Top 4 free video compressors for Mac. Besides professional software, there are many free video compressors for Mac available as well. These free tools are pocket-friendly and support decent video compression features. Howdy dear video editor, today we are going to sharing with you the Best Video Compressor (Software and Online) For Windows & Mac (Free&Paid). So, without wasting time, let’s get started to the point Full internal storage is one of the problems that most gadget users always feel, especially gadget users with low storage.

• Best Video Compressor For Mac
• Free Video Compressor For Windows

Summary: latest list of 2021 best free video compressor software is shared here. Easily reduce video (4K) size by up to 90% while keeping the highest possible quality!

With the popularity of HD and 4K videos and the arrival of 8K videos, the demand for reducing video file size is growing rapidly. To share large videos on Whatsapp, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, webs, and emails, and save storage space on computer or phone, we need to shrink video size. Here we list 2021 best Mac video compression software to compress MP4 HD/4K/8K without losing quality.

Compress Videos from GBs to MBs on Mac without Losing Quality

MacX Video Converter Pro - Compress HD 720P, 1080P, 4K, 5K or even 8K videos by 40%-90% smaller without quality loss. Easily shrink videos from GBs to MBs for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Whatsapp, FaceBook, webs, emails, etc.

[Updated] Best Free Video Compressors for Mac

1. MacX Video Converter Pro

Sum: Best video compression software for Mac to make videos by up to 90% smaller without qulaity loss.

Best Video Compressor For Mac

MacX Video Converter Pro - 100% safe & professional. It is specially designed for Mac users to reduce videos with large size, for example, HD 720P, 1080P, 4K, 5K or even 8K videos.

• Compress videos to more advanced codecs like HEVC, H.264, MP4, FLV, VP9, WebM, any other formats you need.
• Change encoding format, resolution, bit rate, trim off unwanted footage, crop black bars, etc.
• 40%-90% compression ratio. Reduce video file size on Mac without noticeable quality loss.
• Ready compression options to shrink videos for YouTube, Apple iPhone, FaceBook, webs, mobiles, TVs, etc.
• GPU-accelerated video compression on Mac with 5X faster than similar Mac video compressors.
• Convert video. Edit video. Download videos online. Record screen/webcam.

We once compressed an MKV video (1920x1080), 2h23min to MP4 format from 8GB to 2.72GB. The whole video shrinking process costs 23min53s. This Mac compression software reduces MKV video size 56% off. The whole video compression process took place on a 27-inch iMac (2011 Middle) with OS X Yosemite operating system, powered by 2.7GHz Intel Core i5.

How to compress a video on Mac with MacX Video Converter Pro

Step 1. Free download the video compressor to your Mac (Big Sur incl.) and run it. Click the + video button to load the video files you want to downsize.

Step 2. Choose an output format from the pop-up window:

• To compress 4K or HD videos on Mac, choose HEVC which format provides a high compression rate.
• To compress a large video file to mobiles, here are 420+ readymade profiles for mobiles, which means you can compress video to iPhone iPad Android with a small file size and high quality in one click.
• To shrink video for YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Vimeo, other websites, or reduce video for e-mail, go to Web Video Profile column and select a streaming video format like FLV, 3GP, WMV, etc. These formats are specially set for uploading video to website barely with the smallest size yet the highest possible quality.

Tips: You can adjust the slidebar of LQ-HQ or click 'Use High Quality Engine' in the advanced setting area to improve your compressed video quality.

Step 3. Click the icon to adjust the video parameters, like Resolution and Bit Rate to make your file smaller. Generally, frame rate and frame size don't much affect the file size.

You can adjust or lower the video resolution (such as downscale 4K to 1080P, 1080P to 720P), and lower the video/audio bit rate by 20-50% compared with its default one. Normally, the smaller video you want, the lower bit rate.

Step 4. Click the icon to edit the video where it is allowed to crop the black bars, remove commercials from video/movie and freely set up the Start Time/End time to get favorite clips, in such a way the video file will be downsized with nary a quality loss (no video conversion involved).

Step 5. Click the 'Browse' button to choose the destination folder and click the 'RUN' button to start to compress video files without losing quality.

2. Finder

Sum: An easy way to free compress a bunch of video files in a folder.

Before you try third-party video compression software on Mac, you should know that some of Mac's built-in free compressor apps have some basic video compression features for different purposes. The first we would like to recommend to you is Finder. If offers video compression and decompression on Mac in the ZIP format. That means videos can be compressed without losing quality on Mac during the compression.

However, in other words, the output file size of the compressed video won't be too much smaller than that of the original video, though the actual amount of compression will depend on the type of your file.

How do I compress video files in Mac Finder?

Step 1. Open Finder and select the video or video folder in the Finder. Right-click on it and select 'Compress file name'.

Step 2. The Mac will begin to compress the video. Once finished, a .zip file with the same name will be displayed next to the file you selected.

Step 3. The zip file contains the compressed video and your original video is untouched. Double-click on it to decompress the zip file and the Mac will extract the files right next to it. For information on Finder compressing video on Mac here.

3. QuickTime Player

Sum: Suitable for very simple and quick video compression on Mac

Apple's default media player actually can help free compress videos on Mac. There are options to adjust the video resolution to 4K, 1080P, 720P, and 480P to make your videos smaller. The drawback to it is that it offers only a few options to reduce the file size on Mac, but it gets the results done. Another thing to note is the compressed output video will be encoded in MOV format, regardless of the import format.

How do I compress video on Mac with QuickTime Player?

Step 1. To make a video smaller for free, open the app from your Applications folder. Click File > Open File to navigate to the video that you want to compress and open it.

Step 2. Next, click File > and select Export. Then you can see 4k (if applicable), 1080p, 720p, 480p, or exporting audio only options. To downsize your video on Mac without noticeable quality loss, you're suggested to compress video to a resolution slightly lower than the original quality. For example, you can compress 4K to 1080P to get a relatively good result.

Step 3. Then set the file name and output folder. Click Save to start to compress.

4. iMovie

Sum: Best free Mac video compression software with editing features

If you want a more versatile free video compressor for Mac, don't miss iMovie. Like Finder and QuickTime, iMovie is pre-installed on Mac computers. It has more editing features to make videos smaller on Mac. To be specific, it lets you split a long video into shorter clips, cut off extra parts from the video, change the video dimensions, and adjust the output resolutions. All the features can shrink a video to your desired size.

How do I reduce the size of a video in iMovie?

Step 1. Open the iMovie app on Mac. Select the Create New icon to create a new project and click Import Media to load your video into the app. Then drag the video to the timeline.

Step 2. On the timeline, right-click on the video and click Split Clip so as to split it into shorter clips. This is suitable for compress a very long and large video without losing quality. You can also select Show Clip Trimmer to trim the unwanted length by drag the edge toward the clip's center.

Step 3. To further downsize a video on Mac, click the Crop button on the menu bar above the video window. Then you can remove portions like the black bar from the video image. This will also result in a smaller file size.

Step 4. If you don't want to make any changes to your video, you can skip Steps 2 and 3. Simply drag your video to the timeline, and click the Share button on the upper right hand corner. Select File and lower the resolution & quality of the video to make it smaller.

Step 5. Check the final sizes of different settings on the left hand below the video preview window. If it's OK for you, simply click Next.

5. Handbrake

Sum: Best free video compressor for Mac with flexible options

HandBrake is a free and open-source compressor running on Mac, Windows, and Linux. It can rip DVD, Blu-ray, convert video, and compress videos. It has a wide range of features to help you easily compress a video to different sizes for Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, email, etc.

• Support compressing videos in any video format & resolution.
• Downsize video by changing the codec, lowering video resolution, bit rate, cropping, trimming, etc.
• Provide a lot of advanced features. It's great for tech-savvy users, but can be overwhelming for novices.
• Output formats are MP4 and MKV.

How to compress video on Mac with HandBrake

Step 1. Launch the free compression software on Mac and click the Open Source button to import the video you want to shrink.

Step 2. Under Preset, you can select an output with different qualities. The faster and lower preset will result in a smaller video size but lower quality. So you need to balance it.

Step 3. Under the section below, there is a slew of settings to change to compress the video on Mac. Under Summary, select MP4 for wider compatibility and Webm for web usage.

Step 4: Under the Video tab, you can change the video codec to H.265 or VP9 to get better compression. Lower the Quality by 1-2 RF to get a smaller video without noticeable quality loss.

Step 5. Under the Dimensions tab, resize the video to a lower resolution and crop the image if necessary. After all the settings, hit the Start button to begin reducing video file size. Learn detailed steps to compress video using Handbrake >>

6. VLC

Sum: An easy and fast video compressor alternative to Mac QuickTime

VLC is another popular video player among Mac users. But it is quite an unknown fact that even the VLC media player can be used as a free video compression software for Mac. In fact, you can find more compression options in VLC than in QuickTime Player. With VLC, you can select a smaller-size format like MP4, WebM, FLV, others in H.265, H.264, MPEG4, etc., adjust the audio and video bitrate, and resize the video with one click.

How do I reduce the size of a video in Mac VLC?

Step 1. Open VLC, click File > select Converter/Stream. Then use the Open Media to load your video.

Step 2. Next, in the Choose Profile section, click Customise. First, click the Encapsulation button from the popping-up window. Select a smaller format like WebM, MP4, or FLV bsed on your need.

Step 3. Then click on the Video Codec button. Here you can select a more advanced codec for the video like H.265 for smaller output results. Lower the bitrate and resolution a little bit if necessary. You can also open the dropdown menu of Scale and select a value below 1 to downscale the video.

Step 4. Click Apply and back to the main interface. Click Save as File to set an output folder and click Go to start.

7. Avidemux

Sum: An open-source editor for Mac to compress a video to a specific size.

Avidemux is a free non-linear video editor for Mac to compress, cut, edit, filter and encode easily. It allows Mac users to compress the video to a smaller size for Instagram, TikTok, Whatsapp, YouTube, etc. in different ways. Users can downsize the video to a smaller video format like HEVC, VP9, x264, FLV, etc., adjust the bit rate & resolution, crop and resize to make the video smaller, and split a long and large video. The best part of the free Mac compression software is that users are allowed to set a desired output size.

How to compress video on Mac with Avidemux?

Step 1. Download Avidemux and open it. Click the Open Video button to load in the video you want to compress.

Step 2. Under the Video Decoder, select Video Output to HEVC x265, Mpeg4 AVC (x264), or VP9 for smaller output size. Set the Audio output to AAC (FDK) to ensure the best results. And then select an output muxer like MP4, MOV, WebM, etc.

Step 3. Next, click Configure in Video Output. Under the General tab, navigate to Encoding Mode -> select Two Pass – Video Size in the list. Then you can enter the video size you want to shrink the video into the box Target Video Size (in MB).

Free Video Compressor For Windows

Step 4. If you want to further compress the video on Mac, click Video on the top menu of the main interface > Filters > click swsResize or Crop to adjust the resolutions and crop off unwanted parts from the video.

Step 5. Back on the main interface, you can use the buttons marked A and B under the timeline to split a long video into smaller clips.

8. FFmpeg

Sum: A powerful Mac video compressor for advanced users.

FFmpeg is a collection of free libraries and tools to process multimedia content such as audio, video, subtitles on Mac and other platforms. It's a very advanced and powerful compression software free for Mac that can easily reduce the file size of a video, like a 720p video from 1.7 GB to 67 MB without changing resolution or any quality loss! The only drawback is that it requires a steep learning curve.

How do I compress videos using FFmpeg on Mac?

Step 1. Install FFmpeg on Mac using Homebrew: in Terminal, type the command 'brew install ffmpeg' and hit Return.

Step 2. First, put the video you want to compress on your Desktop, Movies folder, or somewhere FFmpeg can get at it.

Step 3. Open a new Terminal window and you may see something like 'yourname@yourcomputer ~ %', change the ~ to the folder containing your video file, and hit Return. You should now be in the folder that contains your original video file.

Step 4. Now you can use the commands and flags to compress videos on Mac. For example, -c:v specifies the video codec; -b:v specifies video bitrate; -c:a specifies audio codec; -b:a audio bitrate; ; -filter:v specifies a filter... There are many command lines on FFmpeg official site and various forums, below are some simple measures to shrink videos on Mac:

• Compress videos to smaller formats: ffmpeg -i input -c:v libx265 -crf 26 -preset fast -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4
• Change the bitrate:ffmpeg -i input -c:a copy -c:v libx265 -b:v 1M output.mp4
• Compress 4K video to 720P:ffmpeg -i input -c:a copy -s 1280x720 output.mp4

9. Final Cut Pro X Compressor

Sum: Apple's Compressor for Mac that can export Final Cut Pro videos to a smaller size.

The Compressor is designed to work with Final Cut Pro to provide more power and flexibility to the output. It provides high support to compress 4K videos, HDR, and 360° videos. Users can compress videos on Mac by encoding the output to HEVC, H.264, MPEG-4, etc., and adjusting parameters and choose from a variety of frame rates and resolutions. It offers an one-click solution to compress and upload videos for popular video websites, including YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook.

How do you use Mac Compressor to compress videos?

Step 1. Apple Compressor is not free. You need to install and purchase FCP first. Open Compressor and add media files from your computer or a connected storage device. Each media source file in Compressor is called a job.

Step 2. Under the Settings, select to compress your video to Apple Devices in 4K HEVC, HD, SD, YouTube & Facebook, or others. Then set a save location from the pop-up menu.

Step 3. If necessary, adjust the video properties such as resolutions, bitrate, etc. Customize the final cropping, sizing, and aspect ratio using the Cropping & Padding properties in Compressor. Set the encoder type to faster for a faster codec, standard quality, and smaller size.

10. Clipchamp

Sum: A convenient online tool if you don't want to install a video compressor on Mac.

If you don't want to download desktop-based video compression software on Mac, you can simply use free online video compressors, just like Clipchamp. When an internet connection is available, simply open a browser on your Mac, get access to Clipchamp utility, and then you can import a video for compressing.

• Reduce MP4, AVI, MOV, WebM, and more video formats.
• Support batch processing.
• Provide presets for web (Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo), Windows, and Mobile.
• Allow you to downsize videos to a desired resolution (240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K) and quality.
• Available output formats include MP4, WebM, and FLV.

How to compress video with Clipchamp on Mac?

Step 1. Open a web browser on your Mac computer, and access Clipchamp online video compressor.

Step 2. Drag target video into the dotted box.

Step 3. Choose what you want to optimize for, web, Windows, Mobile, or Animation. You can also hit Customize settings to specify resolution, format, and quality.

Step 4. Hit Start to begin processing your video.

Even in the age of cloud storage and affordable hard drive space, big video files can be inconvenient to use. Whether it comes down to storage, sending to an email account, or burning to DVD, having the best free compression software can ensure that you trim those file sizes fast without having to worry about losing video quality. Read on to explore some of the topbest free video compressor options.

Editor’s pick

Best MP4 video compressors

Movavi Video Converter – Best for fast conversion

OS: Windows, macOS

Movavi Video Converter boasts incredibly fast conversion speeds. As well as recognizing a huge number of file types, there are some basic video editing functions within the video converter. You can trim videos to size, and even merge multiple videos together as scenes, and make a longer video. This is great for storage, or converting so that the video works on other devices.

Key features:

✅ Super fast conversion

✅ Compress any video style without losing quality

✅ Basic editing and subtitles

• Easy to use
• Compatible with a Windows or Mac
• Free trial to check out the software for yourself

Наndbrake – Best for Linux users

OS: Windows, macOS, Linux

Handbrake is video compressor freeware, so it is open-source software that can be a good option for a number of different operating systems. It’s pretty basic so you can’t expect a lot of editing functionality, but it does the job, even if you are using Linux, which is far from the most popular operating system. Some Linux users find it hard to get adequate software altogether. This freeware also has loads of different options and presets for different devices and conversions without losing quality.

Key features:

✅ Suitable for all operating systems

✅ Multiple video encoders, including H.264

• Totally free and open source
• Lots of presets for different file types
• Simple to use

• Limited editing functionality
• Not much support
• Could be quicker

Any Video Converter – Best for HEVC encoding

OS: Windows, macOS

Any Video Converter can be used for free if you are only looking for the basic functionality, but if you want more advanced features, you need to pay for the software. It is great for people who need to burn DVDs, even in high-definition formats. You can also enjoy some basic editing and merging features.

Key features:

✅ Highest quality HEVC/H.265 video encoding

✅ Convert a video to audio

• Recognizes a lot of different file types
• Easy-to-use software
• Some features on the free version

• Some DVD conversion is behind the “Ultimate” paywall
• Screen recording only available with premium

Freemake – Best for super simple controls

OS: Windows

Freemake is one of the most popular free programs that lets you rip video from YouTube but also grabs videos from DVDs, and converts different file types on your hard drive. It recognizes over 500 different types of video and audio files. This may be the best free video compressor for Windows 10 and 8, unfortunately, it doesn’t work on Mac.

Key features:

✅ Over 500 different file types to convert

✅ Presets for a number of devices

• Super simple presets for a number of devices
• Totally free
• “Maximum of three clicks” to make any conversion

• Some users have issues with videos not converting when queued
• No Mac or Linux version

FFmpeg – Best for adding plugins and libraries

OS: Windows, macOS, Linux

FFmpeg is incredibly flexible software. It is a command line tool, meaning that to use the software, you need to input small lines of code and execute commands. The software allows you to “decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, filter and play,” but only if you know roughly what you are doing with some code commands. It also has additional libraries and plugins you can download and use.

Key features:

✅ Command line tool allowing you to execute code conversions

✅ Encodes and decodes in a variety of different file formats

✅ Developers can access the source code

• Fast and efficient software
• Allows encoding and decoding

VSDC Video Converter – Best for simple presets

OS: Windows

VSDC Free Video Converter feels a little dated, but if you just want something that can perform basic conversions and some extra features like splitting and merging files, the VSDC Free Video Converter could be a good option. It has simple presets for converting to AVI and some other basic file formats.

Key features:

✅ Supports files including DVD, AVI, QuickTime Video (MOV, QT, MP4, and M4V), MPEG, WMV, FLV

✅ HD-quality options

• Lightweight and simple-to-use for Windows
• Free

• Available only for a PC, no Mac option
• Software feels dated
• Not as fast as many other converters

Videoproc – Best for DVD conversion

OS: Windows or Mac

The Videoproc software seems to have a real focus on ripping from physical media. You can easily grab files from DVDs and CDs and rip them in a variety of different file formats. It works on both Mac and Windows, and as well as ripping from discs, you can convert videos to video files or audio to audio. The software gives you settings on bitrate, frame rate, resolution, and more, so you can control every aspect of the conversion as you go along.

Key features:

✅ Convert from DVDs

✅ Easy to convert audio and video files

✅ Supports lossless codecs

• Works easily on Mac or Windows
• Simple MP4 video compression directly from DVDs
• Free tool to convert videos

• Not the best user interface and layout
• Editing functions are very basic

Best free online video compressors

Fastreel – Best for browser-based size reduction

Fastreel is a powerful browser-based compressor, which is easy to get to grips with. With drag-and-drop functionality you can put the clip you want to convert inside and edit and export in a few clicks. It recognizes loads of file types and allows you to set the compression level and even the size. It’s totally secure and incredibly simple, even for beginners. The free export option does watermark your videos.

Key features:

✅ Exceptional file compression to shrink your videos

✅ Drag-and-drop functionality

✅ Multiple compression options

• No download required
• Much smaller file sizes for storage and sharing

Acethinker – Best for simple edits before converting

Acethinker is another free piece of browser-based software. You can really easily start to convert with no download or install needed. The compression is powerful, and the tool is relatively fast, but there are some downsides, including the fact you get watermarked videos, and the file size is limited.

Key features:

✅ Codec and bitrate options

✅ Supports more than 100 video and audio formats

✅ Browser-based and works on Windows or Mac

• Software prompts you to download a launcher for your files
• File size limitations

Zamzar – Best for free converting and compressing

Zamzar recognizes a wide range of different file types. Whether you want MP4 video compression or to convert a rare video file into an MP3, Zamzar can do the job. It works in your browser and while it is free of charge to use the basic features, you need to sign up to remove some of the daily limits on uploads and downloads.

Key features:

✅ Recognizes a huge number of file types and formats

✅ Works on any OS

✅ Secure and reliable

• Simple to use
• Convert file types or just compress a file to be much smaller

• Daily upload and download limits
• No editing functionality or option to merge videos

There is a variety of different options available if you’re looking for free software to compress or even convert videos, from MP4s to WMV files. Some of the tools on this list work perfectly well in your browser, while others need to be downloaded and installed, but the list of the best free video compression software has something for each operating system and for your individual needs.

FAQ

How do I compress a video file on my computer easily?

One of the easiest ways to compress or convert a file on PC is to use Movavi Video Converter. There are a couple of ways to convert. The easiest steps are:

Click the Add Media button and then Add Video in the upper left corner of the program interface. Choose the video you want to convert and click Open.

Choose the output format for your video from presets.

Next, define the compression rate for your video. To do this, click on the file size in the output information. A new dialog box gives you options on file size and bitrate. You can click Convert Sample if you want to see a short clip of what the file will look like.

Start the conversion process. Choose the output folder for the compressed videos by clicking the Save to button at the bottom of the timeline. Press the Convert button to start the compression process. Videos are saved in the “Movavi” folder by default.

Which is the best free video converter?

There are a lot of handy video converters available, here are some of the best ones:

• Fastreel
• Handbrake
• VSDC Video Converter