There are a great number of apps and browser extensions available to download YouTube videos on Windows PC. However, Mac owners have fewer options, due to the fact that many companies do not make system compatible software for Mac computers. Nevertheless, the software that is made for the high tech, professional grade Mac computers, are extremely efficient and well tested for accuracy and quality. In this case, any one software program, free or paid for, used on Mac, supersedes that of five programs made for the exact same purpose, used on Windows.

• 4K Video Downloader is a cross-platform video downloader for PC, Mac and Linux. Download any type of YouTube playlists with/without subtitles: “Watch Later”.
• As the name says, 4K Video Downloader is a tool that allows you to download YouTube videos in 4K quality. Of course, almost all the tools we have listed above can do this. Of course, almost all the tools we have listed above can do this.

With that, Mac users partake in some of the same activities as those who use Windows. So, why are there so many programmers not making Mac compatible software programs, especially when it comes to free downloading? Well, from this day forward you will not have to worry about that, because when it comes to downloading using a Mac, we’ve got you covered.

Free YouTube Downloader for Mac automatically detects the videos on YouTube opened in Safari, Chrome or Firefox and allows you to download YouTube videos free with a single click. It supports downloading YouTube videos in batch and has the ability to shut down your Mac or let it enter sleep mode when the download is finished. Use the app to select the video you would like to download and follow the onscreen instructions to proceed with your download. Where are the videos stored? If you have downloaded the videos to your PC, they will be stored in the Downloads folder on your hard drive unless you selected another folder during the download process.

If you are looking to free download YouTube video on Mac, the best programs out there include Video Grabber, Safari, and Video Download Grabber. All of these programs are free to begin using on Mac and offer great quality conversions.

Video Grabber

With this convenient program, all you have to do is visiting the website link above and following the simple directions. In which case, for downloading free YouTube videos on Mac with Video Grabber, you will simply copy the video link and paste it into the allotted area on this website’s homepage. Then you can select one format from many formats provided. Click “Download”, and the video will be downloaded on your Mac.

Download YouTube video for Mac online with Safari

With this option, all you have to do is visiting youtube.com and following the steps here: Safari-Window-Activity. First, look at activity from YouTube. Then, find the biggest video file size and double-click on it. Next, the free downloaded video file will be saved to your Mac with the FLV format. Afterward, this video format will need to be converted, if you plan to listen to the music from your free converted YouTube video off your Mac.

Youtube Downloader Macbook Pro Free

Video Downloader for Mac

With this free YouTube video downloader on Mac, Mac users are able to download videos professionally from YouTube. This free downloader must first be downloaded to your Mac, in order to use. Video Downloader for Mac is a paid program that offers a free trial. Afterward, the fee for complete access is $29.00. Nevertheless, this program offers many benefits, such as batch video download and conversion, ease of use, and many more powerful functions. In which case, this program offers many professional features for quality video downloading on Mac.

Between these three free YouTube video downloading programs, the one that is the most convenient and simple to use is Video Grabber. This program is completely FREE, and will not change at any given time. Video Grabber can free download YouTube video on Mac with a few clicks and offers multiple video and audio format options for downloaded videos to be converted per your individual preference. Downloading YouTube with the Safari browser is easy enough, but FLV is the only output format used, which is not the right format for digital players. In this case, once the YouTube video is downloaded it will have to be converted into a more compatible video or audio format using other programs. Finally, Video Download Capture gives all of these options. Yet, it is only free for a specific trial period.

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

There are tons of free video downloaders for Mac and Windows PC. Some are for desktop 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.

Best Video Downloader for Mac

Cisdem Video Converter (All-in-one Solution)

• Download clips from more than 1000 popular sites
• Cope with 720p, 1080p, 4k and 8k videos
• Ensure video conversion between over 500 formats without losing quality
• Support batch processing multiple videos
• Built-in media editor allows to trim, combine, crop, add subtitles or effects, etc.
• Rip personal & commercial DVD to digital formats
• Supported OS: OS X 10.10 or later

Free Download

Reviews on Best Free Video Downloader for Mac/PC

1. iFunia YouTube Downloader (Mac)

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.

Pros:

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

2. VDownloader (Windows, macOS)

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)

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)

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)

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

Best Mac Video Downloader

• No risk of ads, buffering, virus attack to your Mac.
• Support the download from all popular sites, like YouTube, Tumblr, DailyMotion, Blip, Veoh, AOL, Vimeo, etc.
• Batch download
• Preview the downloaded videos
• 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.

Free Download

6. Freemake (Windows, macOS)

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.

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)

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

8. GetTube (Mac)

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)

Youtube Video Downloader App For Mac Free

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

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:

Free Youtube Video Downloader App For Mac

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

Cisdem Video Converter is a one-stop and professional toolbox for Mac users to download & convert & edit videos, rip DVDs, etc. It should be the best video downloader for Mac to help you 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.

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

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

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

Best Youtube Video Downloader App For Mac

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

Click on the “down arrow” icon to start the video download. You can add multiple URLs to the download list.

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.