Compress Video
Reduce the file size of MP4, MOV, AVI, WEBM and MKV videos up to 90% smaller. Free, no signup, no watermark.
Select a video
or drag and drop it here
MP4, MOV, AVI, WEBM, MKV. Up to 100 MB.
MP4, MOV, AVI, WEBM
All formats
Up to 100 MB
Large videos
No watermark
Clean output
Deleted after 15 min
Nothing kept
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Video compressor
Compress video online, free
Large video files are slow to upload, awkward to email and quick to fill a phone. Compressing one re-encodes it to use less data per second — the picture stays the same size and length, the file gets smaller, and how much smaller is your choice.
Upload an MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV or WEBM up to 100 MB, pick one of four levels, and download the result as MP4 or WebM. No account, no watermark, and nothing to install.
Below: what each level actually trades away, which one clears which platform's limit, the vocabulary worth knowing, and what happens to your file while it is being processed.
The basics
What compressing a video actually does
A video file is a stream of frames, and compression is a decision about how much data to spend describing each one. Spend less and the file shrinks; spend too little and the encoder starts approximating in ways you can see — smeared motion, banded skies, blocky patches where fine detail used to be.
The four levels here are four points on that scale. Nothing else about the video changes: resolution, frame rate and length all come back exactly as they went in. That is worth knowing, because it also sets the limit on what compression can do — if a file is enormous because it is four minutes of 4K, re-encoding helps, but the pixel count is doing most of the damage.
Levels
Four levels, and which to pick
Light
Near originalThe gentlest setting. Re-encodes at a high bitrate, so the result stays visually very close to the source while still coming down in size. Reach for it when the footage matters more than the saving — client work, anything you will edit again, or video with fine detail and fast motion.
Balanced
RecommendedThe default, and the right answer for most jobs. A substantial size reduction with quality loss that is hard to spot in normal playback. This is the one for social uploads, messaging apps and general sharing.
Strong
Smaller filePushes the size down noticeably further, and the trade-off starts to show — first in fast motion and flat gradients like skies. Useful when you have a hard limit to clear and Balanced did not quite get there.
Extreme
SmallestThe most aggressive setting available, and the quality cost is visible. Worth it only when the file has to fit under a tight cap or go over a slow connection, and getting it through matters more than how it looks.
If you are not sure, start at Balanced and check the resulting size against whatever limit you are working to. It clears most of them, and going straight to Extreme usually costs more quality than the job needed.
How to use it
Three steps
- 1
Upload
One video at a time, up to 100 MB. MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV and WEBM all go straight in.
- 2
Pick a level and format
Light, Balanced, Strong or Extreme, and MP4 or WebM for the output. Balanced and MP4 suit most jobs.
- 3
Download
A progress bar runs while the server encodes. When it finishes, the file downloads clean — no watermark.
Formats
What goes in, and what comes out
In: MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WEBM
One video at a time, up to 100 MB. Those five are the listed formats and most other common containers work too — a MOV off an iPhone or an AVI out of an older workflow both go straight in with no conversion step.
Out: MP4 (H.264) or WebM (VP9)
MP4 pairs H.264 video with AAC audio and plays on essentially anything. WebM pairs VP9 with Opus and generally lands smaller at the same quality, which suits video embedded on a website.
WebM is a browser format.VP9 is well supported in browsers and much less so in desktop players, editing software and older phones. If the file has to open on someone else's device, choose MP4.
The vocabulary
Bitrate, codec, resolution, frame rate
Four terms explain almost everything about why a video is the size it is, and knowing them makes the levels above make sense.
Bitrate
How much data is spent on each second of video. It is the single biggest lever on file size — halve the bitrate and you roughly halve the file. Push it too low and the picture starts to fall apart in motion.
Codec
The method used to encode and decode the video. H.264 is the safe universal choice; VP9 squeezes harder at the same quality but is slower to encode and less widely supported outside browsers.
Resolution
The pixel dimensions — 1920×1080 and so on. More pixels means more data to store. Compression here does not change the resolution; if you also need the frame smaller, that is a separate job.
Frame rate
How many images make up a second. Sixty frames per second looks smoother than thirty but needs proportionally more data. This tool keeps the source frame rate as it is.
Lossy compression
Video compression discards data to get the file down, choosing what the eye is least likely to miss. That is why every level involves some trade — the question is only how much.
Visually lossless
At the lighter settings the goal is not zero data loss but zero noticeable loss: data has technically gone, and you would struggle to point at where under normal viewing.
Where it's going
Compressing for a particular platform
Most of the time the level you want is decided by whatever is on the other end. Caps change, so treat these as a starting point rather than a guarantee.
| Destination | The constraint | Usually enough |
|---|---|---|
| Email (Gmail) | 25 MB attachment cap | Balanced usually clears it; Strong if the clip is long |
| Email (Outlook) | 20 MB attachment cap | Balanced, or Strong for anything over a minute |
| 16 MB per video | Compress here first — WhatsApp's own pass is harsher on a large file | |
| Discord | Free servers have a modest upload cap | Strong or Extreme for anything but a short clip |
| Slack | Workspace storage fills fast | Balanced, to keep shared clips from eating the plan |
| Telegram | Generous limits, but slow on big files | Balanced for faster sending |
| Google Drive / Dropbox | Counts against your storage plan | Balanced — the saving compounds across many files |
| Instagram / TikTok | Re-compressed on upload anyway | Light or Balanced, so their pass starts from a clean file |
| YouTube | Handles large files fine | Light — you are optimising upload time, not quality |
| A website | Page speed is the constraint | Balanced, and consider WebM for smaller files in browsers |
Why bother
What a smaller file buys you
- Email attachments that actually send, instead of bouncing off a 20–25 MB cap.
- Faster uploads, which matters most on mobile data and slow connections.
- More room on a phone, a laptop or a cloud plan — video is usually what fills them.
- Less aggressive re-compression from platforms that squeeze uploads themselves.
- Faster page loads for video embedded on a site.
- Quicker handoffs to a client or collaborator, without a file-transfer service in the middle.
Why this one
What you get
Four levels, one decision
No bitrate fields, no codec menus, no two-pass settings. Pick how much you care about size versus quality and the encoder is configured for you.
Up to 100 MB
Video gets its own, larger ceiling because it is far more expensive to process than an image. No splitting a clip into pieces first.
Real progress, not a spinner
The encoder reports where it actually is, so the bar reflects genuine progress through the file rather than an animation.
MP4 or WebM
H.264 for compatibility, VP9 for the smallest file in a browser. Both with audio re-encoded to match.
Deleted on a timer
The upload and the result live in a temp directory only while the job runs, and a sweeper removes both after 15 minutes.
Free, no sign-up
Every level, no account, no watermark, no daily cap — and the same workflow on a phone as on a desktop.
Privacy & security
What happens to your video
Video is the one tool here that does touch the disk, and it is worth being straight about why. Encoding is done by ffmpeg, which reads and writes real files rather than working in memory, so your upload is written to a temporary directory on the server while the job runs.
Both the upload and the compressed result are deleted automatically on a 15-minute timer — they are not moved anywhere, not copied, and never written to a database. No account is required either, so a compression is not attached to an identity. Full detail is in the privacy policy.
Troubleshooting
Common video compression problems
The file was rejected as too large
The ceiling is 100 MB. Trim the clip shorter first, or compress in two passes — Balanced, then Balanced again on the result.
Compression is taking a while
Encoding is real work and it scales with length and resolution. Keep the tab open while the progress bar runs; a long clip can take a few minutes, and the job is cancelled if it exceeds five.
The result looks blocky in fast motion
That is the level doing its job too enthusiastically. Motion is where a low bitrate shows first — step back from Extreme to Strong, or from Strong to Balanced.
The file barely got smaller
Some video is already efficiently encoded, and re-encoding it at a similar bitrate saves little. If Balanced barely moved the number, the original was probably already compressed once.
The WebM file will not open in my player
VP9 in WebM is well supported in browsers and much less so in desktop players and older phones. Choose MP4 if the file has to open anywhere.
The audio sounds worse than expected
Audio is re-encoded too — 128 kbps AAC for MP4, 96 kbps Opus for WebM. Fine for speech and general use; not the choice for music you care about.
Best practice
Getting a good result
- Start from the original file, not one that has already been through WhatsApp or a social platform.
- Try Balanced first. It clears most size limits, and you will know quickly whether you need more.
- Compress once. Running an already-compressed file through again costs quality for very little size.
- Choose MP4 unless the video is going on a website — it opens everywhere, and WebM does not.
- For a hard cap, compress and check the number before assuming a level was enough.
- Keep the tab open while it encodes. Closing it abandons the job.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How can I compress a video without losing quality?
Use Light or Balanced. Some loss is inherent to video compression, but at those settings the difference is very hard to see in normal playback while the file still comes down substantially.
How much smaller will my video get?
It depends on the source and the level. A video straight off a phone typically loses most of its size at Balanced; one that has already been compressed once has far less left to give.
Which compression level should I choose?
Balanced for almost everything. Light when quality matters more than size, Strong or Extreme when you have a hard limit to clear and Balanced did not get you under it.
Which video formats can I upload?
MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV and WEBM are the listed formats, and most other common video containers work as well.
What formats can I download?
MP4 or WebM. MP4 uses H.264 video with AAC audio; WebM uses VP9 with Opus.
Should I pick MP4 or WebM?
MP4 unless you have a specific reason not to — it plays on essentially anything. WebM files are usually smaller at the same quality, which suits video embedded on a website, but support outside browsers is patchy.
Can I compress MP4 online?
Yes, MP4 is the most common input here and it is fully supported.
What is the maximum file size?
100 MB per video. Video is far more expensive to process than an image, which is why it has its own larger ceiling and its own limit.
How many videos can I compress at once?
One at a time. Each job runs a full encode on the server, so they are processed individually rather than in a batch.
How long does compression take?
It scales with length and resolution — a short clip is quick, a long high-resolution one can take a few minutes. Jobs are given a five-minute ceiling, so a very long video may need trimming first.
Will compression reduce quality?
Some, yes — video compression is lossy by nature. At Light and Balanced the difference is minor and hard to notice; at Strong and Extreme it is a deliberate trade for a much smaller file.
Does it change the resolution or frame rate?
No. Both are kept as they are in the source. Compression works on how efficiently the video is encoded, not on how many pixels or frames it has.
Is there a watermark?
No. The compressed video downloads clean.
Is it free?
Yes, every level including Extreme, with no account and no daily limit.
Are my videos stored?
No. The upload is written to a temporary directory while ffmpeg works on it, and both the upload and the result are deleted automatically on a 15-minute timer. Nothing is kept afterwards and nothing is saved to a database.
Do I need an account?
No, there is no signup or login.
Do I need to install anything?
No. You upload from this page and download the result — there is no app, no plugin and nothing to keep updated.
Can I compress videos on iPhone?
Yes, it works in mobile browsers including Safari on iPhone.
Can I compress videos on Android?
Yes, the same way, in any modern mobile browser.
Can I compress a video for WhatsApp?
Yes, and it is worth doing. WhatsApp compresses video itself on send, and its pass is harsher on a large file than on one already brought down to a sensible size.
Can I compress a video for email?
Yes. Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB and Outlook at 20 MB — Balanced clears both for most clips, and Strong handles longer ones.
What codec does it use?
H.264 for MP4 output, which is the most widely supported video codec there is, and VP9 for WebM output, which compresses harder at the cost of narrower support.
Why did my file barely shrink?
Because it was probably already compressed. Re-encoding an efficient file at a similar bitrate has very little left to remove — and costs quality for the privilege.
Can I compress the same video twice?
You can, but each pass discards more. If one level did not get you far enough, go back to the original and pick a stronger level rather than stacking passes.
What happens if I close the tab while it is compressing?
The job is abandoned. Keep the tab open until the download is ready.
Does it compress the audio too?
Yes. MP4 output re-encodes audio to AAC at 128 kbps, WebM to Opus at 96 kbps. That is comfortable for speech and general use, less so for music you care about.
Something not covered? There are more answers on the FAQ page, or you can contact support.
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