Compress Video Files Online

Compress Video Online — Free, No Watermark

To reduce video file size, upload your MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, or any of 35+ formats to our servers, then pick a target size (a percentage or an exact MB figure) or a CRF quality level — optionally switching to H.265 or a lower resolution to shrink further. No sign-up, no watermark.

Real result: In our production data the median video drops about 45% (a 34 MB clip becomes roughly 19 MB); switching to H.265 reaches about 50% at the same quality.

How to Compress Videos Online

1. Upload Your Video: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to add MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, FLV, WMV, MTS/M2TS, MPEG, 3GP, AVCHD, HEVC, AV1, or any of 35+ supported video formats. Batch is supported — drop a whole folder.
2. Pick a File Compression mode: Choose Target file size (%) (the default, recommended) and drag the slider to shrink to a percentage of the original; or pick Specific file size and type 8 MB / 25 MB / 100 MB; or switch to Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, Constant Quality (CRF), or Constraint Quality when you need fine control. Auto Scale will lower resolution automatically to hit your target without crushing quality.
3. Tune codec, resolution, and trim (Optional): Under Video File Extension keep MP4 or switch container (MKV, WebM, MOV). Pick a codec — H.264 for universal playback, H.265/HEVC for ~40-50% smaller files, AV1 for ~30% smaller than HEVC, or VP9 for web. Pick a resolution preset from 144p up to 4320p (8K) or enter a custom WxH. Use Trim → Time Range to cut to a clip before compressing.
4. Compress and Download: Click "Compress". Conversion runs on our servers — no sign-up, no watermark, no email required. Files are deleted automatically a few hours later.

Why Compress Video?

Modern phones shoot at bitrates that overflow nearly every sharing channel. A minute of iPhone 4K at 60 fps is around 400 MB; one minute of 1080p at 30 fps from a recent Android is around 130 MB. Compression rewrites the same footage at a lower bitrate (and optionally a lower resolution) so the file shrinks without re-recording.

• Messaging caps — WhatsApp limits in-chat videos to 16 MB; sending as a "document" raises the cap to 2 GB but the video no longer plays inline. Discord lowered the free tier to 10 MB in September 2024; Nitro Basic raises it to 50 MB, full Nitro to 500 MB.
• Email — Gmail caps outgoing attachments at 25 MB (incoming 50 MB). Outlook and Yahoo cap around 20-25 MB. Anything larger gets force-converted to a Google Drive link.
• Faster uploads to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — every social platform re-encodes after upload, but the upload is bandwidth-bound. Halving file size halves your upload time on slow connections.
• Website embeds and SEO — Google's Core Web Vitals penalize slow LCP. A 4K hero loop streamed straight from <video> will tank a page; the same clip at 720p VP9 plays smoothly under 5 MB.
• Storage and archiving — re-encoding a season of phone footage from H.264 to H.265 typically cuts library size 40-50% with no visible loss on standard playback.
• Streaming on slow connections — lower bitrate streams resume faster on 3G/4G and won't stall on hotel Wi-Fi.

H.264 vs H.265 vs AV1 vs VP9 — Codec Choice

H.264 is still the right default for files you'll text to family or post to older platforms. H.265 is the right default for iPhone/iPad libraries and any 4K source. AV1 wins when both ends are recent (2023+) hardware.

CRF Quality Reference (Constant Quality mode)

Lower CRF = higher quality + larger file. CRF ±6 roughly doubles or halves the bitrate.

Recommended starting points: CRF 23 (x264) or CRF 28 (x265) for general use; CRF 20 if quality is critical; CRF 30+ when you must hit a hard size cap. For 4K sources, you can push CRF 2-3 higher than the equivalent 1080p value before quality degradation is visible.

Platform Upload Size — Quick Targets

If your target isn't listed, use Specific file size mode and type the number — Auto Scale will pick a resolution and bitrate that lands close to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I reduce video file size?

Re-encode the video at a smaller size using three levers: lower the bitrate or raise the CRF value, switch the codec to H.265 (about 40-50% smaller than H.264 at the same quality), and drop the resolution (4K to 1080p, or 1080p to 720p). Trimming unused footage is the single biggest win.

How much can I compress a video without visible quality loss?

For most cellphone or screen-recorded footage, 50-75% reduction is achievable with no visible change — that's typical when re-encoding from a high-bitrate source (e.g., a 4K iPhone clip at ~50 Mbps) down to a normal streaming bitrate (8-12 Mbps for 1080p, CRF 20-22). Sources that are already heavily compressed (TikTok downloads, Zoom recordings) have less room to shrink before artifacts appear.

Should I pick H.264 or H.265 (HEVC)?

H.264 if the file will be texted, emailed, or played on a TV older than 2018 — it plays everywhere. H.265 if you're archiving, sending to another iPhone/Mac, or working with 4K — same quality at roughly half the size. iPhones since the 7 (2016) record in H.265 by default and decode it in hardware; modern Android phones decode it; the gap is older Windows browsers, where you may need to ship H.264.

Is AV1 worth picking yet?

For private archives and YouTube uploads, yes — AV1 is around 30% smaller than H.265 at the same quality. For files you'll share to specific people, only if you know both ends have AV1 hardware decode (iPhone 15 Pro and later, Pixel 7 and later, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and later, M3 Macs and later, Chrome/Firefox/Edge desktop). On older hardware AV1 will fall back to software decode and drain battery.

What's the difference between "Target file size %" and "Specific file size"?

Target file size % scales the output as a fraction of the input (50% of a 200 MB file = 100 MB). Specific file size lets you type an exact number ("9.5 MB") and Auto Scale picks bitrate and resolution to land there. Use % when you want a predictable proportional shrink; use specific size when you have a hard cap (Discord 10 MB, WhatsApp ~16 MB inline, Gmail 25 MB).

Why does my compressed file have audio out of sync?

Almost always a variable-frame-rate (VFR) source — screen recordings, Discord captures, and some webcam recordings store frames at irregular intervals. Switch to Constant Bitrate or Constant Quality mode and explicitly set a frame rate (24, 30, or 60 fps) under the advanced options. If that doesn't help, try a different container (MKV handles VFR better than MP4).

Can I compress multiple videos at once?

Yes. Drop multiple files (or a folder) onto the upload area. Each file gets its own compression settings panel — you can change codec or target size per-file, or apply the same preset to all. There's no cap on number of files per session.

Will compressing strip subtitles, chapters, or multiple audio tracks?

By default, the primary video and audio stream are preserved. If your source is an MKV with subtitles or multiple audio tracks (e.g., commentary, dub languages), keep MKV as the output container — subtitle and additional audio streams are passed through. MP4 strips most subtitle formats and only keeps one audio track; switch to MKV to preserve everything.

Can I trim before compressing to save more size?

Yes — use Trim → Time Range and enter start and end timestamps. Trimming a 20-minute clip to the 3 important minutes is the single biggest compression win available. For trim-only without re-encoding, use the dedicated Video Trimmer instead, which is faster because it doesn't re-encode.

Is there a file size limit?

Free sessions handle videos up to 1 GB per file. There's no limit on the number of files. All uploads use TLS; files are deleted automatically a few hours later, and we don't store, share, or access your videos.

Does it work on mobile?

Yes — any modern browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge) on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, or Linux. No app install required. For format-specific workflows, see Compress MP4, Compress MOV, Compress MKV, or Compress WebM.