Best 10 MakeMKV Alternatives: Pros, Cons, Using Experience

Although MakeMKV has long been the best go-to for backing up DVDs & Blu-rays, as soon as updates stall out, features become limited, or support for any other OS appears to never come. It’s time to spend a bit of time looking for the alternatives of MakeMKV. Open-source, lightning speed encoders, nice UIs, cloud-ready workflows, and more - these 10 alternatives to MakeMKV bring some new power and flexibility to any disc-ripping endeavor.

How We Test

We conduct all reviews of these products using a fully standardized process meant to ensure reliability. We purchase all testing accounts independently from each vendor, with no vendor involvement or sponsorship of any kind. Audio performance is benchmarked with commercial measurement tools, ensuring our test bed is consistent, covering aspects such as bitrate, frequency response, dynamic range, and delay (latency) under a range of conditions - WiFi, 4G, and 5G.

Top 1. VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper

Supported systems: Windows, Mac

Best for: Both Professionals & beginners

VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper, the best alternative to MakeMKV, works to rip both DVDs and Blu-ray discs to 300+ digital formats, ISO files, DVD folders with its state-of-the-art ripping technology. Also, it’s taking the lead in decrypting DRM protections like APS, CSS, ARccOS, CPRM, AACS, BD+, and Cinavia.

Before the conversion, you can choose titles, subtitles, and audio tracks to keep. Moreover, you can edit the videos with its built-in editor. With a clear interface, it’s a breeze to rip your DVD collection and enjoy the best playback anywhere.

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Pros Pros

Supports more than 300 video/audio formatslike MP3, MP4, MKV, etc.
Keeps all subtitles and audio tracks while ripping..
Keeps original quality the same after the ripping process.
Edits the parameters before ripping the Blu-ray/DVD discs.
Offers extra basic video editing functions.
Provides 6X faster ripping speed to convert Blu-ray/DVD videos to digital formats.

Cons Cons

It requires a relatively stable network connection.

Steps to Rip Blu-ray Using VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper

Step 1. Load Blu-ray Disc in VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper

Firstly, insert the Blu-ray disc into your computer, and click the “Load Blu-ray” option.

Step 2. Select Movie Titles to Convert

After the Blu-ray content is loaded in the software, click the “Full Movie List” button to select the titles you want to rip.

Step 3. Select a Format to Convert Blu-ray Videos

Go to “Rip All to” and open the format selection menu. Here you select the output format and its quality.

Step 4. Rip Blu-ray to Video Files

Finally, directly click the “Rip All” button and VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper will begin to rip.

Using Experience

My first impression of VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper was a pleasant one, with a polished interface and simple workflows. Advanced hardware acceleration provided ripping speeds bordering on the impossible, with no loss of quality. For both Blu-ray and DVD, I effortlessly ripped content to both MKV, MP4, and more, with subtitles and chapters preserved. Batch processing was brilliant, providing a workable solution for large libraries instead of a time-consuming process. In a word, I’d love to use it as an alternative to MakeMKV.

Top 2. DVDFab Blu-ray Ripper

Supported systems: Windows, Mac

Best for: Beginners

DVDFab Blu-ray Ripper is professional substitute of MakeMKV in ripping protected Blu-ray discs to common digital files with original quality, so that people can save the videos to any device for playback without affecting the experience at all. Unlike MakeMKV, the software provides more output formats and fast speed, which can convert a Blu-ray movie within 15 minutes.

Pros Pros

Supports more than 1000 video/audio formats.
Rips protection from Blu-ray discs and supports more commercial Blu-ray disc types.
Keeps original quality to help create a theatre-like watching experience at home.
Supports the fastest ripping speed at 50X faster.
Provides a built-in video editor to adjust videos.
Upscales the video quality to provide an even better video playback experience.

Cons Cons

The free version only supports converting Blu-ray to MKV and MP4.
It doesn’t support speeding up the Blu-ray conversion without buying its registered license.
The price to purchase a license to unlock the functions is rather expensive.

Using Experience

I was impressed with DVDFab Blu-ray Ripper's powerful DRM removal functionality, and its ability to provide a solid 1:1 backup of the original disc in high quality. There were many customizable profiles for me to tweak all the video settings related to my format, and it also handled batch processing and GPU acceleration across a large workload seamlessly. The built-in editor struggled in areas for new users, and the subscription pricing tiers may sting a bit, but the quality of output definitely justified the amount paid.

Top 3. WinX DVD Ripper

Supported systems: Windows, Mac

Best for: Professionals

WinX DVD Ripper is mainly developed for ripping DVD discs. It offers an easy-to-understand interface, so that users can quickly know how to get started with it. Even the speed of the ripping performance doesn’t reach the expectation as it tells us on the website, it still supports different formats to output the DVD videos, and provides basic editing functions to people in need. For more details, you may refer to the WinX DVD Ripper review.

Pros Pros

Offers full functions such as DVD ripping, video editing, and video adjustment.
Offers clear UI and easy-to-use functions.
Supports choosing video titles to rip flexibly.
Provides 350+ formats to select.

Cons Cons

The stated hardware acceleration doesn’t work, which takes a longer time to rip DVDs.
Only supports ripping DVDs with only one kind of subtitle each time.
The output quality is not the original one.

Using Experience

WinX DVD Ripper's wizard-style interface meant I could take the pain out of ripping DVDs by being guided through each step. The free edition handles most standard DVDs with a decent ripping speed and provides a decent output. Upgrading is needed to support Blu-ray, and its occasional subtitle glitches with longer sessions made me try and keep my patience in check, but it is dependable as a better substitute for MakeMKV of overall.

Top 4. HandBrake

Supported systems: Windows, Mac, Linux

Best for: Professionals

HandBrake is a popular MakeMKV alternative that works across Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can not only use HandBrake to rip Blu-ray/DVDs, but also convert local videos to other digital formats. What’s more, HandBrake provides presets for quick conversion as well as video filters like deinterlacing, decomb, denoise, detelecine, deblock, grayscale, colourspace, cropping, and scaling.

Pros Pros

Free to convert DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and videos of common formats.
Provides various presets for devices, web services, hardware, and production.
Add audio tracks or subtitles (VobSub, Closed Captions CEA-608, SSA, SRT).
Make chapters to separate the content of a disc or a video.

Cons Cons

A bit complicated to get started with all kinds of settings.
Only supports output formats including MP4, MKV, and WebM.
Cannot rip DRM-protected DVD and Blu-ray discs.
Support previews in static pictures rather than a video.

Using Experience

Using HandBrake felt like unlocking a Swiss-army knife for video transcoding. Open-source flexibility and community-driven presets handled every input format I tried (DVDs, M4Vs, and obscure MKV variants) flawlessly. While applying filters and bitrate curves takes some effort, and single-pass encodes take a while, I was sold on the free, no watermarks, with really impressive performance. In a word, if you wants a free alternative for MakeMKV, HandBrake can’t be missed.

Top 5. VLC Media Player

Supported systems: Windows, Mac, GNU/Linux, Android, iOS

Best for: Beginners

Originally, VLC is widely known as a media player with its powerful video/audio streaming performance. But actually, you can also rip DVDs with VLC for free. It helps people to easily rip Blu-ray or DVD to MP4, MKV, WMV, and a few other common formats. However, like MakeMKV, the speed of this free media player is not as quick as other professional rippers. The output quality is also less ideal.

Pros Pros

Offers GPU Acceleration to speed up Blu-ray/DVD conversion to 30X faster
Keeps lossless quality and original audio/subtitle tracks to convert the discs
Supports lossless MKV and more output formats to convert
Allows to edit videos before converting from a disc freely with the easy-to-use editing tools

Cons Cons

No options are provided for DVD burning
Using the free trial version would have some existing limitations

Using Experience

I was surprised how the VLC Media Player could also rip discs hidden within it, as it is essentially a media player. But navigating the conversion menu is clunky and output options aren't as in-depth. Like Handbrake it is free and works cross-platform, so for easy DVD backups it gets the job done. Don't expect it to be polished or quick, though. There are workarounds.

Top 6. Wondershare UniConverter

Supported systems: Windows, Mac

Best for: Beginners

We know that MakeMKV fails to satisfy users because of its limited output format selection – only MKV. As a result, for people who need the MakeMKV alternative to provide more output format selections, Wondershare UniConverter is the best choice. It supports over 1000 formats to convert DVDs with fast speed and original quality. Also, other functions like video editing, downloading, transferring, and so on can be found in this software.

Pros Pros

Supports more than 1000 different formats to convert DVDs.
Provides up to 90X faster speed to convert DVDs.
Offers video editing functions to adjust the DVD videos.
Supports transferring the converted videos directly to other devices within several clicks.
Allows you to burn and customise the DVD menu with some free DVD templates.

Cons Cons

The software may run slowly sometimes because it has too many functions inside.
There would be a watermark if you don’t pay for using its upgraded version.

Using Experience

Wondershare UniConverter was awesome because it provided an all-in-one toolkit with ripping, conversion, compression, and some basic editing completed in just a few clicks. Plus the easy-to-navigate interface and device-optimized presets worked perfectly (GPU acceleration helped too)./ Only annoying part is that I had to ignore multiple times to upgrade, as well as the subscription fee was significant-but it performed great on every format I used it on.

Top 7. Leawo Blu-ray Ripper

Supported systems: Windows, Mac

Best for: Professionals

Unlike MakeMKV, Leawo Blu-ray Ripper would offer more than 180 formats to rip Blu-ray/DVD discs with original quality. Without letting people wait a long time, it could speed up the conversion to be 6X faster. Except for the DVD conversion, you can also find the DVD burning, copying, and video downloader tools on the menu. As a result, you are actually getting more functions inside one software than a simple DVD converter.

Pros Pros

Offers 180+ formats to convert Blu-ray/DVD discs for playback on all devices.
Keeps 100% original quality to save converted videos.
Allows for adjusting parameters before converting the videos.
Saves all original audio tracks and subtitles while processing the conversion.
Supports batch conversion of Blu-ray/DVD discs at 6X faster speed.

Cons Cons

Doesn’t provide the video editing functions to edit videos before the conversion.
No support for the 3D Blu-ray/DVD disc at all.
The price to subscribe to its paid version is more expensive than many competitors.

Using Experience

Leawo Blu-ray Ripper provided excellent consistency, solid subtitle support, and the ability to very easily keep chapters and audio tracks from my disc. Its interface felt clean and was easy to use, and it ripped at competitive speeds with the added ability of hardware acceleration. However, occasional glitches during batch jobs and a high-priced lifetime license made me think about value versus reliability.

Top 8. DumboFab Blu-ray Ripper

Supported systems: Windows, Mac

Best for: Beginners

The full-featured DumboFab Blu-ray Ripper is also a good alternative to MakeMKV, not only for its supported formats, but also for its performance, such as the faster conversion speed and lossless quality outputs. Even for the 3D movies, DumboFab Blu-ray Ripper could support generating at a 1:1 ratio. By converting the Blu-ray/DVD to more popular formats, you can play the Blu-ray videos on any popular device you like.

Pros Pros

Offers quicker conversion speed than MakeMKV.Provides all popular formats, such as MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, and so on, to save Blu-ray/DVD videos.
Supports converting both protected and unprotected Blu-ray/DVD discs.
Offers faster speed to convert Blu-ray/DVD.

Cons Cons

The interface is not friendly for some new users.
Limitations will exist if you are using the free version.
Sometimes the DVD ripping may fail.

Using Experience

DumboFab Blu-ray Ripper amazed me with its simple workflow and faster performance. Converting discs was nearly plug and play. Everything from drag-and-dropping to format presets felt nearly automatic, and Mike found the included editor to easily sync subtitles with captions to illustrate the actual experience. A couple occasional input compatibility quirks held me back, though their support is responsive and they are continually updating, raising my confidence for this startup.

Top 9. WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro

Supported systems: Windows

Best for: Professionals

Like MakeMKV, WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro can also bring an easy process to help everyone easily convert DVD to MKV and even more formats as they need, such as MP4, MOV, and so on. You would only have to spend about 5 to 10 minutes to rip a DVD movie that lasts for hours. Also, WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro supports converting protected DVDs, so that you can save any DVD videos to digital video files for more convenient playback without the disc. More features will be revealed in the WonderFox DVD Ripper pro review.

Pros Pros

Converts a long DVD movie to videos in only 5 to 10 minutes.
Keeps 1:1 quality to make sure the same enjoyable DVD movies are watchable after the conversion.
Supports ripping protected discs.
Helps you to keep a balance on the File Size, Output Quality, and Compression Ratio.
Detects all main titles of DVD movies and TV shows to convert.

Cons Cons

WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro is only supported on Windows computers.
You can’t rip Blu-ray Discs with the software.
The free trial also contains limitations when using.

Using Experience

Wonderfox DVD Ripper Pro had the fastest encoding speeds I had ever used to rip DVDs. I was able to rip DVDs on a regular basis in a few quick minutes. It held a user-friendly interface and included readily-usable device profile options, eliminating tinkering. Free updates and no nag or trial screens made daily use unfrustrating, but with limited controls on the bitrate and occasional watermarks in the trial version still made my experience unenjoyable.

Top 10. EaseFab Blu-ray Ripper

Supported systems: Windows, Mac

Best for: Beginners

EaseFab Blu-ray Ripper can also help people easily rip the full Blu-ray as well as DVD discs to lossless MKV files or more of other formats with faster speed than MakeMKV. Even for the 2D/3D/UHD 4K Blu-ray and DVD videos, the software can keep the original quality with audio and subtitle tracks as well. With the built-in editing functions, you can flexibly control the videos by yourself.

Pros Pros

Offers GPU Acceleration to speed up Blu-ray/DVD conversion to 30X faster.
Keeps lossless quality and original audio/subtitle tracks to convert the discs.
Supports lossless MKV and more output formats to convert.
Allows for editing videos before converting from a disc freely with the easy-to-use editing tools.

Cons Cons

No options are provided for DVD burning.
Using the free trial version would have some existing limitations.

Using Experience

EaseFab Blu-ray Ripper impressed me with its straightforward UI and clear output presets, converting discs with decent audio/video quality. The free trial’s watermark was a nuisance, and advanced settings felt underpowered for power users. Infrequent updates raise concerns, but for quick rips it struck a balance of simplicity and efficiency.

Comparison Between 10 Best MakeMKV Alternatives

	Outputs	Rip DVDs	Rip Blu-ray	Remove DRM	Video Editor	Speed	Price	Ease of Use
VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper	300+ formats, ISO, DVD folder	√	√	√	√	6X	$69.95	Easiest
DVDFab Blu-ray Ripper	1,000+ formats	×	√/p>	√	√	3X	$69.99	Easy
WinX DVD Ripper	350+ formats, ISO, DVD folder	√	×	×	√	1X	$39.95	Easy
WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro	50+ formats	√	×	√	×	2X	$39.95	Easy
EaseFab Blu-ray Ripper	500+ formats	√	√	√	√	3X	$27.95	Easy
VLC Media Player	20+ formats	√	×	×	×	Slow	Free	Complicated
Wondershare UniConverter	1,000+ formats	√	×	×	√	6X	$49.99	Easy
DumboFab Blu-ray Ripper	100+ formats	√	√	√	√	3X	$29.95	Easy
Leawo Blu-ray Ripper	180+ formats	×	√	×	√	6X	$44.95	Easy
HandBrake	MP4, MKV, WebM	√	√	×	×	6X	Free	2X

FAQs of MakeMKV Alternatives

Is MakeMKV still free?

No. The MakeMKV beta version is free with limited features while the shareware version requires a registration key at $50 to unlock all functionality.

Does MakeMKV reduce quality?

Yes. Compared to the original quality of videos in a DVD, the video quality will be reduced in MakeMKV, because digital conversion itself is a lossy process.

What to do if MakeMKV failed to open DVD discs?

In some cases, MakeMKV may not get in the groove and catch a bug like the failure to open DVDs. Thus, you may consider other MakeMKV alternatives like VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper in this post to rip DVDs instead.

Conclusion

It must take quite a while to finish reading all the recommendations. All in all, if you’re looking for MakeMKV free alternatives, you may take advantage of HandBrake and VLC. If you want paid programs like MakeMKV, most rippers only work for DVDs or Blu-ray.

VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is the best MakeMKV alternative by comparison. This optimal software can decrypt all kinds of DRM protections and convert DVD/Blu-ray discs to 300+ formats, ISO files, and DVD folders with high quality. What’s better, it takes no effort to get started if you just give it a go.

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