Say, you’d like to convert a video, MOV to AVI or something of a kind. Typically, you’d have to select proper software meeting your requirements, explore the interface, formats, restrictions, etc. For that we have written about Best converters for Mac and How to convert to MP4 for Windows users. But there’s a faster method – online video converters.
It is easy, fast and more affordable in comparison with desktop apps, some are free at all. Any computer or laptop, and any OS will do, conversion is possible both for files from a hard drive and by URL. The drawback is that some web services only support Google Drive or Dropbox, which means one has to upload files there beforehand.
Instead of a typical list of best apps/tools, we included the whole process of selecting, testing, and exploring online video converters. It turned out that it is not so easy to find a decent free converter, so we extended the list with a couple of paid services and extended it to 12 in total to compare. We looked at features, formats, performance, pricing… but let’s go step-by-step.
Features
First off, some of these web services are not just video converters, but also audio converters, font processors, archivers, etc. For every feature we assign 1 point.
| Features | Points | |
| Freemake Video Converter | Video converter | 1 |
| File Converter Online | Video, audio, image, document processing tools | 4 |
| 123APPS | Audio, video, archive, document processing tools | 4 |
| Free Convert | Video, audio, image, document processing, unit converter | 5 |
| Convertio | Video, audio, image, document, font, archive converter | 6 |
| Aconvert | Document, audio, video, image, archive, web page processing | 6 |
| Zamzar | Video, audio, image, document, archive conversion | 5 |
| Files Conversion | Video, audio, image, document, font, archive converter | 6 |
| Free File Convert | Video, audio, image, document, archive, font, vector converter | 7 |
| Video Converter | Video, audio converter | 2 |
| Convert Files | Document, audio, video, image, archive converter | 5 |
| Online Convert | Audio, video, document, web page, archive, image processing | 6 |
Video formats
Now, to all the supported output video formats. As some may have 5 while others 15 or 30, we’ll just award 1 point to those that go above average – see the exact number of formats in the second column.
| Formats | Output formats | Points | |
| Freemake Video Converter | 9 | MP4, AVI, WMV, FLV, WEBM, MPEG, MKV, MOV, 3GP | 0 |
| File Converter Online | 5 | MP4, MPEG, MOV, FLV, AVI | 0 |
| 123APPS | 9 | MP4, AVI, MPEG, MOV, FLV, 3GP, WEBM, MKV, WMV | 0 |
| Free Convert | 8 | MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, 3GP, WEBM, MKV, WMV | 0 |
| Convertio | 31 | MP4, AVI, MPEG, WMV, WEBM, MOV, DIVX, 3GP, MPEG-2, SWF, OGV, M4V, FLV, MKV, XVID, AV1, MJPEG, AVCHD, HEVC, TS, VOB, ASF, MTS, F4V, MXF, RMVB, M2V, 3G2, WTB, RM, M2TS | 1 |
| Aconvert | 15 | MP4, AVI, MPG, MKV, M2TS, WMV, WEBM, FLV, MOV, ASF, M4V, RM, VOB, OGV, SWF | 1 |
| Zamzar | 8 | 3GP, 3G2, AVI, FLV, MOV, MPG, WEBM, WMV | 0 |
| Files Conversion | 10 | MP4, AVI, FLV, MPG, SWF, DV, WMV, MOV, 3GP, MJPEG | 0 |
| Free File Convert | 21 | AMW, SWF, MP4, 3GP, ASF, AVI, DV, F4V, FLV, HEVC, M4V, MOV, MXF, MPEG, RM, OGV, VOB, WEBM, 3G2, DVD, WMV | 1 |
| Video Converter | 9 | MP4, MOV, WMV, MKV, M4V, MPEG, FLV, VOB, SWF | 0 |
| Convert Files | 13 | AVI, 3GP, FLV, MPEG, VOB, WMV, MOV, MKV, ASF, M4V, F4V, 3G2, MP4 | 1 |
| Online Convert | 11 | 3G2, 3GP, AVI, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPG, OGV, WEBM, WMV | 0 |
Upload options
Usually, there is only one way of uploading a video, audio, or any other media to online service – straight from computer. Yet, new options are in demand, e.g. by URL, and therefore, are being introduced by some web services. Each option gets a point.
| Upload options | Points | |
| Freemake Video Converter | Local storage, URL | 2 |
| File Converter Online | Local storage | 1 |
| 123APPS | Local storage, Google Drive, URL, Dropbox | 4 |
| Free Convert | Local storage, Google Drive, URL, Dropbox | 4 |
| Convertio | Local storage, Google Drive, URL, Dropbox | 4 |
| Aconvert | Local storage, Google Drive, URL, Dropbox | 4 |
| Zamzar | Local storage, URL | 2 |
| Files Conversion | Local storage | 1 |
| Free File Convert | Local storage, Google Drive, URL, Dropbox | 4 |
| Video Converter | Local storage, Google Drive, Dropbox | 3 |
| Convert Files | Local storage | 1 |
| Online Convert | Local storage, Google Drive, URL, Dropbox | 4 |
Conversion time
In this part, we want to make a kind of speed performance test. We take MP4 to AVI conversion as a typical case, as well as an HD video file. The exact specifications are:
Full HD resolution – 1920*1080.
Source file: MP4 format, 01 minute 30 seconds duration, 95.8 Mb size.
Output file: AVI format.
The average time of conversion calculated from all 12 services is 35 seconds, so every contender with faster time gets 1 point.
| Time, mm:ss | Output size, Mb | Points | |
| Freemake Video Converter | 00:36 | 33.2 | 0 |
| File Converter Online | 00:15 | 33.2 | 1 |
| 123APPS | 00:24 | 88.8 | 1 |
| Free Convert | 00:24 | 31.6 | 1 |
| Convertio | 00:23 | 85.3 | 1 |
| Aconvert | 00:58 | 31.5 | 0 |
| Zamzar | 00:20 | 39.3 | 1 |
| Files Conversion | 01:38 | 39.3 | 0 |
| Free File Convert | 00:35 | 31.7 | 0 |
| Video Converter | 00:31 | 31.7 | 1 |
| Convert Files | 00:28 | 117.0 | 1 |
| Online Convert | 00:26 | 56.3 | 1 |
Max file size / Pricing
Some of the contenders have paid subscriptions, and, therefore, there are trial version restrictions on file size. However, we also have a lot of free online video converters, so we had to try out large file uploads and compare the results. If a converter can handle our 4.3 GB file, we assign it 1 point, and 0 points if it fails.
Size: 4.32 GB
Resolution: 4K (3840*2160)
Format: MKV
Duration (mm:ss): 40:56
| Pricing / Max file size | Trial limits | Points | |
| Freemake Video Converter | Free (Unlimited) | None | 1 |
| File Converter Online | $8 (20 GB) | 0.75 GB | 0 |
| 123APPS | Free (Unlimited) | None | 1 |
| Free Convert | Free (Unlimited) | 1 GB | 0 |
| Convertio | $26 (Unlimited) | 100 MB | 0 |
| Aconvert | Free (Unlimited) | 200 MB | 0 |
| Zamzar | $25 (2 GB) | 50 MB | 0 |
| Files Conversion | Free (Unlimited) | 200 MB | 0 |
| Free File Convert | Free (Unlimited) | 300 MB | 0 |
| Video Converter | Free (Unlimited) | 1 GB | 0 |
| Convert Files | Free (Unlimited) | None | 1 |
| Online Convert | $7 (8 GB) | 100 MB | 0 |
Summary on online video converters
In the final table, we sum up all the points from prior stages to find out what video converter gets the highest score based on features, formats, upload options, conversion time, and capability (large files).
| Features | Formats | Upload options | Conversion time | Big size upload | TOTAL | |
| Freemake Video Converter | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| File Converter Online | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 123APPS | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Free Convert | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Convertio | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Aconvert | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Zamzar | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Files Conversion | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Free File Convert | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Video Converter | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Convert Files | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Online Convert | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
So, according to this score table, the best online video converters are Convertio and Free File Convert. And really, both are decent web services to convert videos, rich in features and the number of file formats.
Editor’s choice
As for me, despite overall results, the favorite one is Freemake Video Converter with the least points. It has only one feature and does not support dozens of formats, but it does the job well with MP4, AVI, MOV. It is free and pretty capable of large file upload.
Read next: Best video downloaders for Mac.
