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x265Kvazaar
Free

Free under the GPL-2.0, with a paid commercial license for proprietary use.

 Free

Free and open source under the BSD-3-Clause license.

Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line Windows, Linux, Command line
  • Widely used reference-quality HEVC encoder
  • Usable as a command-line tool or as a library
  • Provides HEVC encoding from the command line
  • Offers presets and manual encoding options
  • Command-line only, with no graphical interface of its own
  • HEVC playback and distribution can involve patent licensing questions
  • Requires raw video input
  • The project describes itself as still under development
Downloadable app Downloadable app
Open source Open source
License: GPL-2.0 License: BSD-3-Clause
No account needed Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline Not stated if it works offline

Checked October 2, 2026

Checked October 8, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.