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 rippers that we want to share with you. How do they do with free DVD ripping? Let's check now.

Top 6 Best Free Open Source DVD Rippers Review

1. HandBrake

HandBrake is undoubtedly the most popular one among all those open source DVD rippers. It is free, clean, and available for Windows (10/11), Mac, and Linux. Plus, it is rich in features. HandBrake allows users to rip DVD disc, VIDEO_TS folder, and also ISO image to MKV or MP4. Additionally, it has a collection of output presets for some popular devices such as iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Mobile. Apart from format and preset, this open source DVD ripper and copier also gives you a great many options about dimensions, filters, video, audio, subtitles and chapters. It is great for advanced users, but probably not for newbies. They will be get confused and export poor-quality files because of improper settings.

Before you begin ripping DVD with HandBrake, however, we have to tell you another important thing. HandBrake itself cannot handle copy-protected DVDs. If you stick to HandBrake, you need to install HandBrake libdvdcss to help read and decrypt region-coded and CSS-encrypted DVDs, or other powerful programs to decrypt the DVD copy protection schemes first.

Note: The current version of Handbrake is 1.6.1, requiring Windows 10 or later (Windows version), and macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later (macOS version). The free open source DVD ripper for Windows 10 also requires Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 6. According to Handbrake update log, the latest version updated Intel Quick Sync to use the Intel oneAPI Video Processing Library and fixed FFmpeg AAC audio encoder quality mode scale range.

2. DVD Shrink

DVD Shrink is another free open source DVD ripper you can use to copy and rip DVD to ISO image or DVD folder. DVD Shrink is not the best open-source software to convert DVDs to MP4 or other mainstream video formats. If you like, you can use DVD Shrink to copy DVD to ISO file or DVD folder first and then use another tool to convert ISO or DVD folder to your desired video format. The best part is, this Windows-based open source DVD ripper is possible to rip some copy-protected DVDs using its inbuilt decryption algorithms. But as it has been discontinued for years, it may not be able to deal with newer copy protection schemes.

Note: DVD Shrink can only work on Windows. Its development has stopped at version 3.2.0.15, from May 2005. Now you cannot find the download link in its official site, but you can still get it from some software download sites. However, you must be careful because there're some fake versions created to scam your money. It has ended update since 2004. Don't expect this open source DVD ripper to handle new DVD releases.

3. MakeMKV

MakeMKV is a semi-open source DVD ripper for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Its GPU, MKV multiplexer, and optical drive query library are open source. It offers free MakeMKV keys for 30 days, and after that, it charges for Blu-ray converting and streaming functionality after 30-days trial period, but it is free for DVD conversion. What makes it popular is its ability to rip protected DVDs and Blu-ray discs without using additional software. It's also easy to get started. So MakeMKV is great open-source software to copy protected DVDs to MKV.

But inevitably, MakeMKV is unable to please all people and keep good performance all the time. Its output is limited to MKV. Very restrictive. And the file size of resulting file is always a few gigabytes. Most people have to downsize it using a third-party program. Additionally, this program will crash when dealing with some movie DVDs, make some subtitles screw up, make video audio out of sync, and other issues, according to users' feedback online.

Note: The latest version of MakeMKV is v1.17.3 released on 1.2.2023. The new version of the open source DVD/Blu-ray ripper added support to 4K BDAV discs and fixed some bugs and improved internal performance. But there are still errors. Fr example, it takes a long time to use DVD drives for ripping disks. The latest version of the open source DVD copier reads discs extremely slowly(around 0.5x/0.6x).

4. VLC Media Player

As its name implies, VLC is a media player. However, it is also a free and open-source DVD ripper that can convert DVD, ISO image, and VIDEO_TS folder to MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, and more, on Windows, Mac, or Linux. There are also some basic settings to adjust the video codec, bitrate, frame rate, subtitles, etc.

Here're the steps to rip DVD with open source VLC: open VLC -> Media -> Convert /Save -> click Disc tab -> choose DVD under Disc Selection -> go to Disc device and select target DVD -> select title, chapter, audio and subtitle track -> click Convert / Save button at the bottom -> choose desired profile from Convert panel -> specify destination file -> click Start to begin ripping DVD with this open source software.

Admittedly, VLC doesn't do DVD ripping as well as the playback. First, VLC is not an open-source DVD decrypter as it doesn't support copy protections. It contains libdvdcss but that is mainly used for decoding protected DVDs during the playback (so the open source DVD rippers Handbrake and VLC is a popular combination). There are also complaints such as VLC can't read certain DVD, VLC crashes, VLC delivers a file without audio, VLC shows nothing after clicking Start, and other different kinds of errors.

Also read: how to rip DVDs to MP4 with VLC

5. 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 other open source DVD ripper and decrypter, such as MakeMKV, WinX DVD Ripper, 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.

6. VidCoder

Similar to Handbrake, VidCoder is an open-source DVD ripping and video transcoding program for Windows. It is only available on Windows operating system. The open-source DVD ripper uses Handbrake as encoding engine and rips DVDs to MP4 or MKV format. You don't have to install HandBrake for the tool to work but VidCoder requires .NET 6 Desktop Runtime(pre-installed on Windows 10). You will be prompted to download and install it to run the free open source DVD ripper software on Windows 10.

Note: This open-source DVD ripping program doesn't work with encrypted DVD discs. All the commercial DVDs can not be decrypted by VidCoder. To remove such encryption, you have many other better choices, such as WinX DVD Ripper or MakeMKV. The current version of VidCoder is 8.25 (79.8MB), which has no worth mentioning update. It increased the max number of pictures preview to 60 and Croatian translation is added. But you can update to the latest version that may fix some bugs.

FAQ about Open Source DVD Rippers

1. Are all the open source DVD copying software free?

No. An open source DVD copier doesn't necessarily mean that it's free. Open-source means that it's vailable for the public to use, modify, repackage, and redistribute. Most of the open-source DVD rippers are free, but not all of them. Freeware means that users can use the software for free, but the developer still maintains its copyright. For common users, open-source DVD rippers and free DVD copying software work the same.

2. What is the best open source software for copying DVDs?

The above free DVD copiers such as WinX DVD Ripper, Handbrake, MakeMKV, and DVD Shrink all provide the ability to make an exact copy of DVDs. Simply choose the one that works the best for you.

3. What is the best open source software for copying protected DVDs?

When talking about ripping a protected DVD, you need an open source DVD decrypter. The best open source DVD ripper with decryption ability is MakeMKV. You can also try DVD Shrink and Handbrake to remove some common copy protections.

4. What are the best open source DVD burners for Windows and Mac?

In addition to free open-source DVD rippers and copiers, there are also open-source DVD burning tools. Below are some options to choose:

• ImgBurn
• CDBurnerXP
• Brasero
• K3b
• BurnAware Free
• InfraRecorder
• DVDStyler
• OpenShot Video Editor
• DeVeDe
• Bombono DVD