If you’re using Mac OS X or previous versions, BurnX Free should sort you out. This light program comes in several languages, including French, English, and Spanish. This way, users from all over the world can use it to burn DVDs and CDs conveniently. Mac users can also erase or add files to their DVDs. BurnX Free is a helpful, free (gpl) Mac software, that belongs to the category Utilities with subcategory CD/DVD. More about BurnX Free. This software is available for users with the operating system Mac OS X and previous versions, and it is available in several languages like English, Spanish, and French. BurnX Free is a good free DVD burner for Mac with prominent features. The software makes it handy to burn DVDs with multiple sessions in a hybrid format for compatibility with other platforms. Plus, Burn X' s interface is very intuitional.
It becomes easier to share or backup media files, data to your mobile phone, USB stick, external hard drive, network-attached storage, and other digital devices. But it doesn’t mean that DVD burning is useless.
DVD is a type of practical optical disk technology to store those important video/movie files and prevent them from being deleted by mistake. Obviously, putting videos on an actual disc is more secure than saving them on digital devices.
In this article, I’ve listed down 10 best free DVD burner for Mac, together with the most effective one (paid program). Keep reading to get your favorite free DVD burning software for Macintosh.
Advanced Mac DVD Burning Software
Burn videos to DVD flawlessly via the Cisdem DVD burner for Mac:
- Burn video to playable DVD with high quality and fast speed
- Support a wide array of input video formats, like MP4, WMV, MOV, FLV, etc.
- Create home DVD disc/DVD folders/ISO files from digital files
- Edit video by adding effects & (your own) watermarks & subtitles, rotating, etc.
- Offer a plethora of attractive and stylish DVD menu templates
- Customizable background soundtrack and image
- Preview the original and output videos in real-time
- Take a screenshot of any video frame to auto set as a thumbnail
- Adjustable output parameters: television standard, aspect ratio, and more
- Compatible with macOS 10.12 or later, 11.0 Big Sur included
- >> 10 Best Free DVD Burner for Mac
- >> Where Free DVD Burning Software for Macintosh Fall Short
- >> Alternative- The Powerful Yet Easy-to-use DVD Burner for Mac
10 Best Free DVD Burner for Mac
#1) Burn
Burn, while simple, is a well-known free DVD burner for Mac, and has gained a wide reputation to make playable DVDs. It‘s able to burn audio and video files, but it requires converting your media files to MP3 and MPG before burning. Don't worry! Burn app can handle the conversion processes. You only need to drag your files into the software, and choose 'Convert'.
Besides burning media files to DVD, this Mac DVD burning software has the ability to burn data files in various formats like ISO, Cue/Bin, DMG, etc. You can also copy disc contents and images via the program.
#2) LiquidCD
LiquidCD allows you to burn data, audio, photos and video files. It supports some special file formats, including MDF, MDS, DAA, and GBI. The key feature of LiquidCD is that it helps you to burn custom hybrid discs or Cue/Bin files. If you can’t believe that, why not download the software for free and and give it a try? It is a decent free DVD burner software for Mac to finish your simple burning task.
#3) Express Burn
Express Burn is another reliable and free DVD burner for Mac that you can use to burn DVDs easily and quickly. It can burn data on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD-DVD. What’s more, you can also use it to burn ISO images. Its interface is very intuitive, and once you see it, you will know how to operate it.
Note: The free version for non-commercial use only.
#4) iDVD
iDVD is one of the most widely applied free DVD burning software for Mac. It allows you to burn QuickTime Movies, MP3 music, and digital photos to a DVD. The free software is integrated with iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto or any other Apple product. iDVD indeed makes DVD burning fairly straightforward and saves you lots of time.
Note: iDVD is no longer available in the iLife bundle on OS 10.7 Lion or later. And online Apple Store doesn’t sell iLife ’11 (carries a copy of iDVD 7.1) anymore. Only the Mac with a Superdrive can run the free DVD burner Mac at the moment. So the solution I recommend is to: find older versions that include iDVD 7 on Amazon or eBay; try to download the iDVD alternatives.
#5) Disco
Disco does more than just look pretty, it supports CD/DVD-Re-writable disc burning and erasing. Its discography feature keeps track of every file on every disc you burn. Disco emits 3D animated smoke whenever the application is burning a disk. As of July 2011, development and support of Disco have been officially discontinued, but you can still download this free DVD burner software for Mac from its home page: http://discoapp.com/.
#6) BurnX Free
BurnX Free is a good free DVD burner for Mac with prominent features. The software makes it handy to burn DVDs with multiple sessions in a hybrid format for compatibility with other platforms. Plus, Burn X' s interface is very intuitional. You can quickly add or remove files as you like, and erase the information of disc when the disc is already full.
#7) iTunes
iTunes empowers you to organize and enjoy the music, movies, and TV shows that you already collected. You can import digital audio files from other sources in any formats. And the software lets you sort, play and add to a digital media collection on your computer and sync it to a portable device.
Meanwhile, you would feel surprised in that iTunes is also a popular free DVD burning software for Mac. It acts as a thorough video-toolbox and supports to burn iTunes playlist to Audio CD, MP3 CD, and Data CD/DVD.
iTunes 12 is the highest version of iTunes, available for OS X 10.7.5 to 10.14.6. Since macOS Catalina, the iTunes app has gone, but you can create CDs and DVDs in the Music app, which looks very much like iTunes.
Note: You can't burn music or movies purchased and rented from iTunes, as they are DRM-protected.
#8) SimplyBurns
SimplyBurns free DVD burner for Mac comes along with an open-and-shut interface for you to make CD/DVD medium. The program emphasizes ease of use, thus you can create audio/data projects and rip discs without hassle. You can also copy and burn images that already saved on your system. It’s very simple to operate for novice users and you are able to download it for free from sourceforge.net.
#9) Finder
This is the default file manager used on all Mac operating systems. You don’t need a third-party program to burn discs on your computer as you can use Finder as free DVD burner software. It helps you navigate all of the files and folders on your Mac and also lets you browse your apps, disks, files, and folders in a variety of ways. It's worth noting that Finder only burns data DVD disc.
#10) FirestarterFX
FirestarterFX is a free DVD burner software that has a unique graphical interface. There are 5 tabs including Home, Copy, Image, Data and Erase for you to choose. You can get the information on what you can do with the software through the home tab. Create a backup copy of other discs at express speed by clicking on the Copy tab. You can burn Cue/Bin, as well as ISO images, which can be done by selecting the Image tab. Burn data allows you to burn a data CD and DVD. Click the Erase tab if you want to delete contents from a disc.
Where Free DVD Burning Software for Macintosh Fall Short?
There are some drawbacks of the free DVD burner for Mac, for example:
- No wonderful DVD menu templates or no video editing function provided.
- Be obsolete and not updated (unavailable on the newest Mac version), such as iDVD.
- Not good at dealing with large video files, causing your Mac or programs stuck.
- Not flexible enough or burn DVD discs incorrectly when adding components to your menu.
- The free software like Finder, iTunes can only burn a data DVD, not a video DVD. It doesn’t contain the file structure AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS.
- Most of them like Burn and LiquidCD only support burning files to DVD disc, not DVD folder and ISO file.
Free DVD burning software for Mac lets you do basic DVD burning, but it may: lack advanced, stop updating, exist a few bugs, can’t burn a video DVD, and so forth. To make your DVD burning more effective and the output more beautiful, an advanced Mac DVD burning software alternative is necessary.
Alternative- The Powerful Yet Easy-to-use DVD Burner for Mac
Cisdem DVD Burner for Mac is the best alternative to free DVD burning software for Mac. Its price is also reasonable for lifetime licenses and updates.
The software enables you to burn videos to DVD in short order and personalize your videos by trimming, cropping, applying special effects. You can choose a menu and add subtitles or watermarks to your videos.
All in all, Cisdem DVD Burner creates a professional disc and burn video files quickly, coming to download its free trial version for a test.
Alternative to Free DVD Burner software for Mac
Use the Best Mac DVD Burner to:
- Edit videos via Crop, Chapter, external subtitle, awesome Effects, etc.
- Make a DVD menu, with rich and free templates
- Add background picture, frame, text, music, etc.
- Preset output parameters to enhance the DVD video quality
- Keep updated with the latest operating system, like Catalina and Big Sur
Free DVD Burner Mac VS Cisdem DVD Burner
| Features | Free DVD Burner Mac | Cisdem DVD Burner |
|---|---|---|
| Burn file to data DVD | Yes | Yes |
| Burn file to video DVD | The built-in apps can't do it | Yes |
| Burn to 200+ formats | No | Yes |
| DVD menu templates | No or very few | Yes |
| Video Editor | No | Yes |
| Real-time Preview | No | Yes |
| Speed | Average | 10-20x fast |
How to Burn DVD with Alternative to Free DVD Burning Software for Mac:
Step 1Download, install and run Cisdem DVD Burner for Mac
Head over to the menu bar, click 'File' > 'Add Files'. From the pop-up dialog box, choose the target videos you desire to burn. Alternatively, drag the clips to the 'Source' panel.
Once your clips loaded, click under the video thumbnail to open the built-in editing tool. Now you can crop the video, apply effects, put watermarks, etc.
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Switch to the 'Menu' tab, plenty of pre-installed menu templates appears on the left portion of the screen.
To change the menu template, frame, button, and edit text, call up the the custom tools by clicking in the upper right corner.
If the templates don't match the video content, click the button to import your preferred background image.
Click the button to preview the DVD project and make sure all effects (including menu) have been successfully added.
Insert a blank DVD into your Mac drive.
Hit and you'll see the output window. The 'Burn to Disc' option is selected by default. Just go to tweak the DVD settings like playback mode, copies number (create multiple DVDs).
When you're done, click the “Burn” button to start the burning process with Cisdem DVD Burner Mac.
Here's a video guide:
Conclusion
Above I've listed top 10 free DVD burning software for Mac. To complete the essential DVD burning tasks without the DVD menu, I recommend you install Burn, LiquidCD, ExpressBurn, SimplyBurns, etc. iDVD is merely helpful for old version Mac. iTunes and Finder can't create video DVDs. If you would like to make a nice-looking and fast-navigation DVD for sharing or preserving, a commercial program like Cisdem DVD Burner for Mac is the best option.
Burning a DVD disc is nothing new in this digital world that we are living in today. When it comes to burning a DVD disc, Mac system is widely considered better than Windows or any other operating system because Mac OS can provide a much better user experience with a better design of the interface. If you want to burn a DVD disc on your Mac computer, then you're probably going to need an external DVD drive because most of the Mac laptops don't come with an internal DVD drive. Even if you have an internal DVD drive or you have an external DVD drive that is connected to your Mac computer, you still need software to burn a DVD on Mac. We all know that an external DVD drive is nothing cheap to buy, so it'll be better if we can save some money on software, right? Today we're going to introduce the top 5 free DVD burning software for Mac, so that you can save your money for burning a DVD disc on Mac as much as possible.
Part 1: Top 5 free DVD burning Software for Mac
Before we start to introduce the top 5 free DVD burning software for Mac, there's something you should know about the free DVD burning software. As we all know, there are a lot of DVD burning programs that are not free on the market, so what's the difference between the free ones and charged ones? Well, most of the free DVD burning programs for Mac can burn a DVD successfully, but each of the program has its own flaws or disadvantages, and none of them are perfect. In some cases, the burning is slow or the quality is low, in others there are an unremovable watermark on the output disc or the flaw could be lack of necessary functions. The free DVD burning programs for Mac that you're about to see here are relatively good among all the free DVD burning software for Mac, but the flaw or disadvantages are still inevitable. So, choose wisely base on your own needs
Burn
Burn is the most well-known free DVD creator for Mac that allows you to burn both CD and DVD on Mac. As a piece of completely free DVD burning software, Burn has a lot to offer. It gets ease of use and simplicity of user interface into perfect combination. It's able to burn all types of files you throw at it like data, audio, video and more. Just by diving into 4 modes: Data, Audio, Video and Copy, you can burn data DVD for backup purpose and burn playable CD/DVD without any hassle. In Copy mode, you're able to copy DVD files (.dmg, iso, cue/bin, etc.) to DVD too.
Disk Burner
Disk Burner is another great DVD burner freeware for Mac that enables you to create, organize, share and store all of your digital contents to CDs and DVDs. Different from other Mac DVD burner software, Disc Burner not only lets you burn your music, photos, videos and data to DVD, but also pays much attention to the data security. With Disc Burner, you could easily protect your valuable data on CD and DVD. Disc Burner also has a feature of sharing your data with any OS platform users.
Disco
Disco was formerly charged for $19.95. The good news for everyone is the program could be obtained for totally free, but the bad news is the program has stopped for updating from July 2011. Although Disco hasn't seen a great deal of development in recent years, it's still worth trying if you are looking for a great free DVD authoring software for Mac. The program comes with quite simple user interface, letting you burn playable CD/DVD by dragging and dropping files to the program.
BurnX
I should say that the DVD burning can never be this simple with BurnX. You even no need to follow a tutorial or a guide to know how this free Mac DVD Creator works. The program lets you burn playable CD/DVD just by dragging and dropping files to program. This software is available for users with the operating system Mac OS X and previous versions, and it is available in several languages like English, Spanish, and French. BurnX Free is a light software that needs less storage than many programs in the category Utilities. It's a software very heavily used in some countries such as United States, United Kingdom, and Japan.
LiquidCD
LiquidCD is a free Mac burning software that can burn almost any CDs and DVDs media. You can burn data, audio, photos and video files with this program. LiquidCD even supports multiple languages including English, French, German, Spanish and Danish. There is also a forum for users to ask and answer questions, but it's in French.
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Part 2: Best DVD burning software for Mac with free trial
As mentioned above, no free DVD burning software for Mac is perfect, even the top 5 best free DVD burning software that we have picked and listed above has their own flaws and disadvantages. So is there another choice that can get a good piece of DVD burning software for Mac and avoid all the inevitable flaws and disadvantages that exist in the free DVD burning software for Mac? Well, I am here to offer you a solution for that, and that is to use a professional DVD burning software for Mac with a free trial.
There are a lot of professional DVD burning programs on the market that offer a free trial of the software. Normally the free trial would cut off some functions of the software, or have a limited using time, but sometimes if our project is not too big, or we just want to make a prototype DVD disc to try it out, then the free trial version can be sufficient for us, and we don't even have to pay for these DVD burning software. After the free trial, if we find ourselves very into this program, we can pay for that later to have a full version of the software and make our project one step towards perfection.
That best DVD burning software for Mac that comes with a free trial that I am going to introduce you today is called Leawo DVD Creator for Mac. Leawo DVD Creator for Mac can burn almost all kinds of video files like MP4, MKV, WMV, AVI, VOB, BDMV and so on to a DVD disc. It allows you to make a DVD menu before burning to a disc and provides a built-in video editing module for you to do something edits to your video.
DVD Creator
☉ Convert videos like MP4, AVI, MKV to DVD format fast.
☉ Create DVD-5, DVD-9 disc, folder or ISO image without quality loss.
☉ 1-click operation to create photo slideshows and burn to DVD.
☉ Easily editable effects, 2D to 3D conversion support.
☉ Built-in menu templates and edit disc menu with personal preferences.
The best thing about Leawo DVD Creator for Mac is that the trial version of the software contains all of the functions in the full version. The only limit of the trial version is that you can only burn your video in the limited length. This is a little bit troubling if your video is very long, but as mentioned above, if your project is relatively small, and your video is not that long, you can almost use this professional DVD burning software for Mac free.
Part 3: How to burn DVD with Leawo DVD Creator for Mac
If you are interested in this DVD burning software for Mac, I'm going to provide you a detailed guide on how to use this the video morning software just in case you want to know more about this program. Leawo DVD Creator for Mac is pretty easy to use and has clear user interface. Follow the instructions above and anyone can burn a DVD on Mac with ease.
Step 1. Add videos to DVD creator.
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You can import MP4 videos in 2 ways, by clicking the 'Add Video' button to load videos and images, or by directly dragging and dropping files to the program. After loading source video files, you could select subtitles and audio tracks from source videos, play back videos, etc. Set the output DVD disc type (DVD-5 or DVD-9), quality and aspect ratio (16:9 or 4:3) at the bottom.
Step 2. Set disc menu
If you want to create disc menu and chapters to output DVD movie, you could choose from the right sidebar. Leawo DVD Creator offers you multiple preset disc menu templates in different themes like Standard, Business, Education, Childhood, Holiday, etc. Also, it allows you to DIY disc menu with your own images and audios. You can edit the texture on the menu page, change background music and picture and so on. Instant preview of the menu is also avilable. If you want no menu, just select 'No Menu' option on the right sidebar after you load source videos.
Step 3. DVD burning settings
After setting disc menu, click the big green 'Burn' button to call out the burning settings panel, on which you need to figure out Burn to, Disc Label, and Save to options.
Step 4 Burn video to DVD
After the burning settings, click the 'Burn' button on the popup burning settings panel to start burning videos to DVD. This DVD Creator would immediately start its work and finish it in a few minutes.