The Best Video Compressor for Mac in 2026: 6 Free and Paid Options

Smol compresses video to MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV with H.265 as the default codec and H.264 as the alternative. You choose a quality label (the default “High” is CRF 24, “Web” is CRF 28) or type an exact CRF from 0 to 63, keep or reduce the resolution, and optionally drop the audio. Drag in files or whole folders and it shows per-file progress and savings. Output is a copy next to the original, so the source is untouched by default.

Its real advantage is that the same window also handles images, PDFs and audio, with presets, a Finder Quick Action and watched folders. In our September test on one 1080p 10-second clip (Smol 1.0.34, M2 Pro), the default setting took 24.1 seconds against 2.2 seconds for QuickTime’s 1080p export, and was smaller by more than half (6,111,954 bytes against 13,666,490). Smol is not the fastest tool here.

Limits: macOS only, no target-bytes option for video (you set quality, not a size), and it cannot write AVI. There is no free trial and purchases are not refundable, so decide with the free tools below first. See pricing: $29 for one Mac, $49 for three, and $20 a seat for 5 to 500 seats.

HandBrake’s own site says it is free and open source, built by volunteers, for Windows, Mac and Linux, and offers version 1.11.2 for download. It is the tool most people mean when they ask for a free video compressor on Mac. If you will spend ten minutes learning it, you get fine control over quality at no cost.

Where it wins: no cost, no license, and control over quality. We cover how to use it in our compression guide. In that test its stock “Fast 1080p30” preset landed in the same place as Smol’s default, well below QuickTime’s 1080p export, and the settings you pick matter more than the tool.

Where it asks more of you: getting a small file from a good-looking source means choosing a codec, a quality scale and a preset speed, and it handles video only. If that suits you, stop reading and install it. If you want a simpler window, see HandBrake alternatives for Mac.

Apple’s documentation lists the export options as 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p and Audio Only. For 4K and 1080p, a Format menu offers “Smaller File Size” (HEVC) or “Greater Compatibility” (H.264). There is no quality slider and no bitrate field: you pick a resolution, and QuickTime picks everything else.

That is its strength and its limit. It is the fastest route we have measured: in our September test the 1080p export of a 30.7 MB clip finished in 2.2 seconds and came out at 13.7 MB. It is not the most efficient, because other tools reached much smaller files at higher measured quality on the same clip (that run used the default 1080p export; we did not measure the Smaller File Size option). The details are in the tested guide.

Pick it when the job is a single file, the destination is forgiving, and you will not do it again this month. It has no batch mode, so a folder means repeating the same steps per file. The exact steps are in the section below.

Permute 4 is $14.99 direct or on the Mac App Store, and the direct download is labeled “Full version, includes free trial” (the page does not state the trial length). Its page claims support for more than 100 formats across video, audio, images, PDF and text, with a main conversion queue, drop zones and automation. Under Edit & Adjust it lists the option to set a target output file size, which is something Smol does not offer for video.

Check the requirements before you buy: Permute 4 needs macOS 26 or later and Apple Silicon. For macOS 11 to 15 or an Intel Mac, the maker points to Permute 3, also $14.99.

It is the cheapest paid option here and the one to choose if converting between formats matters as much as shrinking, or if you need a target file size. Against Smol, the short version is that both are local and both batch; Permute is cheaper, has a free trial and can target a size, while Smol sets quality and also compresses images, PDFs and audio.

FFmpeg’s own site calls it the leading multimedia framework and describes its ffmpeg tool as a command line tool to convert multimedia files between formats. There is no window to drop a file into. You install it (our guide uses Homebrew) and type a command.

Its strength is precision and repeatability. In our tested guide, an H.265 encode at CRF 28 took the 30.7 MB test clip to 3,193,370 bytes at a VMAF score of 90.03, in 6.4 seconds on an M2 Pro. If you can write a shell loop, it handles a folder of files better than any app, and costs nothing.

The cost is your time: you have to know the flags, and some details bite on a Mac, such as the tag needed for the file to preview in Finder. Choose it if you are comfortable in Terminal or need to run compression inside a script.

Compressor is $49.99 on the Mac App Store, version 5.4, and requires macOS 26.6 or later and 8 GB of memory. Its listing describes batch processing, droplets and watch folders, encoding to HEVC, MV-HEVC, H.264, MXF and ProRes, HDR delivery, closed captions in CEA-608, SRT and iTT, and spatial video for Apple Vision Pro.

That is a delivery tool for editors and broadcasters, and it is excellent at that. If your job is to hit a streaming service’s specification, add captions or deliver ProRes, none of the others on this list replace it.

For simply making a video smaller to email or upload, it is more tool than you need, and the quality dials assume you know what a delivery spec is. Choose it when you already work to delivery specs.