YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers can be used to download videos from YouTube and save them on your computer. Many tools even offer HD and 4K quality. Keep reading to learn more about security con­sid­er­a­tions and what the various tools have to offer.

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What is a YouTube to MP4 converter?

YouTube con­vert­ers are a con­ve­nient way to download your favorite videos, live music, and podcasts from YouTube and save them as MP4 files. The main advantage of MP4s is that they can store media files including video, audio, images, and text files. For videos and images, the MP4 format supports HD and high quality with rel­a­tive­ly small file sizes. Most YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers work in largely the same ways and differ only in the settings they offer. To convert a video, you simply copy the URL from YouTube, configure the MP4 format as desired, and let the software take care of the YouTube download.

Tip

If you only need the audio part of a YouTube video, a YouTube to MP3 converter will be the better choice for you.

Are YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers legal?

One fre­quent­ly asked question is whether down­load­ing YouTube videos is actually legal. YouTube is covered by US copyright law, under which it’s illegal to make copies of copy­right­ed material. This includes down­load­ing videos with copy­right­ed material. But not every­thing on YouTube is copy­right­ed. Down­load­ing videos that are not copy­right­ed is perfectly legal in the US.

Since de­f­i­n­i­tions of copyright in­fringe­ment differ from country to country, you might encounter problems simply due to the presence of down­loaded YouTube videos on your hard drive, USB stick, or smart­phone. In Japan, even streaming YouTube videos that violate copyright can be a pun­ish­able offense. It’s thus important to pay attention to which ju­ris­dic­tions apply to you and the material you’re down­load­ing.

Note

The law is one thing and YouTube’s terms and con­di­tions are another. YouTube’s terms and con­di­tions clearly state that it’s pro­hib­it­ed to download videos, except with YouTube Premium. This is re­gard­less of copyright status. Reg­is­tered YouTube users agree to the terms and con­di­tions when they register and are in violation of them if they download videos with YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers.

What should you look out for in a YouTube to MP4 converter?

There’s a large selection of YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers out there. You’ll have to choose between free and paid tools and in­stal­lable software and online con­vert­ers. The idea behind online con­vert­ers is simple: You simply enter the URL of the YouTube video on the converter website, decide on the format and video quality, and then start the download. With software, you’ll first have to download and install the program. You can decide between freeware with standard features or more com­pre­hen­sive paid software, which might be useful if you regularly download videos. You should only download con­vert­ers from reputable sites.

Com­par­i­son of YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers

Here’s a com­par­i­son of four popular YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers.

YouTube to MP4 Converter Me­di­aHu­man YouTube Down­loader 4K Video Down­loader Any Video Converter Free YouTube Download
Online/Offline In­stal­la­tion In­stal­la­tion In­stal­la­tion In­stal­la­tion
Features Simple copy-paste format / Download video or only audio / Parallel downloads Download and convert using copy-paste / Download video or only audio / Subtitles included in download Con­ver­sion of 30 video source formats / Con­ver­sion into MP4 and 11 other target formats / Download videos for iPod, iPhone, Zune, PSP, Android devices Con­ver­sion using copy-paste
Operating system Windows, macOS, Linux Windows, macOS, Linux Windows, macOS, Linux Windows, macOS, Linux
Quality Offers 4K to 8K res­o­lu­tion / Quality can be reduced 4K HD and 4K High quality and high de­f­i­n­i­tion
Security Rel­a­tive­ly secure Rel­a­tive­ly secure Rel­a­tive­ly secure / Watch out for adware when in­stalling Rel­a­tive­ly secure
Price Paid($20) Free / Paid (Premium for $15-25) Free Free

YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers: A closer look

We’ll now take a closer look at these four YouTube to MP4 con­vert­ers.

Note

You should always have an eye on your system’s security. You’ll also find online tools that don’t require in­stal­la­tion, but many aren’t secure. It’s simply too easy to sneak malware into the download. In the same vein, make sure that you download in­stal­la­tion files for the above software from a reputable source.

Me­di­aHu­man YouTube Down­loader

Me­di­aHu­man YouTube Down­loader is a high-per­form­ing, paid software for YouTube to MP4 con­ver­sion. For $20, you can use the tool to download YouTube videos in HD and 4K. You simply copy the URL, paste it in the program, and choose the video quality, file size, and download time. The software also offers parallel downloads. Meta data are au­to­mat­i­cal­ly trans­ferred to the MP4 and can be edited af­ter­wards. iTunes users can have files au­to­mat­i­cal­ly added to their library. You can also choose whether you just want to download the audio as an MP3 or whether you want the whole video as an MP4.

Image: Screenshot of MediaHuman YouTube Downloader user interface
With the Me­di­aHu­man YouTube Down­loader, you can decide on video quality and download time.

4K Video Down­loader

The free version of 4K Video Down­loader includes the most important features for oc­ca­sion­al­ly down­load­ing videos. You simply copy the YouTube URL into the tool, choose a format, set the video quality, and indicate where the file should be saved. In “Smart Mode”, the software will save your preferred settings, speeding up the con­ver­sion process. If you’re looking for ad­di­tion­al features like automatic downloads from certain YouTube channels or unlimited downloads, you can upgrade to a premium plan.

Image: Screenshot of 4K Video Downloader user interface
4K Video Down­loader offers numerous free features for oc­ca­sion­al downloads.

Any Video Converter

As its name indicates, Any Video Converter does more than just MP4s. The software supports 30 different source file formats and offers downloads into 12 different formats, including MP4, AVI, FLV, MP3, OGG, and AAC. If you choose the right format, you can even watch your videos on iPods, iPhones, Zune, PSP, and Android devices. Files can be down­loaded in HD and 4K quality. The user interface is easy to un­der­stand and can be used in different languages. This software offers all the most important features for a YouTube to MP4 converter. Beware that the installer can install adware, meaning that you should choose user-defined in­stal­la­tion.

Image: Screenshot of Any Video Converter user interface
Any Video Converter supports 30 source formats and 12 target formats.

Free YouTube Download

With Free YouTube Download, you can download videos from YouTube hassle free and save them as an MP4, AVI, or FLV. Before down­load­ing, you can set pa­ra­me­ters like video quality (high de­f­i­n­i­tion and high quality) and configure the file size. Simple copy the YouTube URL into the tool. Other con­ve­nient features include parallel downloads and a download history.

Image: Screenshot of Free YouTube Download user interface
Free YouTube Download comes with many features for con­vert­ing videos to MP4.

Click here for important legal dis­claimers.

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