tool may be needed for MP4 conversion or further compression.
• Lossless output can produce files several gigabytes in size.
• Some discs may cause title-selection, subtitle, synchronization, or stability issues.

3. VidCoder – Open Source DVD Ripper Based on HandBrake

VidCoder is an open-source DVD and video transcoding tool for Windows, built around HandBrake's encoding engine. The interface is more focused than HandBrake's, so users who find HandBrake's large number of encoding options a little overwhelming may find VidCoder easier to navigate. It can read DVDs and VIDEO_TS folders and encode the selected video to MP4 or MKV.

Its biggest limitation is the same one that catches many HandBrake users: VidCoder does not decrypt commercially protected DVDs by itself. A DVD may be perfectly readable by the optical drive yet still fail when VidCoder tries to open or scan the encrypted content. For DVDs using CSS protection, VidCoder's documentation points users toward an external libdvdcss installation; other protection schemes may require a separate decryption step before the source can be processed.

In our DVD-ripping test setup, VidCoder was evaluated alongside HandBrake and other DVD tools, but we do not assign an FPS figure here because the available measurement did not use the same clearly defined FPS calculation as the HandBrake and MakeMKV results. That keeps the comparison consistent instead of presenting an unrelated raw score as a ripping-speed measurement.

Pros:

• Free and open source, with a simpler interface than HandBrake for many encoding tasks.
• Uses HandBrake's encoding engine for MP4 and MKV conversion.
• Provides control over video, audio, subtitles, chapters, and encoding quality.
• Works with Windows DVD and video sources.

Cons:

• Windows only.
• Does not independently decrypt commercial DVD copy protection.
• Protected DVDs may require libdvdcss or a separate decryption step.
• Less suitable when the priority is lossless DVD preservation rather than video transcoding.

4. DVD Shrink – Open Source DVD Ripper & Backup Tool for Older Discs

DVD Shrink is a free, discontinued DVD backup program designed mainly for copying DVD-Video content and reducing its size to fit on a DVD. It is not open source, and it is not designed as a modern DVD-to-MP4 converter. Its main strength is working with DVD folders or ISO images while keeping the original DVD structure. You can also use another video converter afterward when you need an MP4 or MKV file for playback on a computer, phone, or TV.

DVD Shrink has built-in decryption algorithms that can handle some older CSS-protected DVDs, which is one reason it is still mentioned in DVD backup forums. However, its development ended with version 3.2.0.15 in May 2005, so compatibility with newer discs and copy-protection methods is limited. In our test, DVD Shrink took 737 seconds in total, including 119 seconds for parsing, 149 seconds for preparation, and 588 seconds for conversion, reaching 148.43 FPS. It produced a VIDEO_TS folder with multiple VOB files rather than a ready-to-play MP4, while the video quality stayed close to the source.

The bigger issue today is its age. DVD Shrink has not received updates for more than two decades, and the original project is no longer maintained. Its official site does not provide a current download, so third-party download pages require extra caution. For an older DVD collection, it can still be useful for basic backup or compression, but it is difficult to recommend as a primary DVD ripper for newer releases.

Pros:

• Free DVD backup and compression tool.
• Can handle some older CSS-protected DVDs with its built-in decryption algorithms.
• Preserves the DVD-Video structure and keeps video quality close to the source.

Cons:

• Development was discontinued in 2005 and it is not open source.
• Compatibility with newer DVDs and copy-protection methods is limited.
• Windows only and does not directly convert DVDs to modern formats such as MP4.
• Official downloads are no longer available, so third-party download sources should be treated cautiously.
• Does not support Blu-ray discs.

5. VLC Media Player – Open Source DVD Converter with Limited Ripping Controls

VLC Media Player is best known for playing almost any video or audio format, but it can also read DVD discs, ISO images, and VIDEO_TS folders and convert their contents to formats such as MP4, MKV, MOV, and AVI. The conversion panel provides basic controls for the video codec, bitrate, frame rate, audio, subtitles, and other output settings.

DVD ripping, however, is not where VLC performs best. Its DVD workflow requires more manual selection than a dedicated DVD ripper, and the available controls are relatively limited. In our test with Wreck-It Ralph, VLC took 1,798 seconds from start to finish, including 83 seconds of preparation and 1,715 seconds of conversion, reaching just 67.24 FPS. The resulting MP4 was 1.13 GB at 720x480, but playback reported error 0xc00d36c4 in our test, and the video quality was noticeably blurry. The first attempt also took about 15 minutes and produced only part of the movie, so VLC was not as reliable for this DVD conversion as the dedicated tools we tested.

DVD compatibility can also be a sticking point. For an unprotected DVD or a VIDEO_TS folder that VLC can read normally, its built-in conversion feature can be convenient. For protected or troublesome discs, it is better treated as a media player with basic conversion capabilities rather than a full-featured DVD ripping solution.

Pros:

• Free and open-source media player with DVD conversion capabilities.
• Works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and other platforms.
• Supports common output formats including MP4, MKV, MOV, and AVI.
• Provides basic control over codecs, bitrate, frame rate, audio, and subtitles.

Cons:

• DVD conversion is much slower than the dedicated tools in our test.
• Manual title and track selection can make the DVD workflow less convenient.
• Does not provide general-purpose decryption for commercial copy-protected DVDs.
• Users may encounter incomplete output, missing audio, crashes, or DVD reading errors.

6. FFmpeg

Another well-known free open source DVD ripper we want to introduce to you is FFmpeg. It allows you to convert DVD to virtually all video formats. However, only unencrypted DVDs are supported. FFmpeg is a command line utility, so its DVD ripping workflow is quite different from above open source DVD rippers. You need to type in commands just like the image shows. This way may be a little bit difficult to operate for some people. FFmpeg is cross-platform and can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

FFmpeg can rip some DVDs well with the CLI tool dvdbackup. However, some users had big issues with backing up Disney discs. You'd better use another open source DVD ripper and decrypter, such as MakeMKV, to decrypt the DVDs first. Then FFmpeg can handle the resulting single file. The output file won't contain chapter information. >>Check how to rip DVD with FFmpeg.

Pros:

• The FFmpeg command line program can convert literately any media file into literately any media file. 
• It is easy and quick to rip DVDs where you don't have to open another application.

Cons:

• There's a learning curve with using the command lines to perform the DVD ripping tasks.
• It doesn't support protected DVDs.

A Free Alternative to Open Source DVD Rippers: WinX DVD Ripper

Free open-source DVD rippers are attractive because they cost nothing and, in the case of HandBrake, VidCoder, VLC, and FFmpeg, offer useful control over video conversion. But the tests above also show where they fall short. HandBrake and VidCoder need an additional solution when a commercial DVD cannot be read, VLC is much slower and less consistent for DVD conversion, DVD Shrink is no longer maintained, and FFmpeg requires command-line knowledge.

WinX DVD Ripper takes a different approach: it is freeware rather than open source, with DVD decryption, title detection, format conversion, and hardware acceleration built into one application.

For protected DVDs, this makes a noticeable difference in the workflow. WinX DVD Ripper can handle common DVD protections such as CSS, region codes, RCE, UOPs, Sony ARccOS, and Disney-related protection without requiring a separate decryption program. It can also recognize the main movie title on multi-title DVDs, which is useful for discs that contain many misleading titles. The software supports output to MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, MKV, ISO, and device-specific profiles, while providing controls for video and audio parameters, subtitles, cropping, merging, and other basic editing tasks.

Speed is another area where the freeware option has an advantage in our test. On the Wreck-It Ralph DVD, WinX DVD Ripper finished in 648 seconds at 177.14 FPS, compared with 656 seconds and 100.30 FPS for HandBrake and 1,798 seconds and 67.24 FPS for VLC under the same test methodology. On the NCIS episodic DVD, WinX completed the lossless extraction workflow at 389.45 FPS. The difference is not simply about raw encoding speed: the software also avoids making users move between separate DVD decryption, backup, and conversion tools.

WinX DVD Ripper is therefore a practical alternative when the priority is getting a protected DVD into a normal video file without building a multi-tool workflow. It is proprietary freeware, not an open-source project, and it does not support Blu-ray discs.

Pros:

• Handles many common DVD copy protections without requiring a separate decryption tool.
• Supports DVD to MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, ISO, and other output formats and profiles.
• Faster DVD conversion than HandBrake and VLC in our Wreck-It Ralph test.
• Automatically detects the main title on many DVDs, reducing manual title selection.
• Includes subtitle, audio, cropping, merging, and other basic editing controls.

Cons:

• Freeware, but not open source.
• Does not support Blu-ray discs.
• Available for Windows and macOS rather than Linux.

FAQ about Open Source DVD Rippers