Video Format Comparison 2025

MP4 vs WebM vs MOV vs AVI: Complete Guide

Quick Format Guide

Format Best For File Size Quality Compatibility Web Use
MP4 General use, sharing Medium Excellent ✅ Universal ✅ Best
WebM Web streaming Small Very good ⚠️ Modern browsers ✅ Great
MOV Mac/iPhone, editing Large Excellent ⚠️ Apple devices ❌ Poor
AVI Legacy systems Very large Good ⚠️ Limited ❌ Poor
MKV Quality preservation Large Excellent ⚠️ Limited ❌ Poor
WMV Windows legacy Medium Good ⚠️ Windows only ❌ Poor

The Winner for 2025: MP4 (with WebM for web)

Industry consensus:

✅ MP4 remains the universal standard (plays everywhere)

✅ WebM is rising for web use (50% smaller, open-source)

Best practice: Use MP4 for sharing, WebM for web embedding (with MP4 fallback)

Detailed Format Breakdown

MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best For: General use, sharing, social media, compatibility

File Size: Medium (good compression with H.264/H.265)

Quality: Excellent (supports 4K/8K)

Compatibility: ✅ Universal

  • All devices (iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux)
  • All browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge)
  • All platforms (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook)

Pros:

  • ✅ Plays everywhere (best compatibility)
  • ✅ Good compression (smaller files without quality loss)
  • ✅ Supports 4K/8K video
  • ✅ Industry standard

Cons:

  • ⚠️ Larger than WebM for web use
  • ⚠️ H.264 codec isn't open-source
MOV to MP4 AVI to MP4 MKV to MP4 WebM to MP4

WebM

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best For: Website embedding, HTML5 video, web streaming

File Size: Small (50% smaller than MP4)

Quality: Very good (VP9/AV1 codecs)

Compatibility: ⚠️ Modern browsers only

  • Chrome, Firefox, Edge (full support)
  • Safari (recent versions, limited)
  • iPhone/iPad (limited native support)

Pros:

  • ✅ 50% smaller files than MP4
  • ✅ Open-source (no licensing fees)
  • ✅ Best web performance
  • ✅ Modern codecs (VP9, AV1)

Cons:

  • ❌ Limited compatibility
  • ❌ Poor iPhone/iPad support
  • ❌ Not ideal for sharing outside web

Best Practice (HTML):

<video>
  <source src="video.webm" type="video/webm"> <!-- Try WebM first -->
  <source src="video.mp4" type="video/mp4">   <!-- Fallback to MP4 -->
</video>
MP4 to WebM

MOV (QuickTime)

⭐⭐⭐

Best For: Mac/iPhone ecosystem, video editing, source footage

File Size: Large (minimal compression)

Quality: Excellent (preserves quality for editing)

Why iPhone Uses MOV: Preserves quality, but creates huge files. Always convert to MP4 for sharing.

Pros:

  • ✅ Excellent quality (ideal for editing)
  • ✅ Native to Apple devices
  • ✅ Good for preserving source footage

Cons:

  • ❌ Large file sizes (not compressed)
  • ❌ Limited compatibility outside Apple
  • ❌ Poor for web use
  • ❌ Slow to upload/download

⚠️ iPhone videos are huge! Convert MOV to MP4 to reduce size by 50-70%

MOV to MP4 Compress MOV

Format File Size Comparison

Scenario: 10-minute 1080p video

Format Codec File Size Quality
AVI Uncompressed 🔴 15 GB Excellent
MOV ProRes 🔴 8 GB Excellent
MP4 H.264 🟡 500 MB Excellent
MP4 H.265 🟢 250 MB Excellent
WebM VP9 🟢 220 MB Very Good
WebM AV1 🟢 180 MB Very Good

Winner for size: WebM (AV1) - 98% smaller than AVI!
Winner for compatibility: MP4 (H.264) - plays everywhere

Recommendations by Use Case

For Social Media

(YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook)

✅ Use MP4 (H.264 codec)

Universal compatibility, accepted by all platforms

Compress for Social Media →

For Website Embedding

(Optimal web performance)

✅ Use WebM (with MP4 fallback)

50% smaller = faster loading, MP4 ensures compatibility

Convert to WebM →

For Email Attachments

(Gmail 25MB limit)

✅ Use MP4 (compressed)

Small file size, universal compatibility

Compress for Email →

For iPhone Videos → Windows

(Huge MOV files, limited compatibility)

✅ Convert MOV to MP4

50-70% smaller, plays on Windows

MOV to MP4 →

Bottom Line: The 2025 Format Strategy

1. Use MP4 (H.264) for everything - Universal compatibility, good compression

2. Use MP4 (H.265) for 4K - 50% smaller, same quality

3. Use WebM for websites - 50% smaller than MP4 (with MP4 fallback)

4. Convert all MOV, AVI, WMV to MP4 - Smaller, more compatible

Download Diwadi - Convert Any Video Format

Frequently Asked Questions