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Netflix has become a household name, but not all people are willing to afford recurring plans, especially when all the Netflix downloads expire as the subscription ends. If you are fed up with Netflix download limits, you may want to search for a reliable free Netflix downloader to improve your offline watching experience.
To make an objective and valuable review, I have tried dozens of Netflix video downloaders and have sorted out 6 free and paid Netflix downloaders/recorders to help you find your own best Netflix downloader. Let's dive in!
Standards of a Good Free Netflix Downloader
To begin with, we need to figure out the following question: What kind of tool can be called "the best Netflix downloader"? In this review, all the picked tools will be judged from the following perspectives:
- Safe to use. Private information safety should always be fundamental;
- A fast download speed is essential for a good download experience;
- Uncompromised video/audio quality is a must;
- Batch download is a perfect feature to save energy and time;
- No daily download limit, or very little limit on the number of titles;
- If it can remove annoying pop-up ads, that's a shining point;
- You may also need flexible support of subtitles if you want subs in various languages for different videos.
Considering these essential requirements of the best Netflix downloader, I sorted out 7 wonderful free/paid Netflix downloaders/recorders with a parallel comparison. All of these tools are available for Windows PC or Mac users.
Recommended Tool: Y2Mate Netflix Downloader
Y2Maate is the most recommended tool for PC users. As a professional video downloader for Netflix, Y2Mate Netflix Downloader boasts nearly all the features I mentioned in the last part. It outshines other apps with its holistic, flexible, and quality functions to enhance your viewing in a practical user-friendly way.
Top Features
Now, let's have a look at what kind of features that make Y2Mate become the best Netflix downloader for PC. First, Y2Mate is an all-in-one downloader with a multi-language interface. This tool supports downloading Netflix videos in multiple audio tracks and subtitles offered by the original videos.
Equipped with 10X faster download speed, batch download service, and high-quality video support up to Full HD 1080p, Y2Mate can customize the downloaded titles for your preference.
What's more, Y2Mate allows users to download up to 100 titles per day, which will reset at the beginning of the next day. This feature perfectly bypasses the Netflix download limit of 15 episodes per month.
Does Y2Mate have any drawbacks? Although this tool meets nearly all requirements about the best Netflix downloader I mentioned above, there are also 2 limits:
First, after you use up the 3 downloads of a free trial, you need to subscribe to Y2Mate to continue using it. Here are 3 subscription plans available:
- $35.9/mo.
- $64.9/mo.
- 129.9 for Lifetime Plan
Second, Y2Mate updates frequently (nearly once 2 weeks) to catch up with every tech update of Netflix, in order to meet the download requirements of the latest shows here.
How to Use Y2Mate?
How to use Y2Mate to download videos from Netflix? To do so, follow these detailed steps below to use the versatile built-in browser to customize your own Netflix downloads easily:
Go for the Netflix website through 'VIP Services' column on the left bar of the Y2Mate interface. You will see the 'Netflix' icon. Click it to access Netflix official website.
Y2Mate is able to bypass Netflix DRM, instead of the Netflix subscription limit. It can rip videos from Netflix. But first, you need to be able to play the titles.
When you play the video, a settings window will appear. Change the audio track, resolution, and subtitles. You may also plan batch downloads of videos. To begin the downloading process, click the 'Download Now' or 'Add to Queue' button.
Wait for the download. Supported by the GPU Acceleration tech, it may take several minutes to finish a film long for 2 hours. The actual download speed is up to your Internet environment.
To find all downloaded videos, navigate to the 'Downloaded' section. They will be automatically saved in the local folder on your computer.
5 Free Netflix Downloaders Ranking
I discovered that there are few totally free Netflix downloaders. Most of the video downloaders, despite their product names including 'free' only provide a free trial version.
If you want to save Netflix movies and TV shows for offline watching, a free screen recorder is a practical choice. Now, I will introduce 5 selected free Netflix downloaders and paid tools. Following is what I have discovered about the best Netflix downloader for PC.
Top 1: Pastdownload.com
What's the most frequently used online video downloader? Although there is no exact data, pastedownload.com must be one of the top ones. As a free online video downloader, it performs perfectly when downloading content from video-sharing platforms, such as YTB and Facebook.
Apart from that, pastdownload.com can also serve as an online free Netflix downloader. it supports video downloads from 500+ websites with full metadata storage. Just paste the URL of the video into the website's search bar, and you can access it for download.
However, the free tool always comes with a lot of pop-up ads and the problem of a fake progress bar. These unsourced ads may lead you to another site, which carries potential risks.
- Easy download operation.
- Support several hundred websites.
- The video resolution can be up to 1080p.
- No need to install software.
- Free online Netflix downloader.
- No batch download service.
- Lower video quality than the original ones.
- Download errors occur sometimes.
- Potential risks brought by unsourced ads.
Top 2: OBS Studio
OBS Studio is a professional open-source software for recording, capturing, encoding, and streaming videos. You can find it on its official site, GitHub, Microsoft Store, and even Steam. As a totally ad-free tool, OBS Studio is very safe to use.
It's equipped with many functions as mentioned above. You can also use it to screen-record supporting sources without watermarks. Compared with Y2Mate and pastedownload.com, OBS allows you to edit and even encode the videos you get.
What's more, OBS Studio supports Windows, macOS, and Linux systems in the review. But it needs certain computer skills to operate OBS Studio. Therefore, it may be not suitable for computer novices.
- Totally free.
- No watermarks.
- Support Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Support personalized transitions between different parts of a video.
- Easily adjust settings for screen recordings, such as output format and recording mode.
- Customize the layout of the user interface by rearranging its components.
- Relatively complex interface that is not easy for new beginners.
- Accidental shut-down and record pauses.
Top 3: ScreenRec
ScreeRec provides a free full version for users to record the screen, microphone, audio, and webcam. You can also edit the screen at your own will and share it with other people in an easy way. Like OBS Studio, ScreenRec also works perfectly on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Device limits:
- Windows 7 or a newer version (32-bit and 64-bit systems);
- Intel Pentium 4 or a later version with SSE2 capability;
- a minimum of 1024 MB of RAM is required, with 2GB being recommended;
- MS Visual C++ Redistributable 2015 64-bit installed.
Featured with instant private sharing of recordings, This tool is widely used for design, elearning, business communication, sales, project management, and other tasks. And yes, it can also be used to record your favorite Netflix episodes.
Compared with OBS Studio, it has fewer functions, but it's much more convenient to use. If you prefer a more friendly UI than various video processing functions, then ScreenRec must be your first choice.
- Totally free of use
- No water remarks or time restrictions
- Quick start
- Offer recording history
- No ad filtering.
- The recorded audio quality is not that clear.
- The recorded screen turns black sometimes.
Top 4: Video DownloadHelper
Video DownloadHelper is an add-on for Chrome and Firefox. It's totally free of charge and free of ads. Compared with all the mentioned professional Netflix video downloader and free online Netflix downloader, the extension can be called the most convenient one.
How? Video DownloadHelper works by detecting the videos playing on a page and extracting them to help you directly rip shows. It does not only work on video-sharing platforms but, based on my usage, perform well on subscription-based platforms like Netflix and Disney+.
All you need to do is to add the extension to your browser, and play the Netflix shows as usual. Click the icon and set download options in a tab. After a while, your videos can be saved as MP4 files on your computer.
- Free of charge.
- Ad-free and user-friendly UI.
- Pretty easy to use.
- No need to install a program
- The overworld art style isn't great
- Takes a while to get going
- The grind can be a major drag
Tool 5: FlixGrab+
FlixGrab+ Netflix downloader is not a fully free Netflix Downloader but it is a high-quality tool to save whole Netflix series, TV episodes, documentaries, and movies. It features powerful services like the support of Dolby Digital Surround Audio 5.1 and excellent voice quality.
I listed it as the top 5 tool because the free trial of FlixGrab+ only allows you to download the first 5 minutes of a Netflix show. Compared with Y2Mate, this offer is definitely not so generous.
- Download HD Netflix videos.
- Download Dolby Digital Surround Audio 5.1.
- Download subtitles in TTML format.
- Simple access to Netflix videos with URL.
- No ads-removal support.
- Single subtitle format.
- Sometimes it crashes even with stable internet connections.
Which One is a Great Deal? Paid VS. Free Downloader
After trying more than 10 free Netflix downloaders, I find most of them are risky because of unsourced links and ads. You should be alert to potential malware and viruses that may intrude on your devices as you download the free software.
What's more, when you register these free Netflix downloaders/recorders, your personal information is prone to leak and may suffer abusive use by these 'free' providers. These app providers have to get something from you so as to make a living, if not the price, then it should be your personal information.
Another thing we would like to kindly remind you is that recording the screen means you can't use other apps on your devices until you finish your recording. The recording is also affected by the internet connection as it still processes the recording when the picture freezes or the voice disappears. In such a situation the quality of the records is largely undermined.
In order to better help you sort out the video downloaders you need, we offer a comparison for you from the aspect of device support, visual and audio quality, and other features.
Tool/Feature | Quality | Speed | Safety | Subs Saving | Batch Download | Ad Removal | Supported OS |
Y2Mate |
1080p | 10X | 5★ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Win, Mac |
Pastedownload | 720p | 3X | 2★ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | Win, Mac |
OBS Studio | 720p | 1X | 5★ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Win, Mac, Linux |
ScreenRec | 720p | 1X | 5★ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | Win, Mac, Linux |
Video DownloadHelper | 1080p | 5X | 4★ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | Chrome, Firefox |
FlixGrab+ | 1080p | 8X | 5★ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | Win, Mac |
Therefore, A good Netflix downloader is a suitable and worthy choice for common users. We recommend Y2Mate Netflix Downloader, a trustworthy Netflix downloader that not only ensures a high resolution but also removes ads from the video.
Wrapping Up
This review has introduced 6 popular and verified paid and free Netflix downloaders. Each of them has their own pros and cons. Generally, they're all worth trying. If you prefer to watch Netflix offline on any device you like, use them to save your favorite shows.
It is clear that Y2Mate stands out as the most comprehensive Netflix downloader to benefit your ears, and your eyes with the minimum amount of download time to leave more time for your cozy watching. Though it is not a free Netflix downloader, its generous free trial is definitely worth trying.
If you're interested in more Netflix apps for PC, continue to read this post.