HandBrake is usually an open-source program designed to convert MPEG video (including DVD-Video) into an MPEG-4 video file in MPEG-4 Part 14 (.mp4) or Matroska (.mkv) containers. It is accustomed to convert DVDs into other styles for them to be viewed on iPods, iPhones and with the Mac QuickTime Player. Originally developed for BeOS, HandBrake has become readily available for Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.

Thanks to HandBrake powerful DVD ripping and video converting ability, it is possible to rip your DVD movies in your Windows or Mac Hard disk, iPod, iPhone, PSP, Xbox and usually any video device you might have. HandBrake may also rip encrypted and unencrypted DVDs but protection methods differently CSS aren't supported. The supported output video formats include mpeg-4, xvid and h.264.

HandBrake is a free and open-source multithreaded transcoding app, originally produced by Eric "titer" Petit in 2003 to produce ripping a film from the DVD into a data memory device easier. Subsequently, they have undergone many changes and revisions. Handbrake can be purchased for Windows, OS X and Ubuntu by reviewing the official website, eventhough it is quite possible to compile it for Debian, Linux Mint, Fedora, CentOS or RHEL.[self-published source?] HandBrake uses third-party libraries, including FFmpeg and FAAC.These ingredients don't correspond to HandBrake's licensing terms.