H.264 vs H.265 vs VP9: Which Codec Should You Use in 2026?

In this blog, we compare H.264 vs H.265 vs VP9 so you can pick the right codec for your streaming workflow. You’ll see the real tradeoffs across quality, bandwidth, latency, browser and device support, licensing, and protocol compatibility.

If you already know the basics, skip straight to the comparison table and the “Which codec should you use?” sections below.

What is a Video Codec?

A video codec is a software or hardware process that compresses or decompresses digital video. Video codecs are employed to reduce the size of video media to take-up less storage when archived and lower bitrates to stream; both yielding cost savings. When you watch a video online, the codec compresses it for sending and then decompresses it for viewing. Codecs are used in streaming, video calls, and everyday video playback.

What is H.264?

H.264 also called MPEG-4 AVC or Advanced Video Coding – is a block oriented motion compensation-based video compression codec. It is a standard capable of providing good video quality at substantially lower bit rates than previous standards. It can be implemented in a wide variety of networks and systems and is usable with many protocols. Read more in the streaming glossary of our documentation.

History

AVC code was also developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) as an improvement over previous standards with an aim to deliver efficient compression and high-quality video content over the internet. It was used by 91% of video industry developers as of September 2019\.

H.264 is protected by many patents and licensed by the MPEG-LA organization. However, a widely used free open-source encoder and decoder called openH264 was made available for the general public by Cisco Systems in 2013\. In other words, Cisco paid for the patent licenses for all of us to use. This, in turn, created wide adoption of the H.264 codec, and implementations of openH264 showed up in all the web browsers.

H.264, or AVC (Advanced Video Coding), as explained above, is currently the most widely adopted video codec. It was used by 91% of video industry developers as of September 2019\. Like H.265, H.264 was also developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) as an improvement over previous standards with an aim to deliver efficient compression and high-quality video content over the internet.

How It Works

AVC compresses video by breaking each frame into 16×16 pixel macroblocks and encoding only the differences between frames. This approach reduces file size while preserving acceptable quality. It relies on intra-frame prediction, inter-frame compression, and motion estimation to efficiently represent video data. Entropy coding further minimizes redundancy, making H.264 widely adopted for streaming, video calls, and broadcasting.

Some of the key advancements include:

Improved Compression Efficiency: H.264 significantly reduces file sizes compared to older codecs like MPEG-2, while maintaining high video quality. This efficiency has made it the standard for streaming, video conferencing, and broadcasting.
Wide Resolution Support: H.264 can handle everything from low-resolution video to full HD and even 4K, making it versatile across devices and platforms.
Flexible Macroblocks: H.264 uses 16×16 pixel macroblocks with options for sub-partitioning, allowing efficient handling of both simple and detailed areas within a video frame.
Advanced Motion Estimation: By predicting motion between frames, H.264 reduces redundancy and improves compression, especially for dynamic video content.
Entropy Coding Techniques: With methods like CABAC (Context-Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding) and CAVLC (Context-Adaptive Variable-Length Coding), H.264 achieves higher compression without sacrificing clarity.
Intra- and Inter-frame Prediction: H.264 balances predictions within a single frame (intra) and across multiple frames (inter), helping deliver smoother playback and efficient encoding.
Error Resilience: Built-in error resilience features help maintain video quality over unreliable connections, making H.264 reliable for streaming and live broadcasts.

For a very detailed overview of H.264 take a look at this post by VideoProc.

What is H.265?

The H.265 codec, also called High Efficiency Video Coding or HEVC for short, is a video compression standard designed as the successor to H.264/AVC. It roughly doubles the compression efficiency compared to H.264, allowing equivalent video quality at about half the bitrate, or significantly improved quality at the same bitrate. HEVC supports resolutions up to 8K (8192×4320), higher frame rates, wider color gamuts, and high dynamic range (HDR) content, making it well-suited for modern streaming, broadcasting, and storage applications.

History

The H.265 codec was developed through a joint effort by the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). In April 2013, the HEVC Standard was approved as the official successor to H.264, also known as Advanced Video Coding (AVC).

How It Works

HEVC improves upon the compression efficiency of H.264 (AVC) by adding algorithms that reduce the size of the video content by around 50%. It uses coding tree units (CTUs), which can be substantially larger than the macroblocks used in H.264\. This allows for more efficient data organization and compression, particularly for high-resolution videos. Overall, HEVC introduces improved intra-frame prediction, sophisticated entropy coding, and advanced motion vector prediction mechanisms. These innovations collectively contribute to HEVC’s ability to deliver unparalleled compression efficiency without sacrificing video quality.

Some of the key advancements include:

Superior Compression Efficiency: H.265 offers up to 50% better compression than H.264, reducing file sizes while maintaining the same video quality. This makes it especially valuable for 4K and 8K streaming.
Coding Tree Units (CTUs): Instead of fixed 16×16 macroblocks, H.265 uses flexible CTUs up to 64×64 pixels, enabling more efficient data organization and compression.
Enhanced Motion Prediction: H.265 introduces more advanced motion vector prediction and partitioning, improving video quality in fast-moving scenes.
Parallel Processing: The codec supports tile and wavefront parallel processing, dividing frames into regions that can be encoded simultaneously, boosting speed and efficiency.
Expanded Resolution Support: H.265 is designed for ultra-high-definition video, supporting 4K, 8K, and beyond with better bandwidth efficiency.
Error Resilience and Adaptability: Built-in tools help maintain stream quality under challenging network conditions, making it reliable for live and on-demand streaming.

What is VP9?

VP9 codec is a royalty-free, open-source video coding standard developed by Google. It emerged as a free competitor to closed-source codecs like H.265\. It was designed to meet the demands of modern video content and significantly improve coding efficiency over its predecessor, VP8.

History

The journey of VP9 began with the acquisition of On2 Technologies by Google in 2010\. On2 Technologies, known for their pioneering work in video compression technology, had developed the VP8 codec, which served as the cornerstone for the next leap in video coding. Recognizing the potential to drive the future of video streaming, Google embarked on an ambitious project to enhance and refine this technology, leading to the birth of VP9\. By open-sourcing the codec, Google democratized access to state-of-the-art video compression, ensuring that it could be freely used and integrated by developers and content creators around the globe.

How It Works

Like H.265, VP9 uses larger block structures (up to 64×64 pixels) compared to H.264’s 16×16 macroblocks, enabling more efficient compression. It employs advanced intra-frame prediction, motion compensation, and entropy coding to reduce redundancy. These techniques allow VP9 to achieve better quality than H.264 at the same bitrate while remaining royalty-free for developers.

VP9 introduced several significant technical improvements over its predecessor VP8, aimed at increasing compression efficiency, enhancing video quality, and optimizing performance for a wide range of devices and network conditions.

1. Encoding Quality

There isn’t much difference between VP9 and H.265 in terms of encoding quality. The video tends to be about the same quality, and both provide similarly efficient compression. However, H.265 slightly outperforms VP9 when the bit rates are high, and VP9 out performs H.265 in lower bitrate settings.

In order to judge the image quality, we can use the SSIM (Structural Standard Index Measurement) metric as displayed below. When broadcasting a stream over the internet, the process of compressing and expanding (encoding and decoding) the visual data contained in the stream can result in slight distortions as the decoder extrapolates the data to display it. SSIM essentially measures how accurate the transported image is after being encoded and decoded.

VP9 and H.265 show similar results, while with H.264, there is a little bit more of a difference.

Part of the way that VP9 and H.265 are able to increase compression is through the use of larger macroblocks. A macroblock is a processing unit of an image or video that contains the pixels of the image to be displayed. H.264 uses 16 x 16 macroblocks while VP9 and H.265 use 64×64 blocks. Those macroblocks undergo a computation series called “intra-prediction directions” to rebuild the original image, only with slightly less detail in non-crucial areas. This enables VP9 and H.265 to increase efficiency as less detailed areas of the image, such as the sky or a blurred background, are not broken up into smaller units. The detail lost in these areas does not substantially decrease the overall quality of the image, as the important sections are rendered in more detail. It should also be noted that as you increase the bitrate, the difference in quality between AVC (H.264) and the two other codecs gets smaller.

Winner: VP9 and H.265 tie (same quality and similar efficiency)

2. Encoding Time

In order to achieve a higher compression rate, VP9 and H.265 need to perform more processing. All that extra processing means that they will take longer to encode the video. This will negatively impact latency as all that additional time spent processing will delay the video from being broadcast. Keeping latency low is important for ensuring that live video streams can provide an interactive experience, among other reasons.

This graph shows the encoding time in seconds per frame on the horizontal axis. The vertical axis shows bitrate improvement, which compares a combination of SSIM and bitrate to a reference point set to x264 @ veryslow (as defined in the blog text). The reference point is why x264 doesn’t go far above 0%.

What does the graph tell us? VP9 and H.265 are (as advertised) 50% better quality than H.264, but they are also 10 to 20 times slower. If you follow the blue line for x264 (AVC) you will see that it stays below the other two lines for the majority of the bitrate benchmark points. Not only that but both the green (H.265) and orange (VP9) lines intersect H.264 pretty early in their curves. That means that the seconds per frame rate will start to increase drastically and really drag down the stream performance. Thus while VP9 and H.265 show much better compression rates, it comes at a very high cost of encoding time which will greatly increase latency.

Winner: H.264

3. CPU Consumption

As covered in the last section, both VP9 and H.265 have to run through more compression algorithms than H.264, which will subsequently increase their CPU usage when encoding with software. Even when fully optimized, live streaming is a CPU-intensive process, so increasing the already high usage will be a problem. However, there is something that can alleviate this: hardware support. Dedicated chipsets will reduce CPU consumption.

H.265 currently has broad hardware support across major platforms. On Windows 10 and 11, playback often relies on HEVC Video Extensions and hardware acceleration from Intel Kaby Lake or newer processors. Apple devices have supported H.265 since iOS 11, and Android devices starting with version 5.0 include HEVC support, though performance can vary depending on the hardware.
While most mobile devices support VP9, most other systems do not. Without direct hardware support, the VP9 encoding process will peg the CPU, consuming a large amount of resources, decreasing battery life, and potentially increasing latency.
H.264 enjoys widespread support and doesn’t drain the CPU as much as VP9 or H.265 in the first place.

Winner: H.264 with H.265 close behind

4. Licensing and Accessibility

Technology aside, one of the biggest differences between AVC, HEVC and VP9 is the license. From a licensing standpoint, the primary difference between HEVC and VP9 lies in their approach to royalties and accessibility.

AVC (H.264): Licensing is handled by MPEG-LA, with royalties applied in many commercial use cases. Although H.264 has one patent associated with it, as we mentioned earlier, in 2013, Cisco open-sourced its H.264 implementation and released it as a free binary download.
H.265 suffered from a low adoption rate due in no small part to patent licensing. H.265 has four patent pools related to it: HEVC Advance, MPEG LA, Velos Media, and Technicolor. This makes it more expensive, which has discouraged adoption, thus limiting it to specific hardware encoders and mobile chipsets.
In contrast, Google offers VP9 as an open-source codec, available royalty-free to encourage widespread adoption and integration, presenting a more accessible option for developers and content providers looking to implement high-efficiency video coding without the burden of licensing fees. Having a free high-performance codec for use in Google Chrome was likely one of the main reasons for Google to offer it as open source.

5. Browser Implementation

In order to work with the codec, hardware or software encoders need to be supported.

H.264 is supported by all of the browsers on laptops as well as mobile.
As of the 107 release, Google Chrome supports HEVC decoding by default. Google managed to integrate H.265 (HEVC) support into Chrome by leveraging hardware decoding capabilities available on many modern devices. This approach means that Chrome itself doesn’t decode HEVC content directly; instead, it relies on the device’s hardware (such as GPUs that support HEVC) to handle the decoding process. This method circumvents the need for Google to deal with HEVC’s licensing fees directly for software decoding, as those fees would typically be covered by the hardware manufacturers who include HEVC support in their devices. The support for HEVC in Chrome is available on platforms that already offer HEVC, including ChromeOS, Mac, Windows, Android, and Linux. All that said, support for H.265 encoding in WebRTC applications within Google Chrome is a bit less clear. WebRTC standards mandate support for specific codecs like VP8 and H.264 for video communication, focusing on compatibility and broad support across different platforms and devices. Currently, the use of other codecs, such as HEVC for WebRTC applications running in browsers, is not widely supported. And even in the cases where it might work, it introduces compatibility issues with other WebRTC-based in-points that can’t decode the HEVC videos. Without H.265 in WebRTC support, achieving real-time latency in browsers using this codec is difficult.
VP9 is available in the major browsers Chrome, Firefox, and Edge as well as the operating systems Windows 10, Android 5.0, iOS 14, and macOS BigSur and newer. Until recently, Apple was a hold out, only just releasing support for VP9 on iOS 17 on iOS, iPadOS, and Mac Safari only on newer devices that include hardware encoding/decoding of the codec. All the other major browsers fully support VP9.

Winner: H.264 with VP9 closing the gap

6. Bandwidth Savings

The biggest advantage to increased compression rates and the resulting smaller file sizes is that video consumes less bandwidth when you broadcast it. This means that users with slower internet speeds are not limited by their internet connection and can still enjoy high-quality video streams.

So which codec produces better compression efficiency to create smaller videos? According to a test conducted by Netflix in 2016, H.265 outperforms VP9 by about 20%. Although other tests have produced different results, they all conclude that H.265 creates smaller file sizes. Depending on the objective metric used, H.265 provides 0.6% to 38.2% bitrate savings over VP9.

However, while consuming less bandwidth is useful, there are other factors that should be taken into consideration. Upload speeds across the globe average 56.59 Mbps for fixed broadband connections in 2025, which means that most places can support 4K streaming even with the higher connection speeds required by H.264\. Despite the much lower average of 13.06 Mbps for mobile devices in 2025, they can still support 1080p streams.

The comparison table below shows that the average worldwide connection speeds are definitely able to handle the upload speed requirements at all tiers of resolutions. Note: we couldn’t find a graph comparing all three codecs, but VP9 would fall in between H.264 and H.265.

Furthermore, there are ways to create streaming applications to cater to users in countries with slower internet speeds. You can do this by adding ABR and transcoding support. ABR (adaptive bitrate) will modify the bitrate to deliver the best experience. Transcoding splits broadcasts into multiple qualities so the client can request the best one depending on the available bandwidth.

You may be thinking, “What about mobile devices stuck on 2 or 3G connections?” The fortunate reality is that palm-sized devices don’t need to stream the highest resolutions to look good. 720p or even 480p will still display on a small screen with good quality.

While bandwidth consumption may not matter as much to a consumer, it must be acknowledged that companies will save money on bandwidth costs if they stream with VP9 or H.265\. Smaller files result in lower costs for data streaming over CDN or cloud networks. While that is certainly nice, it is only at high-resolution settings such as 4K that halving the data consumption makes a substantial difference.

Of course, saving money is an important factor, no matter what the scale. That brings us to our next point, which will present the best of both worlds; better compression with the same performance.

Winner: H.265

7. Supported Streaming Protocols

Each codec supports different streaming protocols, which affects how easily they can be integrated into live video workflows.

H.264 is widely used across streaming platforms and supports WebRTC, RTMP, RTSP, SRT, RTP, HLS.
H.265 supports HLS, MPEG-DASH, RTSP, SRT. This codec has limited WebRTC/browser support due to licensing and often requiring hardware support.
VP9 supports WebRTC, MPEG-DASH, and YouTube streaming. It provides limited RTMP/RTSP usage.

Winner: H.264 with its broadest protocol compatibility.

Which Codec Should You Use in 2026?

After considering everything outlined above, H.264 is currently the best available option due to widespread adoption and fast encoding speeds. Although increasing compression and video picture quality are important considerations in regard to H.265 and VP9, the tradeoffs are currently just too severe. Specifically, high encoding times and voracious CPU consumption are significant roadblocks for live streaming video. Inefficient encoding is particularly harmful when targeting sub-500ms speeds.

That said, considering that VP9 is free and also enjoys widespread support, it will be a viable choice in the near future once faster software or hardware encoders are created. AV1 is poised to eventually replace VP9, but considering the astronomically high software encoding times it currently suffers from, there’s a lot of streamlining that needs to be done before it’s ready for expansive use. Of course, LCEVC could possibly circumvent the whole issue of changing codecs for better compression. Perhaps it will just serve as a longstanding bridge between H.264 and AV1.

Apple’s adoption of 3D-HEVC with the Vision Pro could also be a major boost for the H.265 video coding standard. It not only enhances the user experience by providing immersive 3D content but also signals a shift in the industry towards broader support for HEVC. As a result, HEVC’s relevance and longevity in the market are likely to increase, driving innovation and adoption across the tech and content creation landscapes.

However, this new innovation on H.265 doesn’t get rid of its patent restrictions. The need to negotiate with patent pools such as MPEG-LA, Velos Media, and HEVC Advance has caused H.265, and quite likely its successor, to have limited adoption, particularly from browser vendors like Chrome. The open VP9 license circumvents this but has its own issues with widespread adoption.

Latest Trends Affecting These Codecs

Will LCEVC Change the Codec Game?

One alternative approach to providing better picture quality and detail in live video streams while simultaneously reducing the bandwidth needed is LCEVC or Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding. This MPEG standard increases compression rates by about 40% for all codecs. This is due to the fact that it is an additional processing layer that works with existing and future versions of MPEG or other codecs such as VP9, H.265, and AV1\. As we covered in a previous article, LCEVC has great potential to have a large impact on video streaming technology. Without having to change the composition of all the current protocols, LCEVC can make them more efficient in and of themselves.

From where things are now, it looks like content providers will be able to use LCEVC-enabled software or hardware-based encoders in combination with the Red5 Pro cross-cloud platform to unlock real-time streaming despite the processing-intensive video formats they are built with. Depending on which core codec is used, this applies not only to 4K and 8K UHD, but also to formats devised for 360-degree viewing, virtual reality, and other innovations.

One aspect driving the potentially universal adoption of LCEVC is that virtually any device can support a thin LCEVC client, whether downloaded independently to viewers’ devices or embedded in the service providers’ app player. Through its HTML5 JavaScript implementation, LCEVC also supports plugin-in-free browser support. This means that widespread implementation should theoretically be fairly straightforward. For now, though, LCEVC is still early, and other more basic approaches are proving more reliable and widely supported.

Why the Apple Vision Pro Might Help H.265

With the recent announcement and release of the Apple Vision Pro, Apple also introduced a very interesting new feature that’s based on the H.265 spec: the new stereo video specification 3D High Efficiency Video Coding (3D-HEVC). This allows users to watch 3D video in extended reality (XR) environment. Not only that, but Apple enabled spatial video capture on the iPhone 15 Pro, ensuring a new wave of 3D content will enter the pipeline.

Apple’s adoption of 3D-HEVC is a significant endorsement of the HEVC standard. By integrating 3D-HEVC into the Vision Pro, Apple is not only enhancing the immersive experience for users but also setting a new benchmark for content creators and technology providers. This move is likely to spur the development and distribution of 3D content, as producers will be eager to cater to the users of Apple’s cutting-edge XR device.

Similar to HLS adoption, Apple’s influence in the tech market means that its adoption of 3D-HEVC is leading to broader industry acceptance of this technology. Meta has already announced support for the 3D-HEVC format on the Quest 3\. Other manufacturers, in an aim to remain competitive, are also likely to add 3D-HEVC compatibility to their devices, further cementing HEVC’s position as a leading video coding standard. This could lead to an increased demand for even more HEVC-compatible hardware and software solutions, boosting innovation and development within this space.

The potential success of a new device from Apple is one thing, but the iPhone’s ability to record 3D-HEVC is a game-changer, effectively giving millions of existing users a powerful camera and encoder for creating 3D video. At first glance, the ability to record 3D video may seem like a minor feature of the platform, but this one detail has the power to give a massive boost to 3D-HEVC adoption. It may not be long until we see 3D-HEVC content on YouTube, Twitch, and other large video platforms.

Conclusion

H.264 remains the most widely adopted codec, offering fast encoding and universal compatibility, which makes it the best all-around choice today. H.265 delivers superior compression and bandwidth savings but is slowed by licensing restrictions and heavy CPU usage. VP9 is free, royalty-free, and gaining adoption, though it’s not as efficient as H.265 at higher bitrates. Looking ahead, AV1 and LCEVC are emerging as strong contenders, but for now, the right codec depends on your workflow balance between speed, efficiency, and accessibility.

FAQ

Is H.265 better quality than H.264?

Yes, H.265 generally provides better compression efficiency and higher video quality than H.264 at the same bitrate. It is especially effective for 4K and higher resolutions, where bandwidth savings become significant.

Is H.265 backwards compatible with H.264?

No, H.265 is not directly backwards compatible with H.264\. Devices and software must explicitly support both codecs in order to play content encoded in either format.

Is H.264 outdated?

H.264 is older than H.265 but is not outdated. It remains widely supported across devices, browsers, and platforms, making it one of the most commonly used codecs for streaming and video playback.

Is VP9 outdated?

VP9 remains a viable choice for scenarios leveraging backward compatibility or older device support but is increasingly seen as outdated for innovations like ultra-low-latency streaming or immersive video experiences.

Does H.265 Support HDR?

Yes, H.265 supports HDR formats such as HDR10\. This makes it well-suited for delivering higher-quality video with improved brightness, contrast, and color depth.

Why do I keep getting H.264 video even when H.265 is selected? Does the audio codec affect this?

Audio settings do not directly control the video codec. You do not “unlock” H.265 by changing audio codecs. What audio settings can do is narrow the pool of available releases. When you require specific audio formats like Opus or EAC3, there are simply fewer matching files overall, and many of those happen to be H.264\. So the system ends up selecting H.264 more often, not because the audio forces it, but because of availability and compatibility choices made by encoders.

Are there any licensing fees associated with using H.265, H.264, and VP9 codecs?

Yes. H.265 and H.264 require licensing fees through patent pools like MPEG LA and HEVC Advance. In contrast, VP9 is open-source and royalty-free, making it more accessible for developers.

Can I convert H.265 (HEVC) videos to H.264 (AVC) format?

Yes, H.265 videos can be converted to H.264 using transcoding software. For example, you can use Red5 Pro or Red5 Cloud, since transcoding is built into our internal preprocessing system. However, conversion may result in quality loss and longer processing times depending on the resolution and bitrate.

What are the implications of using H.265 (HEVC) for live streaming?

H.265 reduces bandwidth usage and improves quality, which benefits live streaming. However, higher processing demands and limited browser support may increase latency and restrict compatibility compared to H.264.