Format comparison
WebM vs 3GP
How do WebM and 3GPcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
.webm
Full guide →Web Media
WebM is Google's open-source video format designed specifically for the web. It offers excellent compression and quality, especially with the VP9 and AV1 codecs, and is royalty-free.
.3gp
Full guide →3rd Generation Partnership Project
3GP is a video format designed for 3G mobile phones. While modern smartphones use MP4, 3GP is still used in feature phones and developing markets where bandwidth and storage are limited.
| Specification | WebM | 3GP |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Web Media | 3rd Generation Partnership Project |
| Extension | .webm | .3gp |
| MIME type | video/webm | video/3gpp |
| Category | Video | Video |
| Developer | 3rd Generation Partnership Project | |
| Year introduced | 2010 | 2003 |
WebM advantages
- Royalty-free and open source
- Excellent web browser support
- Great compression with VP9/AV1
- Designed for HTML5 video
WebM limitations
- Limited support outside web browsers
- Fewer editing tools available
- Hardware decoding less common
- Less universal than MP4
3GP advantages
- Very small file sizes
- Designed for mobile devices
- Low bandwidth requirements
- Plays on feature phones
3GP limitations
- Very low quality
- Outdated format
- Limited resolution support
- Not suitable for modern use
Which should you use?
WebM and 3GP target different use cases. WebM is ideal for html5 web video, while 3GP works best for feature phone video playback.
Best uses for WebM
HTML5 web video
YouTube (internal format)
Web applications
Open-source projects
Best uses for 3GP
Feature phone video playback
Low-bandwidth mobile streaming
MMS video messages
Legacy mobile content
Convert between WebM and 3GP
Need to switch formats? Convert for free with SquishConvert.