AV1 vs H.264: Codec Comparison Guide [2025 Updated]
We covered how AV1 compares to VP8 and VP9 in our previous blog. In this one, we’ll look at which codec comes out on top in the fight between AV1 vs H.264. You’ll learn how they differ in encoding performance, CPU consumption, bandwidth savings, brow...
Responses
Markdown supported · ⌘↵ to post
Malti Thakur
A Marketer
Useful comparison. A hybrid setup, with AV1 where supported and H.264 as the fallback, is the practical route for live streaming today.
At Ant Media, AV1 plays natively over WebRTC in modern browsers, and adaptive bitrate transcodes it to H.264 for HLS/DASH and for browsers without AV1 support. Our guide to the H.264, H.265, AV1, and VP9 trade-offs is here for anyone weighing codec choices: https://antmedia.io/video-codecs-streaming-guide/