It’s a big need to compress video to smaller file size. For different reasons like better streaming, uploading, sharing and more, you want to decrease video size. Are you looking for an MP4 compressor to reduce the video file size?

Best for: those looking for free, open-source MP4 video compression software for PC or Mac. While beginners should have no issues carrying out simple conversions, the more advanced features are probably best suited to those with some experience.

MP4 Compressor

1. Arguably the most popular compressor, Handbrake has been around for years. And it's popular for a reason. It's a simple, free video compressor for a Mac. Once you have Handbrake downloaded and installed in your Applications folder, you can follow these steps to compress a video: Open Handbrake. In the popup window, navigate to your video.
2. Compress large HD & 4K videos. 500+ video formats supported: MP4, AVI, MOV, WMV, MKV, MPEG, etc. Compress multiple videos in bulk, keeping the original quality. Reduce file size of movies to fit a disc or upload as an email attachment. Freemake Compressor is the best solution to compress videos FREE, easily & fast.

In fact, there are a large number of video editors and file compressors offered on the internet that can help you make video smaller. In case you don’t know which MP4 file compressor you should use, this post gives you a review of the 7 best MP4 video compressors. Whether you prefer a free MP4 compressor, online tool, or professional video editor, you can easily find what you need from this post.

Part 1. 4 Best MP4 Compressors Free Online

Free software comes first. When you are dealing with some small MP4 video clips, or you don’t often do the video editing, you can first use a free online MP4 compressor to change your video to smaller file size. This part like to recommend 5 online MP4 file compressor tools for you to choose from.

Online Video Compressor

AnyMP4 Online Video Compressor is an easy-to-use online video compressing tool that can help you compress MP4 with ease. This free MP4 video compressor is compatible with all popular web browsers including Chrome, Microsoft IE, Firefox and Safari. When you want to lower a video file size, you can directly go to its site.

This MP4 compressor supports all frequently-used video formats, such as MP4, MOV, FLV, MKV, AVI, WMV, M4V, 3GP, RMVB, ASF, MOD, MXF, WebM, TS, MOD, and more. So besides compressing MP4 video, you can also rely on it to decrease the file size of other videos. Moreover, it is able to reduce video size for any resolution, even for the 4K UHD and 1080p HD.

Compared with other online MP4 compressors, it can compress a larger file. Actually, there is no file size limitation for the compression. It can compress MP4 videos from GBs, MBs, and KBs. This free online MP4 compressor requires no sign-up or sign-in. More importantly, there won’t be any watermark added to the compressed video.

When you need to compress video, you can click Add Files to Compress button and follow the instructions to free reduce your MP4 file size. It offers several compressing options for you. You are allowed to directly compress video, or custom video resolution, bitrate and format according to your need.

Online MP4 Compressor - Clideo

Clideo is an all-in-one online video tool which carries many useful editing features including Compress, Merge, Resize, Cut, Video maker, Crop, Speed, Add subtitles, and more. You can go to Compress feature to enter a Compress Video page. Also, you can directly open Compress MP4 site to decrease your MP4 video to smaller file size.

This online, free MP4 compressor enables you to compress MP4 from a local hard drive, Google Drive, Dropbox or through URL. Compared with the Online Video Compressor above, it will take much longer time to complete the MP4 video uploading. Note that, the output compressed video will be added with a watermark. If you want to remove it, you have to upgrade to its paid version.

Free Online MP4 Compressor - VEED

VEED is an all-featured video editor which carries the compressing feature. You can navigate to its MP4 Compressor page to reduce your video file size. It provides you with a simple and convenient way to reduce the file size of MP4 video while keeping a clear picture and clear sound.

VEED MP4 Compressor enables you to compress an MP4 video from a computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, and through URL. It offers many compression options for you. You are allowed to directly adjust the file compression, select compression mode, or custom video resolution and frame rate.

There qre no ads, sign up or login requirements for this online, free MP4 compressor. In addition, while compressing video, you can use other editing functions to better edit your file.

PS2PDF MP4 Video Compressor

PS2PDF MP4 Video Compressor is a popular online file compressing tool which can help you compress MP4 video to a smaller file size without a limit. This online video compressor allows you to compress MP4 video by setting Constant Rate Factor, Preset Quality, and Bitrate. What’s more, it offers a simple compressing way to directly resize MP4 to a smaller size.

It is designed with a powerful Preset Resolutions feature that allows you to select a suitable output resolution from 8K, 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p, 240p, and other non-standard options. No watermark will be added to the compressed MP4 files. One big disadvantage of this online MP4 compressor is that it has many ads around the compressing window.

Part 2. 3 Best MP4 Compressors for Windows PC and Mac

When you are editing some large videos, you’d better turn to professional video editors. You can find 3 powerful video editing tools with compressing features from this part.

Best MP4 Compressor for PC and Mac - Video Converter Ultimate

Video Converter Ultimate is a very popular video editing and converting tool which carries the MP4 compressing function. It is specially designed with a Video Compressor feature for users to easily compress video in any video format like MP4, MOV, AVI, FLV, MKV, WMV, WebM, and more.

Best MP4 File Compressor

Best Free Video Compressor Mac

• 1. Video Converter Ultimate is a professional MP4 video compressor, editor and converter that can compress MP4 to a smaller size with high quality.
• 2. Offer toolbox of video compressor, media metadata editor, GIF maker, video enhancer, and more.
• 3. Support 8K/5K/4K, 1080p/720p HD, SD videos and audios to over 500 formats.
• 4. Compress MP4, edit video, enhance quality, adjust effects, and real-time preview.
• 5. Convert almost all video and audio files, rip DVD losslessly and convert 2D to 3D.

When you enter the home window of Video Converter Ultimate, choose the Toolbox option and then locate the Video Compressor feature. Then you can add your MP4 file and start compressing it.

You can easily control the MP4 compression degree. Also, you are able to change the video resolution, bitrate, format, and duration for the compressing. This MP4 file compressor is equipped with a Preview feature for you to view the compressed video. During this step, you are also allowed to rename it. Besides compressing MP4 files, this software can also merge MP4 videos on Mac/Windows.

Freemake Compressor for Windows PC

Freemake Compressor is a free video compressor for Windows PC. It supports Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, and Vista. Besides MP4, it also enables you to compress a video in AVI, MOV, WMV, MKV, DVD, MPEG, 2GP, SWF, TOD, MTS, M4V, RM, QT, TS, AVCHD, H.264, OGV, VRO, and VOB.

Freemake MP4 video compressor does not carry a real compressing feature. It only allows you to select a lower video resolution while converting. By doing so, you can compress your MP4 video to smaller file size.

To compress an MP4 file, you can also install Free Video Resizer from Freemake. After that, when you export the video, you are able to set desirable file size. It doesn’t offer a preview window. Therefore, you can’t check the compressed video quality before compressing.

MP4 Compressor for Windows, Mac and Linux - Shotcut

Shotcut is a free video editor and compressor that can make videos smaller. Similar to the Freemake video compressor above, it doesn’t offer a direct compressing feature to lower the file size. But it allows you to compress MP4 files by adjusting their video resolution, aspect ratio, frame and more settings to reduce the video size.

When you want to make your MP4 video smaller, you can add your MP4 video to it, and then click on the Export button. You will be presented with a huge list of options. You can freely custom these options to downsize this MP4 video. To install Shortcut on your computer, you may need to shut down anti-virus software during the installation.

Part 3. FAQs of MP4 Compressor

Does compressing an MP4 file losing quality?

Yes. When you lower the video resolution, bitrate, or encoding to compress a video to smaller file size, you will definitely lose some image and sound quality. But some quality loss may not be noticed by naked eyes.

Can I compress MP4 on Mac with QuickTime Player?

Yes. As the default media player for Apple devices, QuickTime Player allows you to play MP4 or MOV files on Mac. Moreover, it has a good export feature for you to save your MP4 video with a lower video resolution. When you want to decrease video size in QuickTime, you can open it, click File on the top menu bar, select Export As option from the drop-down list and then choose a lower output video resolution from 4K, 1080p, 720p and 480p.

How to compress MP4 to another format?

To compress an MP4 video and export it in another format, you can use the recommended Video Converter Ultimate. It has the capability to save your compressed video in any popular video format including FLV, MOV, AVI, MKV, and more. For example, you can compress and convert MP4 to MOV.

Can VLC compress MP4 to a smaller file size?

VLC Media Player is a free and open-source player which also carries some basic converting and editing functions. It is able to lower video file size. When you add the MP4 file to VLC, you can enter Convert section, click the Edit profile button, switch to the Video codec tab, and input smaller values into bitrate and frame rate fields. After that, you can save your changes and start the conversion.

Conclusion

For different needs, you want to compress MP4 to a smaller file size. Here in this post, you can get 7 MP4 file compressor tools for Windows PC, Mac, Linux, and online, free. You can learn the main features of each video compressor and how to use it to reduce the file size of MP4.

If you have any better MP4 compressor recommendations, please share them in the comment with other readers.

With the rise of 4K and UHD video technology, both storing and sharing your videos is becoming more difficult. Large video clips can be hard to manage, and they’re more difficult to transfer if your Mac runs out of space.

If you often have a problem with storing or sending large videos, you should learn how to compress your video files on your Mac. There are plenty of apps and tools that can help you do that.

How to Compress a Video on Mac

Your Mac comes with built-in tools that you can use to compress a video. For example, iMovie or QuickTime Player. While they might be somewhat limited in functionality, there’s an obvious advantage here since you don’t need to download or pay for them.

If you’re looking for more functionality, try one of the third-party options from our list. Some of them you’ll need to download, like Handbrake or Movavi, while others you can use online via your browser.

iMovie

iMovie is a popular built-in tool on Mac that you can use not just for video compression but for video editing in general. This software makes the process of compressing a video free and easy. To shrink a video using iMovie, follow the steps below.

1. Open the iMovie app on Mac.

2. Select the Create New icon to create a new project.

3. Use the File menu to Import Media or drag and drop your files right into the app.

4. To compress the video, go to the File menu and select Share.

5. Depending on your goal, select one of the available options. You can choose to compress the video specifically for sending it via email or select the File option to set the desired quality and resolution yourself. In the same window you’ll also see the size of your exported video.

6. Once you’re happy with your video settings, select Next… to save the clip. Select the location for your file on your Mac and select Save.

QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player is considered one of the top media players and one of the best apps for Mac overall. It’s also an excellent built-in option for shrinking your videos on Mac. To compress a video using QuickTime Player, follow the steps.

1. Open the QuickTimePlayer app on your Mac.

2. Navigate to the video that you want to compress and open it.

3. From the app’s ribbon menu, select File > Export As. Here you’ll get a variety of options to choose from, like exporting your file in 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, or exporting audio only.

4. Once you’ve selected the desired quality, type in the name for your video under Export As, select the destination, and select Save.

You can then compare the sizes of both your imported and exported videos via right click and Get Info option to see how much your original video shrank.

HandBrake

HandBrake is an open source video converter that you can use to convert your video clips from pretty much any format to widely supported codecs. On top of that, you can use the app to shrink your video files. All you need to get started is to download the software for free. Then, to compress a video using HandBrake follow the steps below.

1. After you download and install the app, launch HandBrake on your Mac.

2. In the upper-left corner of the app, select Open Source to open your video.

3. In the upper-right corner of the app, select Presets. Then select the desired quality of your output video.

4. Make sure to select a new name under Save As and destination under Browse for your output video.

5. Select the Start button on top of the window to begin the compression.

When this is complete, you’ll see the Encode Finished message appear in the app. You’ll find your compressed video in the destination you selected earlier.

Movavi

Movavi is another useful video editor that you can use for free to compress a video on Mac. It’s beginner-friendly and has an intuitive interface. So if you don’t have any video editing experience, this is a great tool to use.

The biggest downside here is that the free version of the app will add watermark to your compressed video. If you want to remove that, you’ll have to pay for the full version of Movavi which costs $39.95.

Follow the steps below to compress a video using Movavi.

1. Download, install, and open the app on your Mac.

2. Drag your video clip into the app or click the Plus icon to add it.

3. Click Video and select the preferred video quality for your output file. Here you’ll see the size of the output video as well.

4. You can save your video in the same folder as the original, or select a different location under Save to.

5. When you’re happy with all the settings, click Convert to compress your video.

Clipchamp Video Compressor

If you don’t want to waste time downloading and installing new software, you can use one of the online video editors to shrink your video files. Clipchamp offers a video compressor that you can use to compress videos of up to 20GB in size for free. To compress a video using Clipchamp, follow the steps below.

1. Open Clipchamp Video Compressor in your web browser.

2. Select Compress a video now.

3. Sign in with Google, Facebook, or your email.

4. Drag and drop the video that you want to shrink or click Convert my video to add it.

5. Select the desired Resolution, Format, and Quality.

6. Click Start to begin the compression.

7. When your video’s ready, you can select to Save or Upload & Share it straight away.

YouCompress

YouCompress is a free online file compressor for anyone looking to compress videos on Mac hassle-free. Here you don’t need to set any configurations, as the app will choose the suitable parameters itself for the best result. So if you’re looking to quickly compress one or two videos without quality loss, here’s how to do it using YouCompress.

1. Open YouCompress in your browser.

2. Click Select file to add your video.

Best Video Compressor For Windows

3. Click Upload File & Compress.

4. All that’s left is to Download your compressed video file.

Best Free Video Compressor Mac Download

On the same screen, you can select to Delete your file from the server after you download it.

Free Up Space On Your Mac By Compressing Your Videos

If you notice that your Mac often runs out of space, it might be because of the large video files that you’re storing on it. Compressing your videos will help you make some space on your Mac for other important files and apps.

Best Free Video Compression App For Mac

Have you ever had to shrink your videos? What software do you use to compress videos on your Mac? Share your experience with video compression in the comments below.