How can I download YouTube videos to my laptop for free Mac?

It appears that an increasing number of users would like to download video clips and movies from YouTube, Google Video, Veoh, Break, Vimeo, or DailyMotion, etc. and convert them to portable devices such as iPhone, iPad, etc., so that we can enjoy the videos anytime anywhere.

There are tons of free video downloaders for Mac and Windows PC. Some are for desktops while others are web apps. No matter which one you pick, each has its pros and cons. Here I would introduce the top 10 best free video downloader for Mac or PC to you. All of them are able to help you grab videos to your computer with the URLs.

Reviews on Best Free Video Downloader for Mac/PC

• 1. iFunia YouTube Downloader (Mac)
• 2. VDownloader (Windows, macOS)
• 3. QDownloader.io (Online Site for both PC & Mac)
• 4. Keepv.id (Online Site for both PC & Mac)
• 5. aTube Catcher (Windows)
• 6. Freemake (Windows, macOS)
• 7. ClipGrab (Windows, Mac)
• 8. Get Tube (Mac)
• 9. 4K Video Downloader (Windows, Mac)
• 10. MacTubes (Mac)

1. iFunia YouTube Downloader (Mac)

Compatibility: macOS 10.10 or later

Price: Free

latest version: 8.2.0 released in March 30, 2022

iFunia YouTube Downloader is a free video downloader for Mac that helps you download online 1080p FHD, 4k UHD videos to Mac in batch. It's not just for video downloads from YouTube but from Dailymotion, Vimeo, Blip TV, Liveleak, Lynda, Break, Vube, Ustream, Ted, and other websites.

Copy the video URL and it will be auto pasted into the URL field. Or you can drag-n-drop all of the videos' thumbnails into the program, and start to download favorite videos for several minutes. You can also add the url of a video playlist and it will start download videos in that playlist in batches.

Pros:

1. Easy-to-use, intuitive
2. Support to download YouTube playlist

Cons:

1. Only allow downloading 3 videos for free

2. VDownloader (Windows, macOS)

Compatibility: Windows 10 or later/ macos 10.13 or later

Price: Free

latest version: 5.0 released in June 30, 2021

VDownloader is an intuitive app that focuses on video downloading. It’s fully compatible with major video hosting sites, like Dailymotion, Break, Twitch, Vimeo, and more.

However, you are only allowed to bulk download unlimited videos 10 times and convert local videos 3 times. If you like this best free video downloader, you can fetch their commercial version at the price of $17.99/yearly or $59/lifetime.

Pros:

1. Integrated with a search feature to add video content to your follow tab
2. Convert video to custom format

Cons:

1. The speed of installation is pretty slow
2. Not work well on Mac computer and merely available on macOS Mojave or later

3. QDownloader.io (web tool)

Compatibility: Online Site

Price: Free

QDownloader.io is a free online video downloader & converter with the ability to grab videos from a handful of video hosting sites, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

It can directly convert video from websites to MP4 and MP3 on Mac or PC. There are browser extension versions on Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome, assisting you in downloading.

Pros:

1. User-friendly
2. Quickly catch video by adding io before "youtube.com"

Cons:

1. Save up to 720p video, even it's a 1080p or 4k video
2. Download up to 128kbps audio only

4. Keepv.id (web tool)

Compatibility: Online site

Price: Free

KeepVid is one of the best free video downloader for Mac/PC that allows you to download all types of videos online from YouTube, Facebook, Twitch.Tv, Vimeo, Dailymotion, and many more. The downloaded videos will be saved in MP4, MP3, M4A, or WebM format.

Without superfluous interfaces, novices can get started via copying & pasting the URL in the textbox.

Pros:

1. Preserve video metadata like name, song title, album, etc. in MP3
2. Keep subtitles in various languages

Cons:

1. Only 100 videos in the YouTube playlist can be detected at most
2. Can't download the playlist all at once and no batch download
3. The output definition is limited no exceed 1280p

5. aTube Catcher (Windows)

Compatibility: Microsoft Windows All Versions

Price: Free

aTube Catcher is a desktop free video downloader for PC system which can perform lots of video tasks. It lets you download videos from social websites, and export them to PC or some portable devices, like iPad, iPod, PSP, MP4 player, and DVD.

It offers donations access for users to help them in the budget and maintain the best free video downloader app updated and running.

Pros:

1. A host of video formats are supported
2. Record screen, create DVDs/CDs

Cons:

1. Pretty slow
2. Often get cashed

6. Freemake (Windows, macOS)

Compatibility: Windows 11, 10, 8, 8.1, 7, Vista / macos 10.15 or later

Price: Free

latest version: 4.1.12 released in January 17, 2022

Freemake is a popular video downloader for free works on Mac and Windows. It supports downloading videos, playlists, channels in HD, MP4, MP3, AVI, 3GP, FLV, etc. Lots of sites are supported, like Youtube, Facebook, Vevo, Hulu, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Vkontakte.

The software has a self-explanatory UI. Any new users can easily know how to use it.

Pros:

1. Download original audio
2. Analyze video link

Cons (limits of the free version):

1. Download up to 50 videos
2. Each video can’t longer than 3 minutes
3. Unable to convert video to MP3
4. Add Freemake logo to your video
5. Fail to fetch 4k videos

7. ClipGrab (Windows, Mac)

Compatibility: Windows / macOS / Linux

Price: Free

latest version: 3.9.7 released in December 1, 2021

ClipGrab is an acclaimed best free video downloader working on Windows. It supports downloading videos, playlists, channels in MP4, MP3, AVI, 3GP, FLV, etc. with quality retained.

Plus, it supports certain media sites, like Youtube, Facebook, Vevo, Hulu, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Vkontakte.

Note: It expects you to donate 10, 20, 30 euros for further development.

Pros:

1. Automatically catch URL from clipboard
2. Support a built-in search option

Cons:

1. Bundle adware with the installer

8. GetTube (Mac)

Compatibility: macOS 10.6 or later

Price: Free

In old days, GetTube is a lightweight Mac OS X app that enables you to download videos and playback the media any time you like, directly from your computer. Get Tube works well with Safari and Firefox. Once you install it, you'll see a new button in the browser while you surf on YouTube. Click it and you'll be able to download the featured video in a matter of seconds.

With compatibility with macOS 10.12 or above, GetTube starts to charge, and you need to pay 5 euros to unlock the download function.

Pros:

1. Download videos in high quality
2. Search videos within the software

Cons:

1. Inconvenient UI
2. Only save video as MP4 and MP3 format

9. 4K Video Downloader (Windows, Mac)

Compatibility: Windows 7 or later / macOS 10.13 or later / Ubuntu 64-bit

Price: Free

latest version: 4.20.4.4870 released in May 30, 2022

4K Video Downloader is a reliable freeware that downloads videos, playlists, channels, and subtitles from YouTube, Vimeo, etc. This best free video downloader for Mac/PC lets you manually set the output formats as MP4, FLV, MKV, MP3, OGG, M4A.

You just copy the URLs of the target movies and, click the button “Paste Links”. But if you want to download more than 25 YouTube playlist videos or download the channel, you have to buy the serial number and get the perpetual permissions.

Pros:

1. Support to download 4k & 360-degree videos
2. Download the whole playlists

Cons:

1. Unable to download multiple videos in batch

10. MacTubes (Mac)

Update: 1. The developer stopped releasing the app; 2. Not work anymore since Google changed YouTube API.

MacTubes is a handy free video downloader for Mac that you don’t have to visit the site itself. It allows you to create playlists based on what you've downloaded or what you've searched on. And it will list the downloaded and played files for you to create playlists.

Pros:

1. Work without having to open the YouTube website

Cons:

1. Offer no compatibility with other major video sites
2. Only save videos in one format

Bonus: Best Video Downloader Mac for Paid

For a movie lover you may want to download online videos while at the same time rip DVD movies to digital formats, or you need to do simple editings to the downloaded videos you have. Then we recommend you to get Cisdem Video Converter. It is a one-stop and professional toolbox for Mac users to download & convert & edit videos, rip DVDs, etc. With this all in one tool you can grab TV episodes, movies, music videos, news, sports, and other online video clips with the fastest speed.

Once you launch the free trial version, it would pop up a small box. Click “Evaluate”, and download the online video for free. If you buy its pro version, you would get the registration code to enjoy video conversion, video downloading, DVD ripping, and sharing functions within one.

Benefits of Cisdem best Mac video downloader:

• No risk of ads, buffering, virus attack to your Mac.
• Support the download from 1000+ popular sites, like YouTube, Bandcamp, Reddit, Facebook, Tumblr, DailyMotion, Blip, Veoh, AOL, Vimeo, etc.
• Batch download.
• Support downloading video playlist in one go.
• Trim video into clips, extract audio from video, merge videos, add effects to video, etc.
• Snapshot and save your favorite screen picture.
• Convert and transfer videos to any kind of digital device including iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone, PSP, etc.

Quick Steps to Download Video from Website Mac Using Cisdem Video Converter:

Step 1Download and install the software

Download Cisdem Video Converter to your Mac first, then run it and click the download section at the top.

Step 2Copy the URL

Go to the video streaming sites that the software supports. Find the video you desire to download and copy its URL.

Step 3Paste the Link

Return to the best video downloader for Mac, and paste the URL to the download bar.

Step 4Download online video

Click on the “down arrow” icon to start the video download.

Besides, if you need to download more online videos, you can click "File > Imput URLs..." at the top bar to add multiple URLs.

It provides you with a free trial version for taking a test. But the free version of this best video downloader Mac merely converts 5 minutes per file and merely downloads 3 videos. Come to download its commercial version which priced at $49.99. You can enjoy YouTube videos on any portable devices.

Conclusion

After being familiar with a vast assortment of options for the best free video downloaders for Mac/ PC as well as the paid one, we can easily distinguish their benefits and drawbacks. With our overview, you should have a clearer picture of which best video downloader suits most of your needs.

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