Movavi Video Suite
Everything you need to create and edit multimedia files
Top 11 DVD Burning Software for a Mac
If you want to burn home movies or other video files onto DVD discs to share with friends or watch on your own TV or play in a DVD player, you'll need to make use of DVD-burning software for Mac. This guide will look at some of the best DVD burners for a Mac you can use to help you pick the perfect program.
- Finder – best for users who do not want to install additional software
- iSkysoft – best for advanced users who want a powerful DVD burner app
- Burn – best for users who also want to burn CDs, audio discs, and more
- LiquidCD – best for users who want a simple and easy-to-use DVD burner for Mac
- Bombono DVD – suitable for users who want a free and open-source burner app
- Tipard DVD Creator for Mac – best for users who want a burner with good editing tools
- Disco – best for users who want to make backup discs easily
- Simply Burns – best for users who want a beginner-friendly burner program
- DVD Styler – best for users who want to make great DVD menus
- Express Burn – best for users who want a burner app with a drag & drop interface
- Roxio Toast Titanium – best for users who want secure DVD burning
To ensure that you receive only verified information, we do the following:
When selecting products to include in our reviews, we research both demand and popularity.
Movavi Content Team has tested all the products covered in this article.
When testing products, we compare all key parameters, including merging video clips, changing video speed, recording voice-overs, creating slideshows, and other significant features.
We study user reviews from popular review platforms and make use of this information when writing our product reviews.
We collect feedback from our users and analyze their opinions of Movavi software as well as products from other companies.
List of the best DVD burner software for a Mac
In this post, we'll take a look at the best DVD burning software for Mac. Some of them may be easy to use, others may offer powerful features, but all of them are worthy of being on this list for one reason or another. Because of that, the DVD burners listed below are presented in no particular order. Since everyone's needs and preferences are different, the best way to find the right product for you is to pick the ones that sound appealing, read the reviews, and download the software.
A built-in Finder app
Operating system: Every version of macOS
Finder is a default, built-in piece of software that comes with every Mac device and has been around since the earliest iteration of the Macintosh operating system. It's used for finding and managing applications, files, and disks, offering a lot of everyday utility for Mac users. It's also a DVD burner and ripper, and it's one of the simplest options for burning discs with your Mac.
Pros:
Built-in with every Mac – no downloads needed
Very easy to use, even for total beginners
Cons:
Only works with burning data DVDs
Lacks editing options or other features
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.5 and up
iSkysoft DVD Creator for Mac has a number of powerful features that go beyond simple burning of DVDs. You'll be able to create slideshows, add audio tracks, and craft a compelling menu from a selection of professionally designed templates. Before burning your video, you can rotate, crop, flip and adjust the color values in it. The DVD burner software for a Mac can burn your final DVD to disk, but it can also save it as a DVD folder or an ISO file for watching on a modern MacBook Pro or another computer without a DVD drive.
Pros:
Templates make creating DVDs easy and quick
Burning to DVD Folder and ISO frees you from the DVD drive
Cons:
Design options are limited if you want to stray from the templates
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.9 and up
Burn can be used for authoring just about any kind of disk you'd like. In addition to DVDs, you'll be able to burn regular audio CDs, MP3 CDs, DVD audio discs, video CDs, and more. The software is available for Apple computers only, so if you have a Windows computer that you'd like to have the same software on, look elsewhere.
Pros:
Free, open-source software
Simple to use
Cons:
Not a lot of customization options
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.5 and up
LuqidCD is a handy app to burn a DVD on a Mac. This piece of software is similar to Burn. They are both designed to be easy to use without the frills that would require a more complicated program. LiquidCD can burn to an impressive number of disk formats and read from almost any format you need it to. The software is free to use but is not open-source.
Pros:
Can burn to a large number of formats
Free
Cons:
Can be buggy at times
Not a lot of advanced options
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.5 and up
You won't find a download for OS X on the Bombono site but the open-source software compiles easily on Mac OS X if you are technically inclined. For that reason, we have not listed a minimum version number for OS X here. The software has a nice timeline viewer that makes editing your DVDs much easier.
Pros:
Free and open-source
Features a simple timeline editor
Cons:
It must be built from the source code
Not updated in a while
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.10 and up
This DVD burning software for Macintosh can read from all of the major formats and offers a nice set of features for customizing your DVD menus to look exactly the way you want them to. It offers a number of features for editing your video, such as the ability to trim, crop, change the color, or add background music to the video.
Pros:
It has some powerful editing features
Easy to customize menus
Cons:
Some videos compressed for DVD-5 can have poor quality
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.4.3 and up
This is one of the more unique DVD writers on the list. It has a feature called discography that lets you search through all of the files that you have ever burned using the program. This can make Disco a key component in a backup strategy that involves burning your files to DVD. This software features an attractive interface. Disco is now free to download after being officially discontinued in 2011.
Pros:
Free to use
Unique 'Discography' feature allows for searching through all of the files you've burned
Cons:
Hasn't been actively developed since 2011
Less powerful menu creation that some of the other options
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.4 and up
As the name implies, this older program is designed to be simple to use. Like many of the more simple options, it lacks some of the customization options that more full-featured software has. The software hasn't been updated in a while, but the author has mentioned that a new, 64-bit, version of the software is on the way.
Pros:
Free and open-source
Easy to use
Cons:
It hasn't been updated in a while
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.1 and up
DVD Styler is an open-source program licensed under the GNU GPL license. The program is designed to make styling DVD menus easier, so it has a nice set of features in that area. You can create your own menu from the impressive set of tools or select one from a set of templates. When you install it from a binary, it will ask you to install an ad-supported toolbar, although you can opt-out of that.
Pros:
Free and open-source
Plenty of customization options
Cons:
Not as many features as some of the other options
Asks to install a toolbar for ads
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.5 and up
Express Burn has a free version available for non-commercial use, but it can only be used for making audio CDs. The paid version allows for burning DVD though and has some nice features. It can burn to CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray and allows you to create and manage the chapters for your DVD menus. For many tasks, the software features a simple drag and drop functionality.
Pros:
It is easy to use
It allows for chapter creation
Cons:
It cannot bypass copy protections when copying DVDs or Blu-rays
Operating system: Mac OS X 10.11 and up
Roxio Toast is one of the most popular burn apps for Mac. It allows you to encrypt that data burned onto your discs using AES-256 bit encryption. It has features for capturing and editing video within the software itself to save you some steps. Toast also features the ability to recover lost files from damaged disks and will let you know what files could not be recovered.
Pros:
More advanced capture and edit than other programs
Powerful tools for creating menus and chapters
Cons:
More expensive than others
How to burn a DVD on a Mac with Finder
Follow the steps below to learn how to burn a DVD using Finder:
Step 1. Open the DVD burner for a Mac
Before you start using the recorder app, you'll need to make a "burn folder," which is basically a folder of all the files that you want to burn. This can include a wide range of file types, like VIDEO_TS, MP4, MKV, or MOV QuickTime movie files or JPG photos and pictures.
To create the folder, click on the desktop or open a window where you want to store your folder. Then press File, followed by New Burn Folder, and enter a name for your new folder.
Step 2. Add your files
Next, drag the files and downloaded items that you want to add to your folder into the folder from other folders and areas of your device. You should notice that each file you add will appear as an alias in the burn folder, with the original items remaining in their original places in the Finder.
Step 3. Burn your DVD
When you're ready to burn, open your burn folder and click the Burn button.
Enter a blank playable DVD disc into your device's drive. The autoplay burning process will then begin and the files from the burn folder will be burned onto the disc.
Summary
We hope that this article has helped you find the right freeware or paid program to burn DVDs on your Mac. If you need any extra help, here are some key factors to think about when choosing the right app:
OS: You need to make sure that the app you want to use is compatible with your version of macOS (or Windows, if you're using a PC).
Ease-of-use: A good burner app should be easy to use and simple to understand, especially if you're a beginner and don't have much experience with ripping, looping, and burning programs.
Features: Think about what kinds of features your app has. Some apps can do much more than burn DVDs. They can compress HD files, rip files, loop clips, add subtitles, and more.
Speed: Burner apps can also differ in terms of speed. The fastest apps deliver rapid performance and are ideal when you want to burn multiple discs fast.
Security: If you want your files and discs to be encrypted and protected, find a program with good security and encryption.
Frequently asked questions
How do I burn a playable DVD on a Mac for free?
You can use any of the freeware Mac DVD burners on our list, like Bombono DVD, Burn, and LiquidCD. Another option is to use a built-in Finder app on your Mac.
How do I burn a DVD on my Mac to play on a DVD player?
Use any of the burner apps listed above and follow the step-by-step instructions provided with each one to make playable DVDs.
How do I burn MP4 to DVD on Mac?
To burn an MP4 file to a DVD on Mac, you simply need to use a DVD burner app that is compatible with MP4 files.
What is the fastest DVD-burning software for Mac?
Burning rates can vary based on your OS and device. iSkysoft, Burn, and LiquidCD are some of the fastest.
How do I choose DVD burn speed?
It depends on the program you're using. Most apps will usually have a drop-down menu before burning starts that you can use to adjust the speed.
Does burning speed affect quality?
It can, but it mainly depends on the power of the device you're using. On a low-end system, burning at high speeds can cause quality problems in the final disc.
See other useful how-to guides
Join for how-to guides, speсial offers, and app tips!
1.5М+ users already subscribed to our newsletter