13 Best Free Video Converters

Top 13 Best Free Video Converters

Use these free video converters if you’ve downloaded a video, but its format isn’t compatible with your device (smartphone, tablet or even PC), or you want to play the video on a device with limited memory capacity and you need to reduce the file size or if you want to convert an old video into a better format.

1. HandBrake

Best video converter for batch scanning/encoding

This open-source, cross-platform free video file converter became so popular due to its multifunctional tools and support for a large number of formats, including MP4 file, MKV, MPEG-4, AVI, GIF file, etc.

There are many features that allow you to precisely control video conversion, including cropping, advanced filtering, and adjusting the frame rate.

It contains built-in presets, so you don’t need to look for formats supported by your device and you can select a title/chapter in the settings, perform batch scanning and encoding of several files, add subtitles in different formats, etc.

A special feature of this free video converter software is the real-time preview. If you are converting multiple videos and aren’t sure about the quality of your preset, you can use real-time preview to convert a small fragment of your video.

• Edit videos before converting using these video editing software for MAC.

2. Freemake

Simple converting thanks to a user-friendly interface

Freemake is one of the best free video converters thanks to its usability and lots of features. It supports more than 50 video formats and has presets for iPod, iPhone, iPad, PSP, Android, etc.

This video editor can burn videos to DVD or Blu-ray and has a preset profile for game consoles, smartphones, and tablets. In addition, you can use it to edit videos, share photos or music on YouTube and create slide shows.

Freemake contains basic tools for video editing such as cutting scenes and a set of handy presets that you can manually configure if necessary, adjusting the frame size, video and audio codecs, bit rate, and sample rate.

This free video file converter also has some advanced features such as the possibility to embed URLs from numerous sources like YouTube. Then the program will automatically extract the video and convert it to any autonomous format.

• Don’t forget to check these best free video editing software.

3. AVC

Video converting using URL

If you are a beginner, trying to convert a video, Any Video Converter (AVC) may suit you. This intuitive video conversion program is easy to use and allows you to edit both online and offline files, which means that you can edit not only downloaded movies but also videos from YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, using URLs.

AVC is one of the best free video converter software, which supports all video formats (more than 100 input formats and 160 output ones). This video converter includes ready-made profiles for different devices and such editing features as cropping and rotation allow you to perform basic cleaning tasks.

If you want to be creative, you can experiment with video effects to get a unique look. Refer to Fixthephoto service for getting specialized and affordable video editing services.

It’s worth mentioning that the older version, Any Video Converter Ultimate, can remove DRM protection, convert video in batch mode and burn videos to disks.

4. VideoProc

Powerful video converter

VideoProc has become known as one of the best video and audio file converters before it was named an excellent video editing software.

The developers claim that this is the only converter that fully uses the power of the GPU to accelerate the processing of video files - compared to other converters, this can be up to 47 times faster. This allows you to reduce the processor load by 40%. However, the main advantage is the possibility to work with 4K UHD footage without lags on average computers.

5. AVS Video Converter

Supports all popular video formats

AVS Video Converter allows you to save files in a wide range of formats, including MP4, DVD, AVI, WMV, MOV, MPEG4, VOB, MKV, MTS, 2K QHD, 4K UHD and DCI 4K. In addition, you can convert batches of files.

Using the Command Line Mode, you can automate time-consuming tasks with the help of the available templates. Thanks to it, you won’t need to perform difficult tasks manually. There are plenty of presets with pre-configured sizes and other settings that allow you to save your videos in the most suitable formats for YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, DailyMotion, Telly, Flickr, and Dropbox.

Before saving your clip in another format, you can enhance it. For instance, you may split it into several parts, resize it, cut out unwanted parts of the footage, or set another aspect ratio. You can also apply a variety of basic effects to give your videos a more attention-grabbing look. Besides, it allows you to convert your videos with subtitles.

6. HD Video Converter Factory

Convert videos in 5-10 seconds

Spend 5-10 seconds to drag and drop the video to the program interface, select the format or target device and click the "Run" button. This is how I can describe HD Video Converter Factory.

This free video converter software positions itself as the fastest program. This idea is supported by a 10-second guide on the main website.

Here you can find cropping tools and several interesting special effects. Beginners can choose a profile suitable for a particular playback device, while more experienced users can make manual selections and adjust everything themselves.

HD Video Converter Factory also offers a DVD video converter, an HD video converter, and a video to GIF converter. The program contains a tool for creating watermarks. You can adjust the transparency, choose a font, the size of the font and select the color of letters/numbers.

• Check more video editing software for Windows.

7. iDealshare VideoGo

Contains integrated editor for basic processing

iDealshare VideoGo is a universal video converter for Windows and Mac devices that also has some tools typically available in audio converters, players and editors. The program is absolutely intuitive and you can easily understand how it works even if you have no experience of using such programs. Here you can process both popular and rare video formats.

Once you are done converting your files, you can output them and play in almost all players and portable devices including Media Player, iTunes, QuickTime, Apple TV, Droid, LG, Google Nexus, Microsoft Surface, Windows Phone, Archos, etc. Besides, there are preset formats for such devices as iPhone, iPad, Android, PS3, PSP, Blackberry to name a few.

In addition to regular features, the program attracts users with an integrated video editor. Using it, you can crop footage, remove needless scenes, split or merge videos, add subtitles, adjust brightness and other parameters.

8. Prism

FLV coding and the output of preview converting

Prism Video Converter is one of the best free video converters that supports more than 30 file types including less popular formats such as MKV and OGG, and even WAV and MP3 audio files. You can download an ISO file containing video files without unpacking them.

A clean, effective user interface allows you to work without bright backgrounds and “styles” common for free video converters. In terms of optimization parameters, you can set encoding and compression speed, change the resolution and frame rate, set the size for the output file, etc.

The latest update added the FLV encoding and the output of preview converting.

Among other tools, I would like to mention the batch converting, adding watermarks, text overlay, brightness adjustment, and video cropping.

9. Format Factory

Convert videos for your smartphone

Format Factory is a powerful, customizable and completely free video converter, which is frequently called the best video converter software for mobile devices. It’s compatible with more than twenty models and contains ready-made templates for Apple, Samsung, Sony, Google, Nokia, etc.

You can convert videos to MP4, 3GP, AVI, WMV, SWF, convert audio to MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, WAV and images to JPG, BMP, PNG, TIF file, and even Google’s WebP format. You can perform all the conversions in batch mode, which significantly saves time.

In addition to video converting, Format Factory also functions as a DVD/CD Ripper. However, the output format seems to be slightly limited. It only supports copying DVD to ISO/CSO and can’t copy DVD from CSS according to my research.

10. Gihosoft

Convert videos with hardware acceleration from NVIDIA

Gihosoft Free Video Converter can be also called the best free video converter as it’s an easy-to-use and powerful video converter that allows you to convert a video in just three easy steps.

You can download videos directly from your PC or YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Metacafe, and more than 100 other video sharing websites. This software supports such output formats as MP4, AVI, WMV, MKV, MOV, FLV, SWF, WEBM, ASF, and 3GP.

Its advanced editing features allow you to crop clips, rotate videos, combine videos into one file and add watermarks, subtitles, audio tracks, and special effects. This video converter also makes it easy to create home DVDs from any video that can be played on a standard DVD player or TV.

As for unique features, I can mention that Gihosoft Free Video Converter received technological support for from NVIDIA, which is hardware acceleration of CUDA, NVENV, and Intel HD Graphics to increase the speed of converting.

In comparison to other good free video converters, with this acceleration, Gihosoft Free Video Converter converts videos 20-70 seconds faster. This is a good choice for batch wedding video editing services.

11. Xilisoft VCU

Excellent interface makes video converting enjoyable and fast

Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate is a great option if you want to optimize videos on your computer to play them on your smartphone, tablet, game station, or upload them to such websites as YouTube and Vimeo.

It has an excellently designed interface but the lack of some advanced features doesn’t allow it to stand out among other freeware video converters on this list.

It comes with 60 presets - the largest number of all paid tools for video converting and a built-in video player for preview. Additional features when purchasing a subscription are adding subtitles, combining several files into one, cropping/editing options, HD encoding/decoding. You can also add some basic effects or convert a 2D clip into a 3D format.

As for the cons, I can point out a 3-minute converting limit in the free version of the program.

12. DVDVideoSoft

Basic video converter without extra features

DVDVideoSoft is a basic video converter without extra features. Its interface is clean and well-arranged and it can perform unlimited batch conversion. You can choose the quality settings and combine several clips into one file while converting them.

This video converter has a small set of output options; they are limited to AVI, MP4, MPEG, and MP3. Also, there is an option optimized for iOS devices but this may be enough if you are not used to working with a video file, etc.

You can combine the converted videos into one file and choose the quality of converting.

The drawback of this software is that videos converted there have watermarks. The sign is not very intrusive but it prevents DVDVideoSoft from occupying higher positions on my list of the best free video converters.

13. MediaCoder

Basic video converter for Windows

MediaCoder is the best video converter for Windows 7. It supports a wide range of formats including MP4, XviD, AVC, AVI HEVS, MJPEG, FLV, etc.

You can also use it to copy BD/DVD/VCD/CD and capture from video cameras. This software can also improve audio and video with the help of different filters.

Media Encoder HQ supports local and remote files converting. However, using URLs from streaming websites doesn’t work. For local files, the process of converting is quite fast due to the accelerated transcoding process on the GPU.

One small drawback of Media Encoder is that it’s not suitable for beginners. It’s difficult to find settings as well as customize the transcoding process. However, if you are familiar with the basics of video converting, you can easily master it.