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AOM AV1 Encoder is the Alliance for Open Media reference implementation of AV1, shipping aomenc.exe and aomdec.exe as free command-line tools that wring more quality from a given bitrate than any rival, and take far longer doing it.
AV1 is the royalty-free video codec built by the Alliance for Open Media, and this is the encoder that alliance wrote itself.
Every other AV1 encoder is measured against this one, because it is the reference the standard is defined by.
It also encodes more slowly than any of them, by a margin that surprises people.
What Is Actually in the Download
Two command-line programs, and no window of any kind. aomenc.exe turns raw or decoded video into AV1, and aomdec.exe turns AV1 back into frames for checking your work.
There is no installer and nothing registers itself with Windows. You unpack the files and call them from a terminal, a script, or a front-end that knows where you put them.
If the difference between encoding, decoding and transcoding is still fuzzy, the guide on encoding, decoding and transcoding is a useful ten minutes before you start.
The Speed Problem, and the Dial That Controls It
AOM gets more quality out of a given bitrate than anything else, and it charges you in hours to do it. On a slow preset a feature-length encode can run overnight on a machine that would finish the same job in minutes with a hardware encoder.
The control that matters is --cpu-used. Lower numbers mean slower encoding and better compression; higher numbers trade quality away for time.
Where to start. Test on a thirty-second clip before committing to a whole film. The right preset depends on your source, your patience and your hardware, and finding it costs far less on a short sample.
Most people never call aomenc.exe directly. FFmpeg carries libaom internally as libaom-av1, which is how the majority of AOM encoding actually happens.
What Changed in 3.14
The 3.14 series, nicknamed Pinkie Pie, is the first feature release in eight months and gathers everything since 3.13.
- Security fixes. Integer overflows, excessive memory allocations and memory errors, mostly triggered by very high bitrates or by changing SVC encoder settings mid-stream.
- Better image quality tuning. The AOM_TUNE_IQ mode now works with inter-frame encoding as well, covering both good-quality and realtime modes.
- Cheaper decoding, wider coverage. Low complexity decode mode now applies to horizontal video from 720p to 1080p, not just vertical, saving close to 30% of decoding cost for a tightly limited compression penalty.
- Layered image encoding gained real compression and perceptual quality improvements.
The security items are the reason to update even if none of the encoding changes apply to you.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
The tell is simple: open Task Manager and start a test encode. If you are watching the progress counter rather than getting on with something else, you have picked the wrong encoder.
SVT-AV1 is the practical default for almost everyone. It reaches comparable quality far faster and scales properly across a modern multi-core processor, which AOM does not.
If you need AV1 in real time - streaming, recording, anything live - NVEnc hands the work to the GPU on NVIDIA RTX 40 series cards and newer.
READ THIS FIRST
Downloading the reference encoder because AV1 saves space is the commonest mistake on this page. AOM is for measuring against and for archival masters where time genuinely does not matter. For everything else, start with SVT-AV1 and come back only if you can prove you need the difference.
Front-Ends That Save You the Command Line
NEAV1E is built specifically around this encoder - drop aomenc.exe into its Apps folder and everything is exposed as visual controls.
FastFlix covers both AOM and SVT-AV1 through an FFmpeg front-end, and keeps HDR10 and HDR10+ metadata intact, which matters if your source has any.
For a full pipeline with filtering, audio and muxing attached, StaxRip handles the whole job rather than just the encode.
HandBrake and VidCoder both offer AV1 output through SVT-AV1 rather than AOM, which is the right choice for batch disc conversion anyway.
Playing What You Encode
Windows has no AV1 decoder of its own. The AV1 Codec extension adds one system-wide, which covers Photos, Media Player and anything else built on Media Foundation.
For software decoding, dav1d is substantially faster than aomdec.exe and is what most players have adopted.
MPC-BE carries dav1d internally with DXVA2 and D3D11 acceleration, and VLC Media Player has handled AV1 without help since 3.0.8.
MPC-HC needs LAV Filters alongside it, and the K-Lite Codec Pack bundles that plus decoders for everything else in one installer.
The Other AV1 Encoders
| Encoder | Strongest at | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
| AOM AV1 | Compression efficiency, and being the reference everything else is compared to | You are benchmarking, or building an archival master and time is free |
| SVT-AV1 | Near-equal quality at a fraction of the time, scaling across many cores | Almost always - this is the sensible default |
| rav1e | A Rust implementation aimed at safety and speed over the reference | You want an alternative to both and are comfortable experimenting |
| NVEnc | Real-time AV1 on the GPU, at some cost in efficiency | You are capturing, streaming or working to a deadline |
The rav1e and FFmpeg encoding guide works through a real command line if you would rather see one than read about it.
If your target is HEVC rather than AV1, x265 is the equivalent tool there, and Shutter Encoder covers a broad spread of formats behind one interface.
Quick questions
Is AOM AV1 Encoder free?
Yes, and open source. AV1 itself is royalty-free, which is the whole reason the Alliance for Open Media built it.
Why is it so slow?
Because it is written to prove what AV1 can do rather than to finish quickly. Speed optimisation is what SVT-AV1 exists for.
AOM or SVT-AV1?
SVT-AV1, unless you can point at a specific reason not to. The quality gap is small and the time gap is not.
How much smaller are AV1 files really?
Around 30% smaller than HEVC or VP9 at matching quality, and roughly half the size of H.264. The exact figure depends heavily on your source and settings.
Do I need this to play AV1 video?
No. This is an encoder, and aomdec.exe is a testing decoder rather than a playback one. For playback install the AV1 Codec extension instead.
Can I use it through FFmpeg?
Yes, and most people do. FFmpeg builds libaom in as libaom-av1, so you get the same encoder without handling these binaries yourself.
The full video codecs catalogue covers the decoders and alternatives worth having alongside it.
Download AOM AV1 Encoder 3.14.1 and see how it handles your files, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.
