MakeMKV Alternative for Windows/Mac: Rip DVD to MKV, MP4, etc.
Mike Rule
Updated on
"I'm looking for the best alternative to MakeMKV to rip commercial DVD to not only MKV, but also to other popular video formats like MP4, MOV, etc. so that I can watch my favorite DVD movie on my iPhone. Any suggestions?"
MakeMKV is a decent program which allows users to convert DVD and blu-ray to MKV without quality loss, but its output is limited to MKV files with large sizes, and the program relies on a beta key that expires every few months, requiring constant updates to keep it functional. These issues can be frustrating, especially for those who want smaller files in more versatile formats to play DVD movies on iPhone, iPad, Android, or other mobiles on the move.
So, some people wonder if there is any excellent MakeMKV alternativethat supports more popular output video formats with smaller file size and original video quality of DVD-without the hassle of beta key renewals. To make things easier, here you'll find top 3 MakeMKV alternatives for Windows and Mac to help convert DVD to MKV, MP4, MOV, and more. Below is the key takeaways.
WinX DVD Ripper is a trusted DVD ripping solution with over 19 years of expertise. It not only preservee original quality but also rips any DVD to MP4, MOV, AVI, and 350+ formats or devices with smaller size.
Free Download
Free DownloadHandbrake rips both DVD and Blu-ray discs to MKV, MP4, and WebM for free. But ripping protected DVD or blu-rays requires installing third-party decryption software.
Wondershare Uniconverter supports ripping DVDs and converting a wide range of video formats with fast speed. It offers handy editing tools, making it a complete solution beyond simple ripping.
Before choosing the best MakeMKV alternative for your certain needs, you should know all the important features of MakeMKV for DVD ripping.
MakeMKV Highlights:
- Rip encrypted DVD movie and Blu-ray to MKV, yet it can only copy them to MKV format.
- Keep all video and audio tracks (inclu. HD audio), chapter information, meta data, etc.
- Support the latest Blu-ray protections like AACS and BD+.
However, MakeMKV also has notable drawbacks. Below are some typical MakeMKV issues from community like Reddit.
- It is limited to convert DVD to MKV.
- The output MKV file is large in size (up to 6GB).
- There is no preview window or basic editing feature.
- The conversion speed is not very fast. DVD audio can't be ripped separately.It sometimes gets crashed, etc.
- Need constant beta key updates due to its limited-time activation. Click here if you need MakeMKV beta key >>
Accordingly, an ideal MakeMKV alternative should include these features while addressing its shortcomings. Below are the top 3 options available for both Windows and Mac.
Part 1. Top 3 MakeMKV Alternatives for Windows and Mac
#1. WinX DVD Ripper
WinX DVD Ripper is a professional DVD ripping software designed to rip and backup DVD disc or ISO Image to MKV, MP4 (HEVC/H.264), MOV, and other popular formats- often completing the ripping task in just 5 minutes due to the support of full GPU acceleration powered by Nvidia CUDA/NVENC, AMD, Intel QSV, etc. Better than MakeMKV, it can either copy DVD losslessly or shrink DVD file size up to 80% while effectively decrypting popular copy protections. It is the top recommended alternative to MakeMKV, combining speed, versatility, and ease of use. Below are the killer features.
- Rip DVDs protected by CSS, UOPS, region codes, Disney 99-title, and Sony bad sectors.
- 1:1 copy DVD to ISO/MPEG2/folder, or rip DVD to more output formats than MakeMKV, including MKV, MP4, MOV, HEVC/H264, plus optimized profiles for iPhone, iPad, TV, game consoles, etc.
- Take advantages of full GPU hardware acceleration tech to improve DVD ripping speed up to 5X faster than MakeMKV, saving you time without sacrificing quality.
- A stellar DVD ripper for Windows 10/11 and Mac with 350+ output profiles and flexible video/audio settings that enable users change video resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, choose subtitles, etc.
How to Rip DVD to Popular Formats or Devices with WinX DVD Ripper Platinum?
Step 1. Get WinX DVD Ripper Platinum.
Free download, install and launch this MakeMKV alternative on your Windows or Mac computer.
Step 2. Import the DVD disc.
Launch WinX DVD Ripper, and click "DVD Disc" icon. This smart DVD ripping program will auto load the DVD movie info including DVD movie title, subtitle, video, audio, duration, etc after parsing, and it will auto detect the right main DVD movie title for you. If need, you can also choose to import ISO Image to convert to video format.
Step 3: Choose output and set parameters.
Choose output video or device file for the ripping DVD. Users can choose to rip DVD to MP4, MPEG, WMV, FLV, MOV, MP3, iPhone, Apple TV, Samsung, HTC, etc.
Also, this MakeMKV alternative allows users to customize the video/audio/image settings according to own needs, and rip DVD with original quality by setting the video resolution with "keep origin".
Step 4: Start ripping DVD.
Optionally click "Browse" to set an output folder to store the ripped digital file of DVD. Hit "RUN" button to begin ripping any protected DVDs on Windows (10) or Mac with WinX DVD Ripper.
To know more about WinX DVD Ripper and MakeMKV difference, click here for side-by-side comparison >>
Attention: we only advocate ripping own DVD for personal use, and please consult DVD copyright laws in your country carefully before doing so.
#2. HandBrake
HandBrake is a popular open-source video transcoder widely used for ripping DVDs and Blu-Ray sources that do not contain any kind of copy protection. Similar to MakeMKV, Handbrake can process both DVD and blu-ray discs, but it also offers flexible output options including MKV, MP4 (H.264 and HEVC), and WebM, compatible with iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, and more.
By installing the third-party libdvdcss library, Handbrake can decrypt DVD with CSS. However, it cannot bypass other complex protections like RCE, AACS 2.0, Sony ARccOS, UOPs, or Disney x-project DRM, which limits its use for newer commercial discs. For those need to rip heavily protected DVDs, Handbrake may not be sufficient compared to MakeMKV or other tools like WinX DVD Ripper. Below are the killer features of Handbrake：
- Rip DVD/Blu-ray to MKV, MP4 ( H.264 and H.265), WebM, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, etc.
- Support batch conversion of multiple files at once.
- Preserve chapter markers for convenient navigation.
- Flexible custmization options for experience users and many filters to deinterlace, denoise, deblock, etc.
How to Rip a DVD with HandBrake?
Step 1. Get HandBrake.
Take the Windows version as an example, you can download this MakeMKV alternative Windows version, install and launch it on your computer.
Step 2. Load your DVD in HandBrake.
Insert your DVD disc into the DVD drive of your computer, then open HandBrake and choose Source Selection to choose your DVD. BTW, you can also insert DVD VIDEO_TS folder and ISO file into HandBrake to rip to MKV or MP4.
Step 3. Choose the DVD title and chapter.
After scanning, HandBrake will select a title for you, but you can pick the desired one manually from the Title drop-down menu. And all chapters of the selected title will be covered.
Step 4. Choose an output format.
With HandBrake, you can easily convert DVD to MP4 or MKV. Besides, dozens of output presets allow you to convert DVD to any resolution (576p or 480p for DVD videos), Web (Gmail, YouTube, Vimeo, Discord), Devices (Android, Apple, Chromecast, Playstation, Amazon Fire, Roku, Xbox), Matroska (H.264, H.265, VP8, VP9), etc. Alternatively, you can add your personalized preset by clicking the Save New Preset.
Step 5. Choose a destination folder.
In the "Save As" section, simply click the "Browse" button to choose a location to save the converted DVD file.
Step 6. Start ripping DVD with HandBrake.
When everything is done, simply hit the Start Encode button to start ripping DVD.
#3. Wondershare Uniconverter
Here comes the well-known software developing brand - Wondershare Uniconverter- a comprehensive multimedia toolkit that goes beyond basic DVD ripping. Unlike MakeMKV's single-format output, Uniconverter offers a broad range of codec support, including HEVC encoding, which delivers high compression efficeincy without compromising video quality. This makes it a top choise for users demanding modern, storage friendly formats.
Faster than MakeMKV, Uniconverter's GPU acceleration engion optimizes the speeds across both DVD and video conversion. It also integrates easy video editing tools and video enhancement options to ensure the content delivering better quality. Below are the key features.
- Convert DVDs to an array of formats (MP4, MKV, MOV, M4V, etc.) at a fast speed and with high quality.
- Support for direct DVD conversion and versatile output profiles tailored to devices and platforms.
- Burn and customize your DVD with free DVD menu templates.
- Integrated basic editing including trimming, cropping, cutting, adding effects, etc.
How to convert DVD to video formats with Uniconverter?
Step 1. Get this MakeMKV alternative.
Simply go to Wondershare Uniconverter official website, download and install it on your computer.
Step 2. Load your DVD.
Insert your DVD into the DVD drive of your computer. If there is no one, simply use as external DVD drive. Then, launch Wondershare Uniconverter and choose "+Load DVD" icon on the main UI of "Converter". Just choose the title of the inserted disc from the available options.
Step 3. Select the target format.
Go to the Settings tab and choose the desired video format and video resolution from the Video tab.
Step 4. Choose a destination folder.
Simply go to the File Location section and then choose a destination folder to save the converted DVD file.
Step 5. Start converting.
When everything is ready, hit the Convert button to start the process.
Detailed Comparison of the Best MakeMKV Alternatives
| Software | WinX DVD Ripper | Handbrake | Uniconverter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output Formats | ISO, MPEG2, MP4, MOV, AVI, HEVC, H.264, MP3, etc. | MKV, MP4, and WebM | MP4, MOV, MKV, HEVC, FLV, DivX, MPG, etc. |
| Output Quality | Lossless copy or high-quality ripping (user-selectable) | High quality via re-encoding, with adjustable settings. | Average - focuses on compatibility over lossless quality |
| Ripping Speed | Very fast (full GPU acceleration. 5-10 min per DVD depending on hardware) | Moderate - Speed depends on settings and CPU. | Medium - GPU acceleration supported but slower than WinXDVD. |
| Best for | Best for high-speed, lossless DVD backup. | Best for free, customizable DVD video encoding. | Best for multi-format DVD conversion with extra editing tools. |
To Sum up:
If you use MakeMKV to backup DVD to MKV, you will get a very large MKV fil - often exceeding 6GB for a standard movie - while containing almost the same data as the original disc. In addition, playing MKV files is not that easy. You can play MKV on computer with specialized MKV player like 5KPlayer. But if you want to play the DVD movie video on iPhone iPad Android, etc, you need a third-party efficient video converter to convert MKV to MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, etc.
For the above reasons, if you are looking for an alternative to MakeMKV, choose WinX DVD Ripper, which is ideal for users who need lossless DVD backups at very high speed. If you value for free video encoding solution with flexible compression options, Handbrake is a good option, though slower than WinX DVD Ripper. And if you focus on wide format compatibility and editing features, Wondershare is a solid solution.
Part 2. Frequently Asked Questions
After comparison, many DVD rippers are better than MakeMKV including HandBrake, WinX DVD Ripper, Wondershare Uniconverter, and so on. The reasons are that the output format of MakeMKV is only in MKV, MakeMKV can't customize the parameters, MakeMKV can't extract DVD audio only, MakeMKV can't preview video, etc. In contrast, software like WinX DVD Ripper can process DVD quickly with various setting options, editing features, and more.
Generally, MakeMKV rips DVDs and Blu-ray in a way faster than Handbrake. The ripping speed depends on Handbrake settings, and the CPU perfrmance. While HandBrake is better when ripping homemade DVDs to different video formats and many devices like iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, YouTube, etc.
Yes. MakeMKV is free while it's in beta, but you need to update the MakeMKV beta key every month. You can also purchase a lifetime license for a one-time fee.
About 30 minutes.
Yes. MakeMKV can rip most region code DVDs but not all kinds of DVDs. And it can read Blu-ray discs protected with latest versions of AACS and BD+. As for other popular DVD copy protection schemes like Sony ARccOS, UOPs, RCE, and Disney X-project DRM, you need a MakeMKV alternative.
