x264 Video Codec 0.165.3223+44

updated Sep 2, 2026 23.8MB file size 3.4M downloads

x264 is the free, open-source H.264 encoder that most video software quietly runs underneath, from HandBrake and FFmpeg to studio encoding ladders, and it is still the reference implementation twenty years on.

x264 is the encoder behind an enormous share of the H.264 video you have ever watched.

It is also a command-line program that most people never run directly.

That combination is worth understanding before you download anything, because the right answer is often a front-end rather than this file.

What x264 Actually Is

x264 is a free, open-source library and command-line tool that turns raw video into H.264. It has been the reference implementation of the format for two decades, and it won the H.264 encoder comparisons that established that reputation.

What makes it unusual is where it ends up. When you encode with HandBrake, or run an FFmpeg command with libx264, you are using x264 without installing it separately.

Netflix has published in detail on using x264 in its own encoding ladders. A great deal of the rest of the web's H.264 was produced by the same code, wearing a different interface.

So download this if you want the encoder itself, for scripting or for a front-end that expects the binary. If you just want to convert a video, skip to the front-ends below.

What It Can Encode

x264's psychovisual optimisations are the reason it holds up: rather than chasing a mathematical error metric, it spends bits where the eye actually looks, which is why it still looks better than its PSNR scores suggest.

The profile support is where it separates itself from hardware encoders.

Profile	What it gives you	Use it when
Baseline	8-bit 4:2:0, no B-frames, no CABAC	You are targeting very old phones or hardware decoders
Main	8-bit 4:2:0 with B-frames and CABAC	Broad compatibility matters more than the last few percent
High	8-bit 4:2:0 with 8x8 transform. The default.	Almost always. This is what you want unless you know otherwise.
High 10	10-bit encoding, which reduces banding even on 8-bit sources	Animation, gradients, or anything you will re-encode later
High 4:2:2	4:2:2 chroma at up to 10-bit	Editing and mezzanine files rather than delivery
High 4:4:4 Predictive	Full chroma, up to 14-bit, and lossless encoding	Screen capture, archival masters, chroma key source

High 10 is the one people miss. Encoding 10-bit from an 8-bit source sounds pointless and is not: the extra internal precision reduces banding in skies, gradients and animation, often at a smaller file size. The catch is that hardware decoders generally will not touch it, so playback falls back to software.

Multi-threading scales across cores well, and the preset system from ultrafast through placebo gives you a single dial for the speed-versus-quality trade before you touch anything else.

Front-Ends That Drive It

Every one of these uses x264 underneath. The difference is how much of it they expose.

Front-end	What it is	Pick it if
HandBrake	Presets for devices and platforms, queue, simple interface	You want a finished file and not an education
FFmpeg	Command line, full libx264 parameter access, scriptable	You are automating, batching, or already live in a terminal
StaxRip	Portable suite handling H.264, HEVC, VP9 and AV1 with filter chains	You want control without writing commands
MeGUI	Long-standing suite with AviSynth integration and batch queueing	Your workflow already involves AviSynth scripts
EncodeGUI	Modern interface with machine-learning upscaling and denoising	You want something current rather than something proven
x264Gui	A thin window over x264's own parameters	You know the switches and want them clickable
TX264	Minimal front-end, few decisions	You want the simplest possible route to an encode
x264 VfW	Video for Windows wrapper, so old applications can select x264	VirtualDub or another VFW program needs to encode H.264
XMedia Recode and Shutter Encoder	General converters with passthrough, chapters and batch handling	Converting is one step in a larger job

Playing H.264 Files

Worth saying plainly, because the confusion is common: x264 encodes and does not decode. Nothing here will help you play a file.

Option	What it does	Use it when
LAV Filters	The standard DirectShow decoder set, with hardware acceleration	You want system-wide H.264 decoding done properly
MPC Video Decoder	DXVA-accelerated decoder for H.264, HEVC and AV1	You are already in the Media Player Classic ecosystem
ffdshow	Older decoder with extensive post-processing filters	You want the filters. It is long past its prime otherwise.
K-Lite Codec Pack	LAV Filters and MPC-HC installed and configured for you	You would rather not choose components
VLC Media Player	Carries its own decoders, registers nothing on your system	You only need one program to open the file
PotPlayer	Built-in decoding with detailed hardware acceleration control	You want to tune playback as much as you tuned the encode
MPC-BE	Actively developed Media Player Classic fork	You want the enthusiast player rather than the simple one

If a file will not play and you are not sure what is inside it, MediaInfo reports the codec and profile, and the browser-based Codec Finder does the same with nothing installed.

x264, x265 and AV1 in 2026

The honest comparison has moved since most pages on this subject were written.

x265 typically saves somewhere between 20 and 35 percent of the bitrate at matched quality, more at 4K and considerably less on grainy or low-resolution material. The often-quoted 50 percent is the HEVC standard's best case rather than a figure you should plan around.

Hardware decoding for HEVC has been near-universal for years, so the old "limited device support" objection no longer holds. What does hold is patent licensing, which is why Windows still charges for an HEVC extension and why browsers largely refused it.

AV1 is royalty-free and compresses very well. SVT-AV1 has made software encoding far quicker than its reputation suggests, and hardware decode now ships across recent Intel, NVIDIA and AMD GPUs and most current phones, with hardware encode on Intel Arc, NVIDIA RTX 40 series and AMD RDNA 3 onward.

x264 wins on the one thing neither can match: it plays everywhere, on everything, including hardware from fifteen years ago. It also encodes faster than both in software at comparable settings.

For a deeper comparison against the other royalty-free option, read Is VP9 Better Than H264?

The Licence Question

x264 is free software under the GPL version 2 or later, which for personal use means it costs nothing and there is nothing to think about.

It matters if you are shipping it. Distributing x264 inside a product means complying with the GPL, including releasing your own source under compatible terms.

If that does not suit, x264 LLC sells commercial licences for exactly this situation. It is worth knowing before an encoder ends up embedded in something you sell.

Separately, H.264 itself is a patented format. Encoding for personal or non-commercial use is not something anyone will pursue you over, but commercial distribution of H.264 content has historically involved patent pool licensing independent of which encoder produced it.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is whether you were looking for a codec to install so a file will play. If so, this is the wrong download entirely - x264 only encodes, and a player or a decoder is what you need.

If you want to convert one video without learning anything, take HandBrake instead. It contains x264 already and will not ask you about motion estimation.

If you are encoding for archival and storage is the constraint rather than compatibility, x265 will give you a meaningfully smaller file for the same quality, at the cost of time.

And if you need the encode finished in real time, no software encoder is the answer. Hardware encoding through NVENC, Quick Sync or AMF is far faster and noticeably worse per bit, which is the correct trade for live streaming and the wrong one for anything you keep.

Quick questions

Do I need x264 to play H.264 videos?

No. x264 only creates H.264 files, it never opens them. For playback you want LAV Filters, the K-Lite Codec Pack, or a player like VLC that carries its own decoders.

Is x264 free?

Yes, under the GPL version 2 or later. Free to download and use without limits. Shipping it inside a product you distribute is where the GPL obligations, or a commercial licence from x264 LLC, come in.

x264 or HandBrake?

Not a real choice, because HandBrake contains x264. Take HandBrake unless you specifically need the command-line binary for scripting or for a front-end that expects it.

Which preset should I use?

Start at medium and move to slow or slower if you have the time to spare. Anything past veryslow buys very little, and placebo exists mostly as a joke about diminishing returns.

What is 10-bit x264 and should I use it?

High 10 profile encodes with more internal precision, which reduces banding in gradients and animation, often at a smaller size. The trade is that hardware decoders will not handle it, so playback uses the CPU.

Is x264 better than my GPU's encoder?

At the same bitrate, considerably. NVENC, Quick Sync and AMF are built for speed rather than efficiency, which suits live streaming. For anything you are keeping, x264 gives a better result per megabyte.

Download x264 Video Codec if you want the encoder itself, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.

There are 163 more formats and encoders in the Video Codecs category.

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humpty

on 01 December 2012

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