VP9

Google's royalty-free video codec with 35% better compression than H.264.

Overview

What is VP9

VP9 is an open, royalty-free video codec developed by Google as the successor to VP8. Released in 2013, VP9 achieves approximately 35% better compression than H.264 at equivalent quality — positioning it between H.264 and AV1 in efficiency. VP9 is the primary codec used by YouTube for non-AV1 content and the standard video codec inside the WebM container. VP9 has broad browser support (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) and strong hardware decode support across modern devices, but Safari does not support it, limiting its use on Apple platforms. VP9's encoding speed is moderate — roughly comparable to H.265.

Decision Guide

When to Choose VP9

Choose VP9 when:

You need a royalty-free codec with broad support today — VP9 is supported by Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and most non-Apple devices.
Your delivery targets the Google/WebM ecosystem — VP9 is the default for YouTube and WebM containers.
You want 35% better compression than H.264 without AV1's slow encoding speed — VP9 offers a middle ground.

Consider alternatives when:

You need Safari/iOS playback — VP9 is not supported on Apple platforms. Use H.264 or AV1 (Safari 17+).
You want maximum compression efficiency — AV1 is ~30% more efficient than VP9 and also royalty-free.
You need HLS delivery — VP9 in HLS is not standard. Use H.264 or H.265 for HLS.

Try it

Transcoding Demo

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Select a source video and click “Convert” to see VP9 output in action.

Reference

Key Characteristics

Standard	Google / WebM Project, 2013
Compression efficiency	~35% better than H.264 at equivalent quality
Royalty status	Royalty-free, open-source (BSD license)
Hardware decode support	NVIDIA Kepler+, AMD GCN 3+, Intel Broadwell+, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835+, most smart TVs 2016+
Hardware encode support	Limited — primarily software (libvpx)
Browser support	Chrome 29+, Firefox 28+, Edge 79+; Safari: not supported
Container support	WebM
Max resolution	8192×4320 (8K)
Encoding speed	Moderate — comparable to H.265
Typical use case	YouTube, WebM delivery, royalty-free workflows, Google ecosystem

Compatibility

Browser & Device Support

Platform	VP9	VP8	AV1
Chrome (desktop)	29+	25+	70+
Firefox (desktop)	28+	4+	67+
Safari (macOS)	14.1+ (WebM)		17+
Edge	79+	79+	79+
iOS Safari	15+ (WebM)		17+
Android Chrome			93+

Implementation

How Qencode Handles VP9

Qencode encodes VP9 using optimized libvpx-vp9 with configurable quality-to-speed profiles. Specify libvpx-vp9 as the video codec for WebM or DASH output.

Pair VP9 with Smart Cropping for social-optimized delivery, or use Per-Title Encoding to optimize VP9's bitrate ladder per title.

Request Example

WebM output with VP9

{
  "query": {
    "source": "https://your-storage.com/video.mp4",
    "format": [
      {
        "output": "webm",
        "video_codec": "libvpx-vp9",
        "resolution": 2160,
        "quality": 20,
        "audio_codec": "libopus"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Copy this payload and use it with your API key to generate VP9 output from any video source.

View Parameter Reference

comparison

VP9 vs. AV1

	VP9	AV1
Compression (vs H.264)	~35% better	~50% better
Royalty status	Royalty-free	Royalty-free
Encoding speed	Moderate	5–20× slower than H.264
Hardware decode	Broad (2016+ devices)	Growing (2022+ devices)
Browser support	Chrome, Firefox, Edge (not Safari)	Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari 17+
Best for	YouTube, WebM today	Maximum efficiency, future-proof

For a detailed AV1 breakdown, see AV1

Pricing

What It Costs

Resolution	VP9
SD (< 960 x 720) 0 - 691199 pixels	$0.01
HD (2160 x 1080) 691200 - 2332800 pixels	$0.02
1440 (2880 x 1440) 2332801 - 4147200 pixels	$0.05
4K (4096 x 2048) 4147201 - 8388608 pixels	$0.09
5K (5120 x 2560) 8388609 - 13107200 pixels	$0.16
6K (6144 x 3072) 13107201 - 18874368 pixels	$0.239
7K (7168 x 3584) 18874361 - 25690112 pixels	$0.319
8K (8192 x 4096) 25690113 - 33554432 pixels	$0.44
10K (10240 x 5120) 33554433 - 52428800 pixels	$0.77
12K (12288 x 6144) 52428801 - 75497472 pixels	$1.1
14K (14336 x 7168) 75497473 - 102760448 pixels	$1.5
16K (16384 x 8192) 102760449 - 134217728 pixels	$1.94

See Pricing Details

Explore More

Related Features

AV1

The successor royalty-free codec with 50% better compression than H.264

WebM

The open container format designed for VP9 and web delivery

Smart Cropping

Auto-crop VP9/WebM output for social media aspect ratios

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