Is DivX Still Worth Using in 2026?

DivX still plays your old video collection well - but in 2026 it is a tool for old files, not new ones.

If you have a folder of .avi or .divx files from the 2000s, free DivX Software still opens them without any fuss.

What it no longer is: the best way to make new videos, stream to your TV, or play iPhone videos on a Mac.

Here is what DivX still does well, what it has dropped, and the free tools to use for everything else.

What DivX actually is today

DivX started around 1999 as a video codec that squeezed a whole film onto a CD, and it became the format of early file sharing and countless home DVD players. The codec underneath is MPEG-4 Part 2, the same family as Xvid.

Today, DivX is mainly an app. DivX Software is a free player and converter for Windows and Mac. A paid DivX Pro upgrade adds MPEG-2 and VC-1 conversion, cloud uploads, trimming and an ad-free player.

It also plays more than DivX files - AVI, MKV and MP4 open fine, and DivX Plus HD files are simply H.264 video in an MKV.

About that "billion users" number

The famous figure counts DivX Certified devices - DVD players, TVs and set-top boxes with the DivX logo - not people. DivX's own site now puts it at 2 billion devices.

It is a real number, but most of those devices are older hardware. It tells you DivX files will play on a lot of old boxes, not that a lot of people choose DivX today.

Where DivX still earns its place

• An old DivX or Xvid collection. DivX plays these files exactly as they were made, with subtitles and multiple audio tracks.
• A DivX Certified DVD player or TV. The DivX converter makes files in profiles made for those older devices.
• One simple app. If you want to play and convert in the same place without learning settings, DivX does both.

What DivX has dropped

Three things the old DivX could do are gone or limited now, all confirmed in the DivX release notes.

If you used DivX to watch PC videos on the TV, read how DivX removed Media Server and what replaces it. Mac users, see why DivX for Mac still cannot play HEVC.

Should you make new videos in DivX?

No. The DivX codec is a generation behind H.264, which makes smaller files at the same quality and plays on every phone, TV and browser. HEVC and AV1 go further still.

If you want to bring an old collection up to date, HandBrake converts DivX and Xvid AVI files to H.264 MP4 for free. Keep the originals until you have checked the copies.

Who should look elsewhere

• You just want old files to play. VLC opens every DivX and Xvid file with no ads and nothing else to install.
• Your files end in .mp4 or came from a phone. They are not DivX at all, and the player already on your PC will open them.
• Your Samsung TV refuses a DivX AVI. The TV can usually play it - it just needs a four-letter fix to the file's label, no conversion needed.

Quick questions