Format comparison
WebM vs WMV
How do WebM and WMVcompare? 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.
.wmv
Full guide →Windows Media Video
WMV is Microsoft's proprietary video format. It was popular on Windows platforms in the 2000s but has largely been replaced by MP4. WMV files are still encountered in corporate and legacy environments.
| Specification | WebM | WMV |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Web Media | Windows Media Video |
| Extension | .webm | .wmv |
| MIME type | video/webm | video/x-ms-wmv |
| Category | Video | Video |
| Developer | Microsoft | |
| Year introduced | 2010 | 1999 |
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
WMV advantages
- Native Windows support
- Good compression for its era
- DRM support
- Windows Media Player integration
WMV limitations
- Limited cross-platform support
- Proprietary format
- Declining popularity
- Inferior to modern codecs
Which should you use?
WebM and WMV target different use cases. WebM is ideal for html5 web video, while WMV works best for legacy windows video libraries.
Best uses for WebM
HTML5 web video
YouTube (internal format)
Web applications
Open-source projects
Best uses for WMV
Legacy Windows video libraries
Corporate training videos
Windows-based presentations
Older webcam recordings
Convert between WebM and WMV
Need to switch formats? Convert for free with SquishConvert.