{"id":116,"date":"2026-07-22T08:49:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T08:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/av1-vs-h264-h265-codec-explained\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T08:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T08:49:24","slug":"av1-vs-h264-h265-codec-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/av1-vs-h264-h265-codec-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"AV1 vs H.264 vs H.265: The Next-Gen Video Codec Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"article-intro wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;ve already compared H.264 and H.265, there&#8217;s a third codec increasingly showing up in export menus, streaming settings, and phone specs: AV1. It&#8217;s the most efficient of the three, and \u2014 unlike H.265 \u2014 it&#8217;s completely royalty-free. The catch is that AV1 is slower to encode and still catching up on universal hardware decode support in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This picks up where our <a href=\"\/blog\/h264-vs-h265-video-codec-comparison\">H.264 vs H.265 comparison<\/a> left off and adds AV1 into the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where AV1 Fits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Codec<\/th><th>Released<\/th><th>Efficiency (vs H.264 baseline)<\/th><th>Royalty status<\/th><th>Encoding speed<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>H.264 (AVC)<\/td><td>2003<\/td><td>Baseline<\/td><td>Royalty-free for most uses<\/td><td>Fast<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>H.265 (HEVC)<\/td><td>2013<\/td><td>~50% smaller files<\/td><td>Complex, disputed licensing<\/td><td>2\u20135\u00d7 slower than H.264<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>AV1<\/td><td>2018<\/td><td>~30\u201350% smaller than H.265<\/td><td>Fully royalty-free<\/td><td>Significantly slower (software); improving with hardware encoders<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AV1 was developed by the Alliance for Open Media \u2014 a consortium including Google, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft, and Mozilla \u2014 specifically to sidestep H.265&#8217;s fragmented patent licensing while pushing compression efficiency further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All three of these gains are measured in <strong>bitrate<\/strong> \u2014 how much data is used per second of video. If that term is unfamiliar, see our explainer on <a href=\"\/blog\/what-is-bitrate-video-audio-explained\">what bitrate actually is<\/a> before diving into the comparisons below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why AV1&#8217;s Royalty-Free Status Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">H.265 support has been held back for years by licensing complexity \u2014 multiple patent pools charge different, sometimes overlapping royalties, which is why Safari was slow to support H.265 and why some Android manufacturers skip HEVC hardware decode on budget devices. AV1 has no such patent pool tax, which is exactly why every major browser and streaming platform backs it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Real Tradeoff: Encoding Speed and Hardware Decode<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Encoding is slow.<\/strong> Software AV1 encoding can take several times longer than software H.265 for the same footage. For a platform encoding once and serving millions of views, that&#8217;s a worthwhile one-time cost. For an individual encoding a single video at home, it&#8217;s a real, noticeable wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hardware decode support is still catching up.<\/strong> As of 2025:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Most flagship phones from the last 2\u20133 years include AV1 hardware decode<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many mid-range and older phones do not, and fall back to software decoding<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Most modern smart TVs and streaming boxes support it; older units generally don&#8217;t<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recent GPUs (NVIDIA RTX 30-series+, AMD RDNA2+, Intel Arc) include AV1 hardware decode; older GPUs don&#8217;t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is improving every product cycle, but it&#8217;s the main reason AV1 isn&#8217;t yet a universal safe default the way H.264 is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When AV1 Makes Sense<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Uploading to a platform that transcodes for you<\/strong> \u2014 YouTube re-encodes into multiple formats including AV1 automatically, so you get the benefit without encoding it yourself<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Archiving large video libraries<\/strong> with time to spare \u2014 smaller files at the same visual quality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Your audience is confirmed to be on recent hardware<\/strong> with AV1 decode support<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When H.264 Is Still the Safe Choice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Maximum compatibility across every device, browser, and platform, including old ones<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You need fast encoding with no waiting, especially without a hardware encoder<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delivering to older devices or embedded systems that only guarantee H.264 hardware decode<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When H.265 Is the Middle Ground<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Better compression than H.264 without AV1&#8217;s encoding time or compatibility gaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Target devices from the last decade (roughly 2015+) \u2014 far more universal hardware decode than AV1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recording on an iPhone \u2014 H.265 is already the default capture format on modern iPhones<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Re-Encoding Between Codecs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have existing footage and want to change its codec, you&#8217;ll need to re-encode rather than just repackage the file. <a href=\"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/convert-video-online\">AllMediaTools Video Converter<\/a> handles container and format conversion, and <a href=\"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/compress-video-online\">AllMediaTools Video Compressor<\/a> re-encodes video to a smaller size using whichever codec the output container supports. For a deeper walkthrough of the best quality-to-size ratio, see our guide on <a href=\"\/blog\/how-to-compress-video-without-losing-quality\">compressing video without losing quality<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AV1 encoding support in consumer-facing online tools is still less common than H.264\/H.265 \u2014 if a specific tool doesn&#8217;t offer AV1 output, HandBrake (free desktop software with SVT-AV1 support) is the most reliable free option today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/compress-video-online\">Compress or Re-Encode Your Video Free \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is AV1 better than H.265?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In pure compression efficiency, yes \u2014 AV1 produces roughly 30\u201350% smaller files than H.265 at equivalent visual quality. The tradeoff is slower encoding and less universal hardware decode support as of 2025, so &#8220;better&#8221; depends on whether file size or compatibility\/speed is your priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why doesn&#8217;t my phone play AV1 video smoothly?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your phone likely lacks a dedicated AV1 hardware decoder chip, so it falls back to software decoding \u2014 slower and much harder on battery. This is common on phones more than 2\u20133 years old or budget models, even recent ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Should I re-encode old videos to AV1?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only if storage savings matter more than re-encoding time, and playback on older devices isn&#8217;t a concern. For most personal archiving, H.265 offers a better balance today \u2014 good compression gains with far more universal hardware decode support than AV1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does YouTube use AV1?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. YouTube transcodes uploaded videos into multiple formats for delivery, including AV1, VP9, and H.264, serving whichever format your device and connection support best. You don&#8217;t need to upload in AV1 yourself.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve already compared H.264 and H.265, there&#8217;s a third codec increasingly showing up in export menus, streaming settings, and phone specs: AV1. It&#8217;s the most efficient of the three, and \u2014 unlike H.265 \u2014 it&#8217;s completely royalty-free. The catch is that AV1 is slower to encode and still catching up on universal hardware decode &#8230; <a title=\"AV1 vs H.264 vs H.265: The Next-Gen Video Codec Explained\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/av1-vs-h264-h265-codec-explained\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about AV1 vs H.264 vs H.265: The Next-Gen Video Codec Explained\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39],"tags":[253,256,252,254,255],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video-tools","tag-av1-codec-explained","tag-av1-compatibility","tag-av1-vs-h264-vs-h265","tag-av1-vs-hevc","tag-next-gen-video-codec"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/seo-publish-av1-vs-h264-h265-codec-explained.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allmediatools.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}