How do WebM and FLVcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
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.
Flash Video
FLV was the dominant web video format during the Flash era. While Flash is dead, FLV files still exist in archives and legacy systems. Converting FLV to MP4 is one of the most common conversion needs.
| Specification | WebM | FLV |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Web Media | Flash Video |
| Extension | .webm | .flv |
| MIME type | video/webm | video/x-flv |
| Category | Video | Video |
| Developer | Adobe (Macromedia) | |
| Year introduced | 2010 | 2003 |
WebM and FLV target different use cases. WebM is ideal for html5 web video, while FLV works best for converting old web videos.
Need to switch formats? Convert for free with SquishConvert.