Alternatives to Permute
A drag-and-drop macOS converter for video, audio, images and PDFs across about 50 formats. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Permute
A drag-and-drop macOS converter for video, audio, images and PDFs across about 50 formats.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Permute.
HandBrake
A video converter that turns files and unprotected discs into MP4, MKV or WebM with presets for common devices.
HandBrake is free and open source on macOS, Windows and Linux with device presets for video, but it does not cover images or PDFs and always re-encodes.
Shutter Encoder
A professional transcoding and media processing front end for FFmpeg, with batch queues, presets and genuinely lossless operations.
Shutter Encoder is a free, open-source FFmpeg front end for macOS, Windows and Linux with professional codecs and batch queues, though its interface exposes a lot at once.
Videomass
A free, open-source, cross-platform graphical interface for converting and processing media with FFmpeg.
Videomass is a free, open-source graphical interface for FFmpeg on macOS, Windows and Linux, giving more options than drag-and-drop conversion but more complexity too.
Any Video Converter
A desktop video converter for Windows and macOS with compression, basic editing and AI tools.
Any Video Converter is freemium software for macOS 12 or later and Windows with batch conversion and compression, though it upsells AI features and companion products.
Wondershare UniConverter
A desktop toolbox for converting, compressing, enhancing and recording video on Windows and macOS.
Wondershare UniConverter is a paid Windows and macOS toolbox that combines conversion and compression with screen recording, 4K and 8K HDR support and AI enhancement.
VideoProc Converter AI
A GPU-accelerated video converter with AI upscaling, a downloader, DVD ripping and a screen recorder.
VideoProc Converter AI is paid software for Mac and Windows that adds GPU-accelerated conversion, AI upscaling, DVD ripping, a downloader and a screen recorder.
CloudConvert
An online file converter for more than 200 document, image, audio, video, archive and CAD formats.
CloudConvert runs in the browser across more than 200 formats including documents and images, but files are uploaded to a third-party server and need an internet connection.
FFmpeg
The command that converts, cuts, streams and inspects essentially any audio or video file in existence.
FFmpeg is a free, open-source command-line tool that handles practically every codec and container, trading drag-and-drop simplicity for scriptable batch jobs and precise control.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Permute as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
MediaHuman Audio Converter
A free batch audio converter for macOS, Windows and Linux that also splits CUE-indexed files.
Permute is a paid Mac-only drag-and-drop converter for audio, video, images and PDFs, and version 4 requires macOS 26 and Apple Silicon.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Downie
A macOS app that downloads videos from YouTube, Vimeo and over a thousand other websites.
MediaInfo
Tells you exactly what is inside a video or audio file: codecs, bitrates, resolution, frame rate, subtitle and audio tracks.
Convertio
A browser-based file converter that handles documents, images, audio, video, ebooks and archives in over 300 formats.
Zamzar
A long-running online file converter supporting over 1100 formats, with no account needed for small files.
XMedia Recode
A free Windows converter for video and audio files, DVDs and Blu-rays with GPU acceleration.
LosslessCut
Trims and joins video and audio without re-encoding, so a cut takes seconds instead of an hour.
