Best YouTube ripper?

[Jeikobu]

Can anyone recommend the best way to rip videos from YouTube while still maintaining top quality? Free methods are preferable, of course.

[october262]

youtube-dl

[Jeikobu]

youtube-dl

I see Windows and Linux as supported operating systems. Will it work on Mac?

[october262]

youtube-dl

I see Windows and Linux as supported operating systems. Will it work on Mac?

yes, just follow the instructions - https://ytdl-org.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html

[nadermx]

And if you don't want to install youtube-dl, you can use https://Yout.com, just delete the 'ube' from the youtube url to format shift it to an mp3 or mp4

[BartZLederman]

Any Video Converter

https://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/

Cut and paste the YouTube URL and it does the rest. It even prompts you for which resolution you want, and if you want just video or just audio.

It also works with a very wide variety of other websites, to numerous to mention. The vast majority of web sites I've seen that have embedded videos can be handled by AVC, and the support team is interested in hearing from users when there is a web page that doesn't work. (This includes sites that don't want you to download their videos.)

If the video has subtitles, it will download them as well automatically.

Plus it's a very good batch video re-encoder that will handle and fix errors that many other converters won't, has lots of options, can burn DVDs (I haven't tried that), etc.

I've used it for several years and found it's an essential tool on my PCs (and friend's PCs).

Works on Windows and Macintosh. Sorry, but there does not appear to be a Linux version.

[crjackson]

I use Downie, it beats the pants off of everything else I've tried. It's not free, but not expensive either. Awesome application ...

[dellsam34]

4K Video Downloader is good too. Though not free but it has a good support behind it.