We list the best free YouTube converters, to make it simple and easy to save videos to watch offline.
1. Best overall
2. Best for simplicity
3. Best for multiple sources
4. Best for conversion
5. Best for reliability
6. FAQs
7. How we test
A free YouTube converter will let you save a collection of clips to watch later on your PC, tablet, games console or smartphone in the right format for your device, with a minimum of hassle. Ideal if you're going to be offline for any length of time.
The best YouTube converters, which include free YouTube to MP3 converters, come with preset profiles to take the guesswork out of choosing the optimum format, resolution, and compression settings for your device. They also let you save and convert clips in batches, and let you choose where they're saved once the download and conversion is complete.
Before you use a YouTube converter, bear in mind that downloading videos from YouTube is against the site's terms of service. There's also a risk of copyright violation unless the video is in the public domain, or you have permission from the copyright holder.
If you specifically want to save music or other audio from videos, check out our guide to the best YouTube to MP3 software. If you're using a mobile device, the best video editing apps might be a worthwhile addition to your collection, turning your phone into a mobile production studio. We've also rounded up the best video editing software, the best free video editing software and the best YouTube downloaders.
The best free YouTube converter of 2024 in full:
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Best overall
When you need a free YouTube converter, 4K Video Downloader should be your first port of call. It's able to convert videos with subtitles and annotations, and – as the software's name suggests – can handle resolutions up to 4K where available. Those are features you'd normally only find in premium software, but here they're completely free.
4K Video Downloader can also convert videos from many sites besides YouTube, including Vimeo and DailyMotion. You can even download and convert entire playlists up to 24 videos long (a premium subscription will unlock the ability to convert more).
The downside of 4K Video Downloader is its relatively small selection of conversion formats compared to some other YouTube converters; you can save video as MP4, MKV and 3GP, and audio as MP3, M4A and OGG. These will be enough for most purposes, and you get a wide choice of quality options (the exact number will depend on the quality of the source video) but it's a shame WMV and AVI aren't available.
If the choice of file types available covers your requirements, then you won't find a better YouTube converter.
Read our full 4K Video Downloader review.
Best for simplicity
Free YouTube to MP3 Converter (from the superb DVDVideoSoft) is a wonderfully simple YouTube converter for ripping the audio from videos and saving it to your PC in a format of your choice.
The program lets you queue up multiple files for conversion and features a clean interface that clearly displays what files are waiting to be converted. There's even the option to download an entire channel, though this can be time-consuming so you might prefer to be selective.
If you do decide to go on a downloading spree, look in the options menu for the setting that shuts your PC down automatically once it's finished.
This is a particularly useful YouTube converter for musicians who may want to download guitar backing tracks to jam along to, or similarly you could grab a karaoke backing track to burn to a CD ready for that weekend party – provided you have the copyright holder's permission, of course.
Read our full Free YouTube to MP3 Converter review.
Best for multiple sources
Any Video Converter Free can download and convert files from almost any source – CDs, locally stored files, or video sharing sites including YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and LiveLeak.
This free YouTube converter is packed with options, but still accessible. The interface is well designed, with tooltips to explain each function. You can paste in URLs from your clipboard, as with most free YouTube converters, or drag videos directly from Chrome or Firefox.
While installing Any Video Converter Free, you’ll be prompted to install ByteFence (an anti-malware tool) and a Yahoo browser extension. It’s not immediately obvious, but you can opt out of these using the small text links labelled ‘Click here to customize the installation’ and unchecking the boxes that appear. Or you might choose to leave them selected to support the developers.
Read our full Any Video Converter Free review.
Best for conversion
Another great tool from DVDVideoSoft, Free YouTube Download comes with a massive 25 video conversion options that can convert your files automatically once they've downloaded for viewing on different devices.
Its interface is almost identical to Free YouTube to MP3 converter – a clean, self-explanatory affair with more advanced settings tucked away in an Options menu. There, you can choose to shut down your PC once the download is finished, download via a proxy, and paste URLs from the clipboard automatically.
Clicking the file format details beside each thumbnail gives you a great choice of export options. Once you've made your selection, click the 'Download' button and your video will begin processing. You can only download and convert one video at a time without upgrading to the premium version of this YouTube converter, but there's little else to complain about.
Read our full Free YouTube Download review.
Best for reliability
YTD Video Downloader can download and convert videos from some of the most popular video hosting sites, including Facebook, DailyMotion and College Humor and, of course, YouTube. It features the ability to convert videos into most popular video formats – from MP3 and MP4 to WNV, FLV, MOV, 3GP and AVI.
This YouTube converter's makers claim that the latest version is faster and more stable than previous releases. It also has the handy feature of resuming downloads automatically if your internet connection goes down temporarily.
The thing keeping YTD from a higher place in our roundup is the WebDiscover browser that comes bundled with the software, and is difficult to avoid if you don't want its search bar welded to your desktop.
Read our full YTD Video Downloader review
Read on how to download YouTube videos.
FAQs
Is it legal to downloaded YouTube videos?
Before you use a free YouTube downloader, bear in mind that using third-party apps to download videos is against YouTube's terms of service, which say you can only stream videos directly from its servers. Since YouTube is owned by Google, this could potentially lead to your linked Google account being suspended - you've been warned.
Downloading videos is also potentially a copyright infringement unless you own the video yourself, have permission from the copyright holder, or it's in the public domain.
How we test
We test the best free YouTube downloader apps by see how reliable the service is, both in terms of availability, download quality, and also ease of use. We also look to see if there are any other useful options and tools to make the download and any conversion of the files more accessible.
Read more on how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
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