Compress MP4 Video Online
MP4 is the most common video format, but phone and camera recordings are often exported at a much higher bitrate than you need for sharing.
Drag and drop your video here
or
Choose videoMP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WebM and more · up to 500MB per file · select several to batch compress
family-vacation.mp4
Ready to download
41 MB
from 184 MB
Keeps the .mp4 container, so it stays compatible with every device and platform
H.264 encoding at a lower CRF cuts size without a visible quality drop for most content
Faststart flag moves metadata to the front, so the video starts playing before it fully downloads
Why compress MP4 files?
Re-encoding an MP4 at a lower CRF keeps the same container and codec compatibility while cutting file size significantly — ideal before uploading or sending.
Recommended settings
What we'd pick for this job. After choosing a file, resolution sits right under the compression settings, crop is under “Resize / crop”, and codec is under “Advanced settings”.
By quality · Strong
Balanced size cut with no visible loss for most footage.
H.264
Keeps the MP4 compatible with every device.
Original, or 1080p for 4K footage
Phones show 1080p just as sharply, and stepping down from 4K is the biggest single size saving.
Original
Keep the frame as shot unless a platform needs a set ratio.
Camera or editor export
Avoid files already compressed by chat apps.
Tips for the best result
Start from the original file
Compression is lossy, so re-compressing a video that has already been shrunk (or sent through a chat app) stacks artifacts. Always work from the camera or editor export.
4K is often overkill for sharing
If the video will mostly be watched on phones, 1080p looks the same on those screens and needs a fraction of the data. Choose 1080p under Resolution before compressing — resolution drives size more than any preset.
Content matters as much as settings
Screen recordings, talking heads, and slideshows shrink dramatically. Fast action, water, confetti, and film grain are hard to compress and keep more of their size.
Trim before you compress
Every second you cut is size saved at full quality. Removing a slow intro or a long ending is usually worth more than an extra compression step.
How it works
Step 1
Upload
Drop your file in — up to 500MB free.
Step 2
Pick a quality
Basic, Strong, or Superb compression.
Step 3
Download
Get your smaller video in seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
MP4 is a container, not a compression setting — phones and cameras often record at a high bitrate (sometimes 4K/60fps) inside that container, which produces large files even though the format itself supports much smaller sizes.
Not unless you choose to — resolution stays the same by default, and you can pick 1080p, 720p, 480p or 360p under Resolution to shrink the file further (it only scales down, never up). Either way, compression lowers the bitrate (how much data is used per second of video), which is what reduces the file size.
They map to different CRF (quality) values in the H.264 encoder — Basic keeps more detail with a smaller size cut, Superb pushes compression further for the smallest possible file at the cost of some sharpness.
Yes, the audio track is re-encoded to AAC alongside the video. Embedded subtitle tracks aren't preserved — burn them in beforehand if you need them visible.
Yes — video compression is lossy, so re-encoding an already-compressed file loses a little more detail each time. Always compress from your original/source file rather than a file you've compressed before.