4 of the best YouTube to MP3 converters you can use for free

Whether you’re making memes or sampling an obscure 90s advertisement, some videos can only be found in YouTube’s enormous library of videos. Maybe you’re looking for a free way to download some deep cut recordings of your favourite band, or perhaps you simply need a short clip to spruce up your presentation, there are many reasons you might want to download YouTube videos and convert them to MP3, MP4 and more.

Thankfully, most top-quality YouTube downloaders and converters are free, but they vary in quality and ease-of-use wildly. Not every converter was created equal, so we’ve rounded up the very best for every use case.

Here are the four best YouTube converters that will deliver your downloads promptly and without too much hassle.

If you're looking for more guides on the best in video and audio, check out our list of the best streaming sites, our top picks for music streaming apps, and our latest recommendations for the best VPNs available.

The 4K Video Downloader app is a robust piece of software in a comparatively simple market. Where other YouTube converters and downloaders do exactly what they say on the tin and not much more, 4K Video Downloader goes the extra mile.

Its Smart Mode skips the cutting and pasting step, preparing the last YouTube video you watched for download as soon as you open it. You can also login to YouTube via the 4K Video Downloader app, allowing you to download age-restricted content, Watch Later and Liked playlists, and even content you’ve set to Private.

It also offers a variety of customisation options in its preferences, like the ability to automatically create a subdirectory for downloaded playlists and channels, skipping duplicate videos in playlists, and embedding subtitles where possible.

4K Video Downloader’s one catch is that it locks a few advanced features behind a paywall. Nothing too important, but if you want unlimited playlist, channel, and subtitle downloads with no advertisements, you’re looking at a one-time license fee of US$15 for three computers or a bundle that includes 4K Download’s other services, such as 4K Stogram (an Instagram clip downloader), for US$25.

The 4K Video Downloader app can be downloaded for free on Windows. 

Y2mate is the everyman YouTube to MP3 converter. It’s often the first result in Google and with good reason: it’s simple. Y2mate is a simple web-based application that allows you to copy and paste a YouTube URL and convert and download MP3, MP4, M4A, and more in two simple steps.

Y2mate has made things even easier for you with a quick shortcut you can use in the YouTube address bar. All you need to do is add ‘pp’ in the URL straight after ‘youtube’, so `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w-58hQ9dLk` becomes `https://www.youtubepp.com/watch?v=-w-58hQ9dLk`.

Once you hit return, you’ll be redirected to Y2mate.com with all your conversion options at the ready.

Despite its ease-of-use, and low, low cost of nada, there are a couple of concessions you make for the free ride. Y2mate has the most annoying kind of ads and pop-ups, which opens up a new tab when you click ‘convert’ with some sort of alarmist scam.

Y2mate can be used on any browser, just head to the URL below to start converting. 

YT Cutter is a YouTube downloader and converter for a specific use case. It’s a painfully simple way to trim and cut YouTube videos if you need a short video clip or an animated GIF for some memeage.

All you need to do is copy and paste your YouTube URL into YT Cutter, select a start and endpoint for your desired clipping, then choose your output format.

If you’re looking to download full playlists, high-quality 4K, or even entire MP3 files, YT Cutter won’t be your first choice. But for super fast and flexible clipping, you can’t go past this completely free service.

YT Cutter can be used on any browser, just head to the URL below to start clipping. 

iTubeGo is a competitor to 4K Video Downloader. While it’s a worthy app in its own right, it plays second fiddle to 4K Video Downloader when it comes to features and ease-of-use.

iTubeGo lets you download entire YouTube playlists and subtitles and converts to a vast range of formats, including AVI, MOV, HEVC MP4, WMV, and plenty more. However, iTubeGo will only allow you to convert to MP4 or MP3 in the free version, every other format is locked behind a one-time Lifetime license of US$29.95 for one PC or US$39.95 for two to five PCs, or recurring payments of US$9.95 every month or US$19.95 every year.

That’s a good deal more expensive than 4K Video Downloader for an app that doesn’t justify the price hike. iTubeGo also pushes the paid version aggressively. Even when you’re performing basic tasks in the free version, a persistent pop-up will slow your progress, asking you to pay for premium.

iTubeGo can be used on any browser, just head to the URL below to start clipping.