MP4 to AV1 Converter

How to Convert MP4 to AV1 Online

1. Upload Your MP4 Files: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to select MP4 (or M4V) clips from your device. Batch uploads are supported.
2. Pick Compression Method: Default is Quality Preset → Very High (Recommended). Switch to Constant Quality for AV1's native CRF-style control (lower number = higher quality), Constant Bitrate for streaming targets, Variable Bitrate for size-aware quality, or Specific file size when you need to hit an exact MB cap.
3. Resize, Trim, and Set Codecs (Optional): Change Video Codec (default AV1), Audio Codec (default Opus), pick a Resolution Preset (144p → 8K 4320p), scale by percentage, or enter custom Width × Height. Use Trim with start/duration controls to clip a segment before encoding.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert". AV1 encoding is CPU-heavy, so a 1080p clip can take several minutes; the page processes one file at a time and queues the rest.

Why Convert MP4 to AV1?

MP4 is a container — the video inside is usually H.264 (AVC), occasionally H.265 (HEVC). AV1 is a newer codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media (Google, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, Meta, Mozilla, Intel) and finalized in March 2018. It targets the same job as H.265 but is royalty-free, so streamers and browsers adopted it without patent-pool fees. Real-world reasons to re-encode:

• Shrink long-form footage for cold storage — re-encoding a 1080p H.264 archive to AV1 commonly cuts file size 40-55% at the same perceptual quality, which makes a 1 TB family-video archive fit on a 500 GB drive.
• Serve mobile streams cheaper — Netflix reports AV1 powers roughly 30% of all viewing (Dec 2024) and that AV1 delivers ~20% better compression than VP9 on Android, the prior default. Same logic applies to self-hosted streams.
• Future-proof YouTube and Twitch uploads — both platforms re-encode high-traffic videos to AV1 for supported viewers. Uploading AV1 doesn't skip their pipeline, but the source quality is already in the format the platform prefers.
• Stay royalty-free — AV1's license model is open, unlike H.265 / HEVC, which has three patent pools (MPEG-LA, HEVC Advance, Velos Media) plus unpooled patent holders.
• Match what Chromecast, Roku, and modern smart TVs prefer — most TVs shipped since 2022 include an AV1 hardware decoder and play AV1 natively, often with lower power draw than equivalent H.265 software fallbacks.

For the reverse direction, see AV1 to MP4. To shrink an MP4 without changing codec, Compress MP4 keeps H.264 and just lowers the bitrate.

MP4 (H.264) vs AV1 — Format Comparison

AV1 Quality Settings Quick Guide

XConvert's Constant Quality mode for AV1 maps to libaom's CQ level (0-63, lower = higher quality). The encoder also exposes per-codec min/max quantizer bounds (qmin/qmax for VP9/AV1) when you need a quality range rather than a fixed point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is AV1 encoding so much slower than H.264?

AV1's compression efficiency comes from a much larger search space: more block sizes, more intra-prediction modes, and a more flexible transform stage. Software encoders (libaom, SVT-AV1) trade CPU time for bitrate savings. SVT-AV1 has narrowed the gap considerably since 2022 — preset 8-10 is now within ~2-5x of x265 — but online tools tend to use the safer libaom defaults, which can be 10-20x slower than x264.

Will my iPhone or Android phone play the AV1 output?

It depends on the chip. iPhones with the A17 Pro (15 Pro/Pro Max) and all A18/A19 models (iPhone 16 / 17 lines) decode AV1 in hardware; older iPhones rely on third-party apps like VLC or Infuse because iOS has no system-wide software AV1 decoder. On Android, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ and Tensor G2+ (Pixel 7+) include AV1 hardware decoders, and Qualcomm extended support to the mid-tier Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 in 2025.

Does Safari support AV1?

Safari 17 (Sept 2023) added AV1 playback, but only on devices with a hardware AV1 decoder: Macs with M3 silicon or newer, the M4 iPad Pro, iPhone 15 Pro / 16 / 17 series. Older Safari installs cannot play AV1 at all. For a website that needs Safari compatibility on older hardware, keep an H.264 fallback alongside the AV1 master.

Is AV1 better than H.265 / HEVC?

For compression alone, yes — peer-reviewed subjective tests (IEEE, Moscow State, Bitmovin) put AV1 ~25-35% more efficient than HEVC at matched perceptual quality. For licensing, AV1 wins decisively (free vs HEVC's three patent pools). For encode speed and tooling maturity, HEVC still leads. The tipping point in 2026 is hardware decode coverage, which is now broad enough that streamers like Netflix, YouTube, and Meta serve AV1 by default to capable clients.

Can I keep the AAC audio when converting to AV1?

Yes. The MP4 container can hold AV1 video plus AAC, AC-3, or Opus audio. Default for this conversion is Opus (royalty-free, well-paired with AV1), but you can switch Audio Codec to AAC to keep the original audio compatible with iOS, Apple TV, and older media players that decode AAC but not Opus. Switching codecs re-encodes the audio; pick a bitrate (128-256 kbps for music, 96-128 for voice).

Why does my AV1 file have a .mp4 extension instead of .av1?

AV1 is the video codec, not the container. The XConvert output wraps AV1 video in an MP4 container, which is what most players expect. A bare .av1 file (raw bitstream) plays in very few apps. If you specifically need WebM or MKV, convert AV1 to WebM — WebM is the AOMedia-preferred container for AV1 on the web.

How small will my file actually get?

Realistic ratios depend on the source. A high-bitrate H.264 master (e.g., 1080p at 8-10 Mbps) typically shrinks 50-60% at visually equivalent quality. A heavily compressed H.264 source (web upload at 2-3 Mbps) shrinks less — maybe 20-30% — because the source has already been lossy-compressed and AV1 inherits those artifacts. For a hard cap, use Specific file size instead of guessing CRF.

Will color, HDR, or 10-bit be preserved?

AV1 supports 8-bit, 10-bit, and 12-bit pixel depths and HDR10 / HLG metadata. If your source is HDR (BT.2020 + PQ or HLG), choose a CQ-based mode rather than a hard bitrate to avoid clipping highlights. SDR 8-bit sources stay 8-bit by default. For HEVC HDR archives, MP4 to HEVC may be a simpler route until AV1 HDR tooling matures further.

Can I batch-convert a folder of MP4 files?

Yes. Add multiple files in step 1; the same settings apply to all. AV1 is single-threaded enough that the page processes files sequentially. For large libraries (50+ files), expect long total wall-clock time and run the batch when you don't need the device.