Video compressor pricing
Try a video up to 3 minutes and 200 MB free with 1 credit, no watermark and no account. Sign up for 1 one-time welcome credit and files up to 500 MB. After that, packs start at $3, bought credits never expire, and failed jobs are refunded in full.
Simple plans, no surprise bills
Try a video up to 3 minutes and 200 MB free with 1 credit and no watermark. One-off packs start at $3; subscriptions are optional.
1 credit covers most 1080p videos up to about 7 minutes. We show the exact cost before compression.
100 credits
For the one file you need under a limit today.
- API access included · shared credits
- 100 credits, no expiry
- Up to 1.5 GB per file
- H.265 / HEVC
- No account needed after checkout
500 credits
No subscription. Credits never expire.
- API access included · shared credits
- 500 credits, no expiry
- Up to 1.5 GB per file
- H.265 / HEVC
- Stacks on top of any plan
What a credit is
One credit is one billed encoder minute. We charge exactly what our encoder charges us, with no markup on the compute itself — the plans exist to cover the rest of the service, not to resell minutes at a margin. Only the encode is metered: moving your file in and out costs nothing, however long it takes. The encode is rounded up to a whole minute, so the floor for any job is 1 credit.
Measured provider time vs. what it bills
Only the encode is metered — importing and exporting the file cost nothing, however long they take. The encode is rounded up to a whole minute, which is why a 13-second job and a 55-second one cost the same and why every job has a one-minute floor.
Source: 3 measured jobs, 2026-09-06, provider percentage-50 mode (lib/seo/benchmark.ts) · Method: Billed = max(1, ceil(compress seconds / 60)); established with controlled runs checked against the provider remaining-minute counter
What 1 credit actually covers
Any 1080p clip up to about seven minutes, because the encode itself only crosses into a second billed minute past that point. A 15-minute meeting recording is 2 credits. A 40-minute 4K file is 5. H.265 costs more across the board because it is roughly 3.8x slower to encode than H.264 — that is the encoder’s clock, not a surcharge we invented.
What you get without paying anything
1 credit for a video up to 3 minutes and 200 MB, no account needed, and no watermark — the free output is byte-for-byte the same product as the paid output. Creating a free account raises the file limit to 500 MB and adds 1 one-time welcome credit. Past that, a credit pack starts at $3 and never expires.
Refunds and expiry
Failed jobs are refunded in full, automatically, once. Credits you have bought never expire — there is no monthly reset that quietly deletes what you paid for. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time and the credits you already hold stay yours.
Pricing questions
Is VidSmaller free?
Free to try. Signed-out visitors get 1 free credit for a video up to 3 minutes and 200 MB. A free account raises the limit to 500 MB per file with 1 one-time welcome credit. There is no watermark on any tier — the free output is exactly the same file the paid tier produces.
Do I need a subscription?
No. Credits are also sold in one-off packs from $3, and they never expire — one oversized file costs a couple of dollars and nothing recurring. A subscription only pays off if you compress regularly: Pro is cheaper per encoder minute and adds H.265 and a 1.5 GB file cap.
How many credits will my video cost?
One for anything up to roughly seven minutes at 1080p, which covers most jobs. Longer files and larger frames cost more because they take the encoder longer, and H.265 costs roughly 3.8x what H.264 does for the same clip. The exact number is shown before you start the job, not after.
What happens if a compression fails?
You get the credits back, automatically and in full, once per job. We do not charge for encoder time that did not produce a file you can use.
Do credits expire?
No. Credits you have purchased stay in your account indefinitely, including after a subscription is cancelled. We do not run a monthly reset that erases unused balance.
Do uploading and downloading use credits?
No. Only encoder time uses credits; importing the source and exporting the result cost zero credits, however long the transfer takes. One credit equals one billed encoder minute.
Why does a very short video still cost at least 1 credit?
Because encoder time is rounded up to whole billed minutes, with a one-minute minimum per job. A 13-second encode and a 55-second encode therefore both cost 1 credit; the exact estimate is shown before compression starts.