Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

FFmpeg VS MKVToolnix

Compare FFmpeg VS MKVToolnix and see what are their differences

FFmpeg logo FFmpeg

Open source multimedia suite for conversion, playback, profiling, and streaming.

MKVToolnix logo MKVToolnix

MKVToolnix is a set of tools to create, alter and inspect Matroska files under Linux, other Unices...
  • FFmpeg Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-25
  • MKVToolnix Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-13

FFmpeg features and specs

  • Comprehensive Format Support
    FFmpeg supports a wide range of audio, video, and multimedia file formats, making it highly versatile for different types of media processing tasks.
  • Open-Source
    FFmpeg is open-source software, which means it can be freely used, modified, and distributed by anyone, fostering a large community of contributors and regular updates.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    It works on multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, and macOS, providing flexibility for developers working in different environments.
  • Powerful Command-Line Interface
    FFmpeg provides a robust command-line interface that allows for complex tasks such as batch processing, scripting, and automation.
  • High Performance
    It is optimized for performance, offering fast and efficient media processing capabilities, often utilizing hardware acceleration when available.
  • Extensive Documentation
    The project comes with comprehensive and detailed documentation, which helps users understand and effectively utilize its extensive features.
  • Active Community and Support
    A large and active user and developer community provide various online resources, forums, and troubleshooting assistance.

Possible disadvantages of FFmpeg

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features and powerful command-line interface, beginners may find it difficult to learn and use FFmpeg effectively.
  • Limited GUI Options
    While some GUIs exist for FFmpeg, it is primarily a command-line tool, which may be less appealing to users who prefer graphical interfaces.
  • Documentation Complexity
    Though extensive, the documentation can be overwhelming and complex, which might make it challenging for newcomers to find specific information quickly.
  • Resource-Intensive
    High-performance operations in FFmpeg can be resource-intensive, requiring considerable processing power and memory, especially for high-resolution video encoding and decoding.
  • Licensing Issues
    FFmpeg includes various codecs and libraries that may have licensing requirements, which can be a concern for commercial applications needing to comply with licensing regulations.

MKVToolnix features and specs

  • Comprehensive File Support
    MKVToolnix supports a wide range of multimedia file formats for input and output, making it a versatile tool for merging, splitting, and modifying MKV files.
  • Open-Source
    As an open-source software, MKVToolnix is free to use and offers transparency for users who want to understand its inner workings or contribute to its development.
  • Multi-Platform Availability
    MKVToolnix is available for various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing accessibility to a broad audience.
  • Extensive Features
    The software offers a comprehensive set of features, such as merging, splitting, demuxing, and multiplexing, along with support for subtitles, audio tracks, and chapter editing.
  • Regular Updates
    MKVToolnix receives frequent updates, which include bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features, ensuring it remains current with industry standards.

Possible disadvantages of MKVToolnix

  • Complexity for Beginners
    The extensive feature set and specialized nature of the software can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring a steep learning curve to utilize effectively.
  • Command-Line Interface
    While MKVToolnix includes a graphical user interface, many of its powerful features are accessible only through its command-line interface, which can be daunting for non-technical users.
  • Limited Support for Non-MKV Formats
    Although MKVToolnix supports various input formats, its primary focus is on MKV files, which may limit its utility for users working extensively with other file types.
  • Resource Intensive
    Processing large multimedia files, especially with complex tasks such as merging or transcoding, can be resource-intensive and may require significant system memory and CPU power.
  • Basic User Interface
    The user interface, while functional, is relatively basic and may not meet the expectations of users looking for a more polished and visually appealing design.

FFmpeg videos

How to use FFMPEG

More videos:

  • Review - Gentoo in Review - March Updates (FFmpeg or LibAV/CPU FLAGS)

MKVToolnix videos

How To Use Mkvtoolnix | Technical Maher

More videos:

  • Review - Como Multiplexar Videos con MKVToolNix (modificar videos MKV)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to FFmpeg and MKVToolnix)
Video
58 58%
42% 42
Video Converter
58 58%
42% 42
File Converter
67 67%
33% 33
Audio & Music
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using FFmpeg and MKVToolnix. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare FFmpeg and MKVToolnix

FFmpeg Reviews

18 Best Video Converter Software in 2022 (Free and Paid)
FFmpeg is the best free video converter software for advanced users or engineers who know a command-line environment. It doesn't come with the GUI. So you can't convert videos by simple clicks as what you're doing with VideoProc Converter or other video converters.
Best Video Converter Software
If you’re not comfortable with using a command line to operate your software, then you may want to stop reading right now. FFmpeg is incredibly powerful, available for all major platforms, and best of all, it’s free – but it doesn’t come with a graphic user interface. Some developers have created GUIs that sit on top of FFmpeg to make the process a bit easier (like...
Top 5 Free Alternatives to Freemake Video Converter
FFmpeg is an open source project that develops libraries and programs for handling multimedia data. FFmpeg is the home to libavcodec, a codec library used by a large spectrum of programs, and libavformat, a mux and demux library for containers. The project develops 4 command-line programs; ffmpeg, the central tool for transcoding multimedia files, as well as ffplay, a simple...
Source: www.easefab.com
8 Best FFmpeg Alternatives & Competitors in 2022 (Free & Paid)
FFmpeg is not always the best solution for everyone. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of the 8 best FFmpeg alternatives and competitors.
6 Best HandBrake Alternative to Convert Video to Any Format
FFmpeg is a collection of libraries and tools to process multimedia content such as audio, video, subtitles and related metadata. It is also an open source project. It can convert video/audio to the format you need by encoding and decoding video files. It's suitable for professional to use.

MKVToolnix Reviews

We have no reviews of MKVToolnix yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, MKVToolnix seems to be a lot more popular than FFmpeg. While we know about 185 links to MKVToolnix, we've tracked only 4 mentions of FFmpeg. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

FFmpeg mentions (4)

  • FFmpeg 7.0 Released
    The fact that Handbrake doesn't expose the same features as the ffmpeg CLI tool is frankly irrelevant. It's not just relevant, it's the whole thing. They asked for an ffmpeg GUI and someone recommended a GUI that doesn't use ffmpeg and doesn't do what ffmpeg can do. Ffmpeg can not only rewire channels, it can stream video, capture video from the screen, capture video from a tv tuner, overlay text etc. Also... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Ask HN: Is there other software similar to Vim and Emacs?
    FFMpeg and its libraries https://ffmpeg.org/about.html. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Week 13 Project Phase 2
    Hello everyone, welcome to week 13. This blog we are going to pick an open source software and locate the SIMD code from the source code of the software and then determine the SIMD code usage in a certain program. For my blog, I choose FFmpeg. FFmpeg is a cross-platform framework to record, convert, and stream video and audio, it provides an easy way to convert video and audio to other formats. FFmpeg is a very... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • I HATE NITRO I HATE NITRO
    Ffmpeg is a free (GPL) program and library that does pretty much everything video-related, from recording to editing. It has some learning curve for things beyond just converting a file 1:1, but as a library, many programs such as OBS, Blender, Shotcut, Drawpile and KDEnLive implements it for tasks such as rendering and recording videos out of them. Source: over 3 years ago

MKVToolnix mentions (185)

  • TRUEHD 7.1 Slow Down
    Fourth, try remuxing one of the problem files. Use the Multiplexer section of MKVToolNix. This will copy the contents to a new MKV file. It is like putting a letter in a new envelope when the original is damaged, but the pages inside are OK. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Remove Audio Commentary over TV shows
    If the audio tracks are displayed as unknown, the language flag needs to be set. Use tools such as MKVToolNix Header Editor to configure the language for audio & subtitle tracks. Source: over 1 year ago
  • /r/Plex's Moronic Mondays' No Stupid Questions Thread - 2023-07-10
    As for extracting tracks from MKVs, the low-level way would be to use ffmpeg directly (something like ffmpeg -i video.mkv -map 0:s:0 subtitle.sup would extract the first subtitle stream to a .sup file, the extension used for standalone PGS subtitles), but something like MKVToolNix can probably do it as well. That won't help you too much on its own though, since you now just have an external image-based subtitle... Source: over 1 year ago
  • Advice needed on anime series with two audio language versions.
    You could use a tool outside of Plex (like MKVToolNix) to combine the video+audio of one version with the audio+subtitles of the other. It gets trickier, or at least more tedious, if the videos aren't exactly the same, since you'd then have to account for any audio/subtitle shifting. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Plex isn't syncing episodes into database
    Option 3: Change to MKV container. Use MKVToolNix or similar tools and remux to a MKV container. Note that this may cause problems with Dolby Vision. LG TVs must have Dolby Vision in a MP4 container, otherwise the video will not play correctly. Probably affects other Plex clients as well. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing FFmpeg and MKVToolnix, you can also consider the following products

HandBrake - HandBrake allows users to easily convert video files into a wide variety of different formats.

Format Factory - Format Factory is software that allows the user to convert media into various file formats. The software is a product of PC Free Time, a Chinese software development company. Read more about Format Factory.

MKVCleaver - MKVcleaver is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for mkvtoolnix, designed to extract data from MKV...

Freemake Video Converter - Freemake Video Converter Converts 500+ Formats & Gadgets FREE! Convert to MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV, DVD, Xvid. FREE Download. **Voted Best of 2018** Comes with FREE…

tsMuxeR - tsMuxeR update for 3D blu-ray (HD) DVD & Blu-ray authoring

File Converter - Convert & compress everything in 2 clicks!