Video Codecs Cheat Sheet — H.264 vs H.265 vs VP9 vs AV1 (2025)

A printable reference for choosing the right video codec. Covers compression efficiency, encoding speed, hardware support, licensing, and platform compatibility.

Video Codecs Comparison Table

| Feature | H.264 (AVC) | H.265 (HEVC) | VP9 | AV1 | |---------|-------------|--------------|-----|-----| | Released | 2003 | 2013 | 2013 | 2018 | | Compression | Baseline | ~50% better | ~30% better | ~50% better | | File size (1080p/min) | ~15 MB | ~8 MB | ~10 MB | ~7 MB | | Encoding speed | Fast | Moderate | Slow | Very slow | | Decoding speed | Very fast | Fast | Moderate | Moderate | | Hardware decode | Universal | Newer devices | Chrome/Android | Newest only | | Licensing | Patent pool | Patent pool | Royalty-free | Royalty-free | | Container | MP4, MKV | MP4, MKV | WebM, MKV | MP4, WebM, MKV | | Best for | Universal | Apple/mobile | Web (Google) | Future standard |

Browser Support

| Codec | Chrome | Firefox | Safari | Edge | |-------|--------|---------|--------|------| | H.264 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | H.265 | ⚠️ HW only | ❌ | ✅ | ⚠️ HW only | | VP9 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ 14.1+ | ✅ | | AV1 | ✅ 70+ | ✅ 67+ | ✅ 17+ | ✅ 79+ |

Download sample MP4 files (H.264 + H.265), MKV files (H.264/H.265/VP9), and WebM files (VP9/AV1).

When to Use Each Codec

• Universal compatibility → H.264 in MP4 → sample MP4
• Apple ecosystem → H.265 in MP4 (iPhones encode natively)
• Web streaming → VP9 in WebM (Google/YouTube) → sample WebM
• Best compression → AV1 (if you can afford slow encoding)
• Archival / Plex → H.265 in MKV → sample MKV

Container Formats

| Container | Video Codecs | Audio Codecs | Subtitles | Browser | |-----------|-------------|-------------|-----------|---------| | MP4 | H.264, H.265, AV1 | AAC, AC3 | Limited | All | | MKV | Any | Any | SRT, ASS, PGS | None | | WebM | VP8, VP9, AV1 | Vorbis, Opus | WebVTT | Chrome/Firefox | | MOV | H.264, H.265, ProRes | AAC, PCM | Limited | Safari | | AVI | DivX, H.264 | MP3, PCM | None | None |

FFmpeg Quick Reference

# H.264 encoding (universal)
ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -c:a aac output.mp4

# H.265 encoding (50% smaller)
ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx265 -crf 28 -c:a aac output.mp4

# VP9 encoding (royalty-free)
ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libvpx-vp9 -crf 30 -b:v 0 -c:a libopus output.webm

# AV1 encoding (best compression, slow)
ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libaom-av1 -crf 30 -c:a libopus output.webm

# Remux MKV to MP4 (instant, no re-encoding)
ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c copy output.mp4

Quality vs File Size vs Speed

For the same visual quality at 1080p30:

| Codec | File Size | Encode Time | Decode CPU | |-------|-----------|-------------|------------| | H.264 CRF 23 | 100% (baseline) | 1x | Very low | | H.265 CRF 28 | ~50% | 3-5x | Low | | VP9 CRF 30 | ~65% | 5-10x | Moderate | | AV1 CRF 30 | ~45% | 20-50x | Moderate |

Decision Flowchart

1. Needs to play everywhere? → H.264 in MP4
2. Web-only, Chrome/Firefox? → VP9 in WebM
3. Apple devices primary? → H.265 in MP4
4. Smallest possible, time not an issue? → AV1
5. Archival with multiple audio/subs? → H.265 in MKV

Download test videos: MP4 · MKV · WebM · MOV · AVI