Best free DVD burner in 2023

The best free DVD burners make it easy to burn videos and data to disc.

USB and cloud storage may be more popular than ever, but the humble DVD writer still has its place and is far from dead. There are numerous reasons for wanting to burn files to a CD or DVD, including portability, compatibility, and longevity, and there are plenty of scenarios in which a traditional optical disc is simply the only option -- such as when you need an audio CD or video DVD.

The chances are that when you bought your burner, it came with some burning software; the same may well be true if you bought a computer with a burner already installed. But you may not like the software you were given, it may no longer be receiving updates, or maybe you were just given a short trial period.

You could, of course, turn to the likes of Nero or Roxio, but these are beyond the budget of many people. And why should you pay for big-name software when there are so many free options out there? The problem is knowing where to start, deciding which application is best for you.

The good news is that opting for free burning software does not mean that you need to make compromises -- you just need the right tool for the job. And that's what this guide is here to help you with. We've collected together five of the best free burning titles that have everything covered.

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The best DVD burner right now is: WinX Burner Master (opens in new tab)
If you need to burn multiple DVDs, and you need to do it quickly, WinX Burner Master is the best tool for the job. Unlike the tools below it isn't free, but it's optimized to make the most of 64-bit CPUs and automatically detects your hardware to choose the most appropriate settings for fast performance.

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German company Ashampoo has a huge selection of software to its name, and it's all very impressive. Ashampoo Burning Studio Free keeps the positive trend going. The program can burn and rip audio CDs, data discs and video discs (complete with Blu-ray support), and can help you out with general backup tasks.

Despite the number of options available, the focus here is on keeping things as simple as possible and the interface is approachable and easy to get to grips with. While all of the basics are covered, it's the neat, guided file backup options that help make this free utility stand out from the competition.

Although the software is free, you will need to hand over your email address to obtain a license key, and you will notice references to other Ashampoo software. This is a small sacrifice for an excellent free DVD burner that will serve you well for years to come. 

• Read our full Ashampoo Burning Studio Free review (opens in new tab).

WinX DVD Author is designed specifically for creating video DVDs. There are some tools for burning data files to disc, but if you're looking for audio CD creation, you're going to have to look elsewhere.

WinX DVD Author has everything you need for working with video, including a tool to download videos from YouTube. You can convert video files in to VOBs ready for burning to disc, or collect together a number of VOBs to create a DVD complete with menus.

There's also a DVD authoring component for basic video editing tasks like trimming. You can add subtitles, and there's support for NTSC and PAL, as well as numerous aspect ratio options. Performance is fast, and output quality is high – exactly what you need.

BurnAware Free might look simple, but there's more to it than meets the eye. There's support for CD, DVD and Blu-ray burning, and it can be used to create everything from a standard data disc, audio CDs, video DVDs and Blu-rays, disc images, bootable discs, and spanned backups.

The interface is sparse, but one of the joys of working with BurnAware Free is that it is so free of distractions – you can just focus on the job at hand without having to hunt high and low for the options you need.

Everything is delightfully straightforward, making the program ideal not only for beginners, but also anyone who just wants a tool to get things done as quickly as possible.

Keep an eye out for bundled software during the installation to ensure you don’t install any unwanted extras. 

DeepBurner Free is a very traditional-looking DVD burner, and is a free, cut-down version of the more comprehensive DeepBurner Pro.

Unlike the premium program, DeepBurner Free can't create video DVDs, but you can use it to burn data CDs and DVDs, audio CDs and bootable discs. You also have the option of working with ISO images.

DeepBurner Free has its limitations, but you definitely shouldn't dismiss it out of hand. For everyday burning tasks such as the manual backing up of data and so on, it's a great tool to have in your software arsenal. There's even a portable version of the program so you can pop it on a USB drive and easily take it from computer to computer.

DeepBurner Free might not be the most feature-packed DVD burner, but it's ideal for everyday audio and backup disc burning.

If you want to burn videos to disc, DVDStyler is the tool for you. There's no audio and data disc support. Instead focus is purely on the creation of video DVDs and photo slideshows with customizable interactive menus.

There are lots of menu templates to choose from, and the program is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, opening up the possibility of cross-platform work.

DVDStyler is showing its age a little, and its claims of helping you with the create of professional-looking DVDS may be slightly overblown, but it's a solid free DVD burner nonetheless, and a great deal easier to use than some of the alternatives.

The DVDStyler installer includes a bundled copy of Avast Free Antivirus, which is a superb security tool, but you can opt out if you don't want it.

• Check out the best free DVD rippers.