20 Best Video Converters That You Can't Miss (In-Depth Comparison)

This is a review and comparison of best video converters of 2023 with features, pros and cons, pricing and ratings. Just select the best fit free or paid video converter to convert, compress and edit any videos easily and quickly on Windows and MacOS.

It's the nature of man to be greedy for the best. Whether you'd like to convert video format to make it compatible with various devices, upload it to YouTube or the like, or edit it further in video editing software, you'll always want the best video converter to achieve all of this fast, efficiently, and without trouble.

However, the 'best' is a subjective matter. There are as many possibilities as there are people in the world. Here, we've tested dozens of video converters and picked the 20 top ones for your choices to convert video from/to MP4 and more.

Editor's Pick - Best Video Converter for Fast & High-quality Conversion Between All Formats

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is our current pick for the best video conversion software. Use this best video converter for Windows & Mac to transcode your video formats fast without losing quality, so as to enjoy them across devices and platforms. It fills the bill in many aspects:

• A huge range of devices and format profiles that work perfectly both in more specialist and niche settings for videos.
• 47x real-time fast speed while handling 4K/HD large videos with full GPU acceleration. Maximize the quality of the output video.
• Expert in converting, editing and resizing videos: MOV to MP4, H.264 to HEVC, 4K to 1080p, trim/crop/merge or whatever.

1. WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe

Best for converting any video format with quality & speed balanced. Best overall.

• Pricing: Free and Premium (It starts at $19.95/Year.)
• Availability: Windows & macOS
• Highlights: 4K/8K support, a wide range of formats support, GPU accelerated.
  

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is a full-featured fast video converter that allows users to convert, compress and edit videos on Windows 11/10 and macOS. It's accessible for any 4K and HD videos and can convert them to MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, HEVC, H.264, MPEG4, iPhone, iPad, Android, and 420+ preset profiles.

Pros:

• Convert 4K/HD video to any format. No crashing error halfway.
• Best output quality, 47x real-time fast speed with GPU accelerated, and the smallest size with the best balance of quality and speed.
• Compress 4K/HD videos with up to 90% reduction without quality loss visually.
• 100% clean and safe. No adware, malware, harmful plug-ins, or virus.

Cons:

• The editing feature is a whole kindergarten thing compared with professional video editors.
• The free version has a 5 minutes limit for the output video (but it delivers without watermark).

Verdict: WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is an easy but powerful video converting tool. Powered by Intel QSV/NVIDIA/AMD hardware acceleration, it can decode and encode videos to any format and device at ultra-fast speed. Video compression and editing are available for users in this best video converter for PC and Mac.

2. DivX Converter

Best for video conversion on a limited budget.

• Pricing: Free and Pro ($19.99)
• Availability: Windows & macOS
• Highlights: Broad format support, backup DVDs, work with cloud apps.

DivX Converter is a solid video converter for Windows 10 and Mac, offering decent conversion speeds, high-quality output, and the option of 4K. It can convert your videos to core formats like AVI, DivX, MKV, and MP4 - so your content can be played on the majority of devices, from TVs and tablets to smartphones and game consoles. By using it, you can also backup DVDs, access video from cloud service, and alter advanced transcoding options.

Pros:

• Convert DivX, H.264, and HEVC videos to 1 billion DivX Certified devices. Now you can even convert HEIC photos to JPG.
• The solid conversion speed and even faster for the Pro version.
• Advanced features available: Wavefront parallel processing, logs, B-frame, Target Quantizer, etc.
• Cloud Connect and Backup DVD feature.

Cons:

• The free version tries to install antivirus software during installation.
• It shows ads and upsells when you boot the software.

Verdict: DivX Converter offers a great and free option to convert videos to DivX-certified devices. Also, it's packed with lots of great features, from non-encrypted DVD backup, audio/video parameters adjustment, and advanced features. The Pro version even runs in prioritize speed or maximize quality, and connects to cloud services like Google Drive, and Dropbox.

3. Wondershare Uniconverter

Best for high-speed media conversion.

• Pricing: Free and Premium ($49.99/year)
• Availability: Windows & macOS
• Highlights: Advanced encoder support, high speed, nearly no quality loss on video compression, and AI-powered.

Wondershare Uniconverter is a complete video toolbox to convert, compress, edit, play videos, burn DVDs, and much more. It can convert multiple files at once, convert videos for different devices, and most importantly, do all of this at 30X faster speed. This fastest video converter also comes with lots of additional options besides straight-up conversions, such as video compression, editing, recording, playing, downloading, DVD burning, etc.

Pros:

• Convert videos to 1000+ file formats. Batch conversion available.
• Burn DVDs, play videos, and record screen activity with audio narration.
• No ads or additional installs.

Cons:

• Complex interface.
• It's quite an expensive option.

Verdict: Wondershare Uniconverter supports a large number of file formats and makes all your conversion work a breeze, thanks to its clever features that speed up the process. It solves almost all your video-related worries, such as format conversion, file compression, screen recording, video downloading, editing, and more.

4. Freemake Video Converter

Best for beginners with straightforward conversion.

• Pricing: Free and Paid
• Availability: Windows
• Highlights: 4K support, burn to DVD, and lots of preset profiles.

Freemake Video Converter has been the most popular free video converter for PC in the past decade owing to its versatility. It supports converting video and movies between 500+ formats and gadgets for free. Also, it's available to edit videos, burn videos to DVD, share videos to YouTube, extract audio from video clips and make photo slideshows.

Pros:

• Wide range of preset profiles, up to 500+ formats.
• Support to convert DVDs, and even burn videos to DVD.
• High quality and fast speed with the paid version.

Cons:

• The free version is unavailable, with large watermarks on the output video.
• Not support HEVC video conversion.
• Lots of upsell attempts when trying to use the free version. Also, the pricing is confusing.

Verdict: Freemake Video Converter is the best free option to convert videos for beginners if they're fine with watermarks. It provides a straightforward experience in video conversion between 500+ formats.

5. Movavi Video Converter

Best for video conversion with plenty of editing options.

• Pricing: Free and Paid ($54.95/year)
• Availability: Windows and macOS
• Highlights: Loads of mainstream options and presets, and 4K video converting and editing support.

Movavi Video Converter is well-known for supporting a wide range of media formats and mobile devices, high-quality file encoding, and high-speed processing. It converts between more than 180 formats, including DVD and HD videos like AVI, MP4, FLV, MKV, MOV, WMV, 3GP, and many more.

Pros:

• Easy to use, modern and intuitive interface.
• Fast speed and high-quality outputs.
• No intrusive ads or upsells.
• A wealth of video editing options like trimming, cropping, merging, filters, colors, effects, subtitles, and more.

Cons:

• Lack features such as burning videos to DVD and downloading online videos.
• Expensive.

Verdict: Movavi Video Converter is most praised for its quick video conversion by many users. Users can convert media files to 180+ formats, compress videos without losing quality, and trim, crop, or merge their video creations. This video converter for Windows 10/11 and Mac does lack certain features but makes up for it due to its strong conversion and optimizing features.

6. Any Video Converter

Best for 4K HEVC conversion and home video editing.

• Pricing: Free and Paid ($49.95)
• Availability: Windows and macOS
• Highlights: 30X faster, NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF, Intel QSV hardware acceleration, 4K UHD video conversion, higher quality

Any Video Converter is one of the top video converters working with Windows 10 for years. A quite number of free video converters for Windows catch your eyeball with overblown hype, which could not happen on Any Video Converter. This application does what it claims: free convert video to MP4, MKV, AVI, WMV, and DVD, and does it quite well on Windows 11/10. Of course, it also leaves some to be desired.

Pros:

• Support a wide library of input and output formats.
• Allow you to customize your footage on Windows 11/10, like trim, crop, adjust settings, and add effects to video.

Cons:

• Some output files are problematic, including audio video out of sync, improper aspect ratio, and fragmentary video playback.
• Conversion is slow compared to our top pick. Long time consumed for load 4K videos now and then.
• The free version installs additional software.

Verdict: Any Video Converter is accepted as the best video conversion software for Windows and macOS since it fits the bill for HD video conversion in any aspects, including the wide support of inputs and outputs, video compression ability and editing features. But if you're going to convert 4K UHD videos with it, you might wait a little bit longer than other video converters.

7. Leawo Video Converter

Best for beginners to convert videos in a "just-the-basics" manner.

• Pricing: Free and Paid ($29.95/year)
• Availability: Windows and macOS
• Highlights: 6X faster speed, 1:1 quality, 180+ formats support, and 2D to 3D.

Leawo Video Converter is a good way to start converting videos. It supports more than 180 different formats, enabling you to convert videos from one format to another randomly, such as AVI to MP4, MKV to MOV, and more. It has functionalities for creating 3D movies, uploading videos to YouTube, and many more.

Pros:

• Ease-to-use, and clean user interface.
• Has a useful array of customization tools, including trimming, cropping, and adjusting the picture values of a video before conversion.

Cons:

• Extra features, like online video downloads and DVD-burning tools, require that you buy additional modules in the Leawo suite.

Verdict: Leawo Video Converter excels at converting video to a wide range of file formats that are viewable on anything from TVs to mobile devices. This video conversion software for PC and Mac can read and write nearly all file types we looked for.

8. Prism Video Converter

Best for stable and comprehensive multi-format video conversion on less-robust PCs.

• Pricing: Free
• Availability: Windows
• Highlights: support all popular formats, batch video conversion, and add video effects.

Prism Video Converter is the best video converter for Windows PCs, which can compress, convert and work with batch files. It supports all the popular formats for input and output, and you can add a bunch of effects and filters to enhance your videos further. Once the result is generated, you'll have the option to preview everything before hitting the save button.

Pros:

• Support a wide variety of formats. Batch conversion.
• Multifunctional. It not only converts but also edits and compresses your videos.
• Extract and convert files directly from DVDs.

Cons:

• Annoying popup to persuade you to buy the Plus edition.
• No ability to bypass DVD copy protections.
• Supports limited video formats.

Verdict: Prism Video Converter does not only transform videos into different formats but can shrink video file size, change resolution, preview videos before transforming them, and even allow editing. It also supports 4K UHD videos, even though the conversion speed is still far from satisfactory for 4K video conversion.

9. OnlineVideoConverter

Best for online video conversion without any installation.

• Pricing: Free
• Availability: Windows
• Highlights: support all popular formats, batch video conversion, and add video effects.

OnlineVideoConverter is one of the best online video converters. It's a powerful and free media conversion tool that allows you to convert any video link or video file to various formats, including MP3, MP4, and M4A. You don't have to download and install any software on your computer. Simply navigate its official page through your browser to start your video conversion with or without registration.

Pros:

• A wide range of media formats supported
• No restrictions on conversions and downloads
• Registration is not required. No software installation is required.

Cons:

• Quality loss when transcoding between lossy compression formats
• Lower speed of uploading and transforming for the larger size.

Verdict: OnlineVideoConverter is a miniature of all online video converter services, which allows you to convert videos between mainstream formats, adjust video/audio quality, and trim video length as you like. Better yet, It's not limited to converting videos on Windows 11/10, but also on iOS, Android, macOS, and all platforms as long as you have a good Internet connection.

10. FonePaw Video Converter Ultimate

Best for individuals and small to large businesses to convert videos and edit videos.

• Pricing: Free + Premium. The free trial version only allows for 5mins conversion for each file. The one-year license is available for $34.96 for 1PC. The lifetime single-user license is available for $48.97 for 1 PC, and the lifetime family license is for $80.47 for 2-5 PCs.
• Availability: Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 (32 bit & 64 bit), and macOS 10.12 or later.
• Highlights: Batch conversion, Hardware-accelerated speed, AI technology to enhance videos, built-in filters & effects, etc.

With over 13,000,000 downloads and 8,000,000 users, FonePaw Video Converter Ultimate is a 4-in-1 application that you can use to convert videos, compress videos, edit videos, and rip DVDs. To use it as the best video converter software on your computer, you can selectively or batch convert videos up to 4K to 1,000+ formats including 5K/8K, MKV, MP4, ProRes, HEVC, H.264, etc. at 30X faster conversion speed.

Pros:

• Convert videos up to 4K/5K/8K: MP4, MKV, AVI, ProRes, etc. 1,000+ outputs.
• Compress videos by manually inputting a certain compressed size or compressed ratio.
• Edit videos: Trim, merge, crop, add subtitles, remove watermark, control video speed, add filters & effects, make GIF, etc.
• Rip DVDs to folders and ISO files.
• Create movies and videos.
• GPU acceleration (NVIDIA, Intel, & AMD technologies), and AI-enhanced technology.

Cons:

• The trial version allows for 5 minutes conversion of each file and doesn’t support batch conversion.
• The full version is a bit expensive.
• The output video resolution is poor.
• The installation is slow, and sometimes it crashes the computer.
• Can’t convert AV1 videos.

Verdict: FonePaw Video Converter Ultimate is surely the best video converter for newbies who need a detailed guide to use new software. By following the on-screen guide, you will easily grasp how to convert a video. It is also the top-rated video converter for video uploader who is looking for ready-prepared presets so as to quickly convert videos to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Instagram, Likee, Lasso, TikTok, etc.

11. VideoProc Converter

Best for converting 4K/HD footage recorded from GoPro, DJI drones and more.

• Pricing: Free and Paid ($25.95/year)
• Availability: Windows and macOS
• Highlights: 4K/8K support, great conversion speed with hardware acceleration, video recording, DVD ripping, and special GoPro features.

VideoProc Converter supports the conversion of all popular and rare video and audio formats, including MP4/H.264, HEVC, AV1, VP9, VP8, WebM, MKV, and MOV, etc. 4K conversions are no problem for VideoProc, and it even supports to convert 2.7K, 5K, 8K resolution footage from GoPro, drones and HD cameras. 

Pros:

• A wide range of formats and preset profiles support, including 370+ codecs and 420+ preset profiles.
• Output speeds are tremendously good with 4k quality.
• Act as video converter, compressor, editor, downloader, and recorder.

Cons:

• The free version is limited to processing files that are less than 5 minutes.
• Lacks tutorial which makes it time-consuming for new users.
• Download speeds drop down sometimes and fluctuate very often.
• Email-only customer support.

Verdict: VideoProc Converter is a new tool that ranks high in the best video converters list. It's initially known for its excellent conversion for 4K videos. It can convert videos at a speed up to 47x faster than the real-time playback while keeping a very low CPU usage. But it might a little bit difficult for new users. Besides, the download function is not that stable.

12. HitPaw Video Converter

Best for people who need a superfast converting speed to batch convert a bunch of videos, and download videos from 1,000+ sites.

• Pricing: Free + Premium. The free trial version only allows for converting 1/3 length of a video file. The starting price for 1 month is $19.95 for 1 PC, the 1-year license is $39.95 for 1 PC, and the lifetime update license is $79.95 for 1 PC.
• Availability: Windows 11/10/8/7 (64 bit), and macOS 10.13 or later.
• Highlights: Convert files to 1,000+ formats with 120X faster speed; convert Apple Music to MP3; batch convert 5,000 videos at the same time with GPU acceleration.

As one of the best video converter software, HitPaw Video Converter lets users convert between 1,000+ formats, including 4K, HEVC, MOV, MP4, MKV, AVI, M2TS, Apple ProRes, etc. You can input videos shot by GoPro, DJI, iPhone, DSLR, camcorder, etc. to it, and it will output compatible formats for your device, media player, social platforms, and so on. Thanks to the built-in Hardware Acceleration technology, it renders 120X faster speed even when you batch convert over 1,000 videos at the same.

Pros:

• Convert between 1,000+ formats up to 8K/4K. Batch converting 5,000 videos is allowed.
• NVIDA© CUDA™, AMD®, Intel® Core™ and M1® acceleration technology gives 120X faster conversion speed.
• Download videos from 1,000+ sites, and convert them to MP4/WebM/MP3/WAV.
• Convert Apple Music, iTunes music, Podcasts, and audible books to MP3.
• Batch convert images and create GIFs from videos.
• Built-in rich editing features: Cut, merge, crop, rotate, add filters and effects, change speed, add watermark, etc.

Cons:

• Most features are available for the paid versions.
• The installation process is very time-consuming.
• Only Windows version can convert Apple music, iTunes music, Podcasts, and audiobooks.
• Only Windows version can download playlists and channels.

Verdict: Compared to the older versions, the latest version of HitPaw Video Converter has improved the conversion speed from 90X to 120X, and added output formats from 500 to 1,000. Also, the enhanced HitPaw brings YouTube playlist downloads, Apple Music conversion, and TikTok downloads without watermarks. After reviewing all the features, the 120X conversion speed makes HitPaw Video Converter the best video converter for people who are seeking the fastest video conversion speed.

13. HandBrake

Best for both beginners and the skilled who have no budget to pay for a video converter.

• Pricing: Free.
• Availability: Windows 10 and later, macOS 10.12 and later, Linux.
• Highlights: Free & open-source, support AV1/ProRes decoding, rich output presets, lots of parameter settings.

Handbrake has built up a cult following for years, with open-source and clean video converting ability. Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux, it takes advantage of third-party libraries such as x265, FFmpeg, and libvpx to convert a range of popular formats, including H.264, H.265, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Theora, and VP8/9.

Pros:

• Open-source, and ad-free.
• Support a bunch of videos up to 4K: MKV, MP4, MOV, AV1, etc.
• Rich output presets.
• Manual & automatic scaling, and deinterlacing.
• Able to convert both DVD and video.
• Powered by NVIDIA® NVENC, CUDA, Intel® QSV hardware acceleration technologies.

Cons:

• Limited output video formats.
• Non-intuitive interface and design.
• Slow conversion speed.

Verdict: As the best open-source video converter, HandBrake enables you to re-encode videos to MKV, WebM, MP4 or other settings required for common devices, like smartphone, game console, Chromecast, and Roku. You can even delve into advanced video encoding options to alter bitrate, codec, resolution, add your own subtitles and more.

14. VLC

Best for VLC users who have simple and basic video conversion needs.

• Pricing: Free.
• Availability: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, etc.
• Highlights: Free and open-source, work on all platforms, provide customizable conversion profiles, deinterlace videos, let preview the output during conversion.

VLC should be the most successful media player that has gained over 4 billion users. If you also own one, you don’t need to download another video converter. VLC can also be used as the best video converter to convert videos to MP4, WebM, TS, OGG, ASF, MP3, FLAC, etc. It also supports HEVC codec, batch conversion, deinterlacing videos, and previewing the converting videos.

Pros:

• It is completely free to use; and works on all platforms.
• Deinterlace videos.
• Preview the output during conversion.
• It can also be used to convert audio and DVD.

Cons:

• Limited output format support and presets.
• It is hard to process the AV1, VP9 and ProRes codecs.
• No presets to choose from for specific devices and social media.

Verdict: VLC media player performs better than we imagine even some 4K videos can be converted smoothly to high-quality files with VLC. Since it is born to be a media player, issues during video conversion are inevitable. For example, the output file is no video/no audio if the source video has some advanced specs like 4K, 60FPS, HEVC, etc.

15. Adobe Media Encoder

Best for Adobe subscribers to convert video formats or codecs while editing videos.

• Pricing: Free.
• Availability: Windows, macOS.
• Highlights: Support nearly all existing video and audio codecs.

Adobe Media Encoder is no doubt the best video converter software for people who have worked with Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop, or other tools from Adobe. The workflow of Adobe Media Encoder is partnered with After Effects or Premiere Pro, so as to keep the video editing and the video converting at the same time.

Pros:

• Support nearly all formats, codecs, resolutions, and aspect ratios.
• Transcode videos to new formats.

Cons:

• Can’t natively support the output of MKV, VP9 WebM, H.264 AVI…
• Need to install Premiere or After Effects, both cost $20.99/month.
• Lack of options to control the audio stream.
• High CPU usage.

Verdict: Adobe Media Encoder is the official solution for Premiere Pro or After Effects’ users who need to transcode videos while editing videos often to video-sharing websites like YouTube, and other platforms. This MP4 video converter can work in the background without disturbing the video editing process. However, it requires a pretty much powerful computer.

16. AVS Video Converter

Best for converting videos on Windows for free.

• Pricing: Free
• Availability: Windows
• Highlights: convert from/to 150+ formats, and wide devices support.

AVS Video Converter offers an acceptable selection of both file formats and device-optimization profiles. You can use specific media decoders depending upon your processor to speed up the video converting process by a mile. However, it takes quite a long time to convert 4K videos, and the results are subpar.

Pros:

• Convert your videos into any of the most common video formats and several uncommon ones.
• Automate the conversion process using command line mode.
• Burn Blu-ray and DVD videos.

Cons:

• Relatively slow speed compared to other best video converters.
• The output video quality is subpar.

Verdict: AVS Video Converter is a simple yet powerful video conversion tool for Windows. It can convert videos into different formats. There are dozens of presets that allow you to easily convert videos to popular mobile and console devices. For full HD and 4K UHD video conversion, it can utilize hardware acceleration to speed up the conversion process.

17. DVDVideoSoft Free Video Converter

Best for newbies to convert videos to AVI or MPEG4 for obsolete devices, convert video formats to MP4 in HD quality, and optimize the HD video for iPhone and iPad.

• Pricing: Free + Premium. The 1-year license is $19, and the lifetime license is $39. Both the two premium memberships can be used on 3 computers.
• Availability: Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP SP3.
• Highlights: Convert nearly 100% of video files found nowadays to MP4, and convert videos for obsolete devices.

The clean and uncluttered interface makes DVDVideoSoft Free Video Converter the best video converter for users who often convert common SD, HD, or 4K videos to MP4. Supporting 40+ video file formats, it is capable of converting AVI to MP4, WMV to MP4, MOV to MP4, and other formats to MP4 to play on iPhone, iPad, Xbox Olne, Samsung phones, Android, and others. However, it lacks support for 4K to 5K/8K conversions; and is hard to process newer video codecs like HEVC, AV1, VP9, and the like.

Pros:

• Convert videos to obsolete devices.
• Capable of converting common videos to MP4.
• Merge two files.
• Preset editor to edit audio and video.
• Simple and self-explaining interface.

Cons:

• Limited formats support.
• No batch conversion.
• Converted videos are watermarked.
• No Hardware Acceleration support to help accelerate the conversion speed.
• The installation is very time-consuming.

Verdict: DVDVideoSoft Free Video Converter is very simple in both the interface and the functions. It can’t process large-sized and newer codec videos, like HEVC, 4K, AV1, etc. smoothly. It won’t allow you to batch-convert videos. Also, you can’t add subtitles or audio narrations. However, if you only want to convert the common files, especially the SD MOV, AVI, WMV, MKV, etc. videos to MP4, this is the video convertsion software suits you best.

18. HD Video Converter Factory Pro

Best video converter for HD video conversion to output high-quality videos for newbies and the experienced to play, edit, upload, etc. on Windows PC.

• Pricing: Free + Premium. The 1-year license for 1 PC is $29.95, the lifetime license for 1 PC is $34.95, and the lifetime license for 3 PCs is $59.95.
• Availability: Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000.
• Highlights: Convert HD videos to 500+ formats, compress and upscale videos, record desktop activities, and support Dolby surround sound.

WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is among the first to support HD video conversion that you can use to convert between 500 formats for iPhone, Android, TV, Xbox, etc. Thanks to the built-in Hardware Acceleration technologies, this video converter also lets you convert videos up to 7680*4320, 3840*2160, 2560*1440, 1920*1080, 1280*720, and any resolution at 50X faster speed. A 2-hour HD video can be converted in minutes.

Pros:

• 500+ formats support: Batch-convert any video to AVI, MP4, MKV, ProRes, MP3, etc.
• Compress and upscale videos: SD to HD, 2K to 4K, 4K to 8K, etc., and vice versa.
• Edit videos: Trim, split, merge, crop, rotate, flip, watermark, filters/effects, and add subtitles.
• Batch download videos from 1,000+ sites.
• Record desktop activities.
• Create GIFs from videos.
• Powered by NVIDIA® NVENC, CUDA, Intel® QSV hardware acceleration technologies.

Cons:

• No Mac version.
• The user interface will get some time to get used to.
• The free version has limited possibilities.

Verdict: WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro is a multilingual and all-in-one video processing software, which focuses on video converting, video compressing, video editing, video downloading, video recording, and more. Because of the support for Dolby surround sound, it is surely the best video converter for Windows users to convert HD movies without sacrificing the audio quality.

19. FFmpeg

Best for users who are familiar with and prefer the command-line method.

• Pricing: Free.
• Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux.
• Highlights: Free & open-source, support AV1 decoding & encoding, convert any videos up to 4K.

FFmpeg is an open source software project consisting of a brunch of libraries and programs, able to record, decode, encode and stream multimedia content. At its core is the FFmpeg command line, designed to convert any video or audio, from the most obscure ancient format to the cutting-edge codec, such as H.264, HEVC, MP3, AAC, MPEG-4, ProRes, QuickTime, SWF, FLAC, VP9 and many more.

Pros:

• Support common and newer format conversion, such as MP4, MKV, AVI, HEVC, AV1, ProRes, etc.
• Allow users to convert, record, and stream audio and video.
• Support upscaling 1080p to 4K, and downscaling 8k to 4K.
• Batch conversion is allowed.

Cons:

• Quite difficult for beginners.
• There are too many libraries that make users confused.

Verdict: For experienced users, encoding audios and videos with FFmpeg is pretty easy through command, e.g. "ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.webm". However, as it's based on command lines, it might be a little bit tricky for novices, especially when they need to adjust video/audio parameters or do some editing while converting video format.

20. MPEG Streamclip

Best video converter for phased-out video codecs, capable of converting between muxed/demuxed formats.

• Pricing: Free.
• Availability: Windows 7, XP, Vista, 2000; Linux with WINE; Mac OS X 10.2 with QuickTime 6; Mac OS 10.3.x/10.4.x/10.5.x/10.6.x and Mac OS X Lion/ Mountain Lion with QuickTime 7.
• Highlights: Free; convert files into muxed or demuxed files.

MPEG Streamclip lets you play and edit QuickTime, DV, AVI, MPEG-4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VOB files or transport streams with MPEG, PCM, or AC3 audio; etc., and then export all these formats to QuickTime, DV/DV50, AVI/DivX and MPEG-4 with high quality up to HD. Besides converting videos, it can also download videos from YouTube and Google by inputting the video URL.

Pros:

• Lightweight and free to use.
• Available for batch conversion.
• Edit movies and export to MOV, AVI, and MP4.
• Able to add watermarks if needed.

Cons:

• It is a discontinued program.
• Limited input and output formats.
• Export videos in 16:9 or 4:3 only.
• Need MPEG-2 playback component for MPEG-2/VOB playback and conversion.
• Need DivX for DivX playback and editing.
• Need Perian for FLV playback and export.
• Need Flip4Mac WMV Player for WMV playback and export.

Verdict: MPEG Streamclip is an outdated program that’s best for older video formats like AVI, QuickTime, and MPEG-4, but it is still working on Windows 10 after testing. It is also the best free video converter for muxed and demuxed files. For people who are looking for a tool to convert new format videos or convert files for social media like Facebook and Instagram, you’d better choose another video converter.

IN CONCLUSION

As we have explained that the ‘best’ is a subject matter in the very beginning, the video converter can satisfy your need most can be called the best video converter. Based on the principles we choose a video converter, including the ease-of-use, format options, output quality, conversion speed, and price, we have selected the best 5 video converters for you.

If you need an overall highly-praised video converter, WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is surely the budget-friendly choice for both newbies and the skilled to convert between hundreds of formats very fast and in high quality. If you have a high requirement for conversion speed, no one can beat HitPaw Video Converter’s 120X faster speed. For newbies who need a free tool, VLC and HandBrake should be on the list. Of course, Adobe Media Encoder is the best video conversion software for all professional video editors.

How to Choose the Best Video Converter?

When choosing a video converter, what to look for? The video converter developers have added many extra features to make their products look attractive, but when focusing on the video conversion ability only, which factors should we consider when selecting the best one from hundreds of options? Based on users’ requirements in daily life, the below five are the top factors to make a video converter popular.

1. Supported file formats

The video converter is designed to remove format incompatibility issues so as to freely play, edit, upload, and share any media files. So, the first ability of a video converter is its support of video and audio formats as many as possible.

At this point, commercial video converters like WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe, Wondershare Uniconverter, and Movavi Video Converter does better than other software. Also, they do well in decoding newer formats like AV1, HEVC, VP9, H.264, etc.

2. Output quality

The video converter is used to make the video format compatible, but not to reduce the picture quality. When we choose a video converter based on this principle, we should choose the one that comes with a function, like "High Quality Engine", "1:1 copy", or something alike which can help remain the highest video quality after conversion.

3. Conversion speed

You need a video converter with fast conversion speed especially when you need batch conversion. Or, when you have hours of movies to convert, you need to speed up to conversion to save time. Luckily, more and more video converters have added Hardware acceleration supports to accelerate the speed while keeping high quality. Good examples include WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe, FonePaw Video Converter Ultimate, HitPaw Video Converter, and WonderFox HD Video Converter Factory Pro.

4. Price

The best video converter should be free or low of cost. If the price is too high, it is surely not an ideal program for any user.

5. Ease of use

The video converter should be the tool to help people complete other tasks. For example, it is used to convert a video to MP4 to upload to YouTube. The video conversion process should not too complicated and time-consuming to influence the final tasks.

Video Converter FAQs

1. What's the best video converter for HD and 4K?

From the above video converter reviews list, you can find some of the video converters work especially well when converting 4K UHD videos, be it WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe, VideoProc Converter, Wondershare Uniconverter, Movavi Video Converter. All of them have the same commons: accepting 4K video of any codec/format, supporting hardware acceleration, and maintaining high-quality output after conversion.

2. How does the video conversion tool work?

Usually, there are two ways that video conversion tools convert videos: auto copy and transcoding. To be specific, the auto copy refers to changing the video container format without changing the underlying codec. As for transcoding, the video converter decrypts the original video clip with the built-in decoder and encodes the same data released from the decoder with the built-in encoder in a new way.

Generally, transcoding is a process of lossy compression, while there is no loss of data for the auto copy.

3. What's the difference between MP4 and MOV video files?

MOV is a proprietary Apple file format for QuickTime, while MP4 is an international standard. Most streaming platforms recommend the use of MP4 files instead of MOV since MP4 files work with more streaming protocols.

MOV files often contain high-bitrate video files with little to no compression. They are very high quality but have substantial file sizes. On the other hand, MP4 files contain highly compressed video files. The quality is often indistinguishable from uncompressed video, but the file sizes are much smaller. Dive Deep to MOV vs MP4 >>