I make Picmal, one of the 8 apps here. So I didn’t rank them. I put each app where it fits, by what you convert, and I timed Picmal on public test files you can download yourself.
I didn’t test the other 7. What I write about them comes from their makers’ own websites, checked on 15 October 2026, and each section says so. If you want a verdict on speed for one of them, it isn’t here.
Everything in this list runs on your Mac. None of them needs you to upload a file.
The short answer
- Only video: HandBrake, free.
- Video, and you want to trim and combine clips too: Permute, $14.99.
- Only images: XnConvert (free for personal use) or Kompressor.
- Smaller files, not new formats: Compresto, from $49.
- Images, video, audio and PDF in one app: Picmal, $29 once.
Quick comparison
| App | Price | Images | Video | Audio | Tested here | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HandBrake | Free | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| ffWorks | €22 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Permute | $14.99 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Kompressor | Free + in-app purchases | Yes | No | No | Output only | No |
| XnConvert | Free (personal) | Yes | No | No | Reads it | No |
| Compresto | $49 once | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| How To Convert | $29 (beta) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Picmal | $29 once | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
How I tested Picmal
I ran it on my own Mac, an Apple M3 with 16 GB and macOS 27.0.1, using picmal-cli 2.0.0. The command line uses the same bundled tools as the app, and it gives clean timings. Every test used Picmal’s default settings.
The files are public, so you can repeat it:
- Images: the Kodak Lossless True Color Image Suite, 24 photos as PNG, 14.7 MB. I made HEIC and JPG copies with macOS’s own
sips. - Video: Big Buck Bunny, the 1080p H.264 MOV. Almost 10 minutes, 691.5 MB. (CC BY, Blender Foundation.)
Image times are the middle of 3 runs. Video ran once.
| Job | Time | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 24 PNG to JPG | 0.56 s | 14.7 MB to 3.5 MB |
| 24 PNG to WebP | 1.05 s | 14.7 MB to 1.1 MB |
| 24 PNG to AVIF | 1.85 s | 14.7 MB to 0.8 MB |
| 24 HEIC to JPG | 0.86 s | 24 JPGs, 3.1 MB |
| 24 JPG compressed | 0.46 s | 4.0 MB to 1.8 MB (55% smaller) |
| 10-minute 1080p MOV to MP4 | 68 s | 691.5 MB to 357 MB |
| Same video compressed to 720p | 33 s | 691.5 MB to 203 MB |
One thing to know before you read the MOV line: Picmal re-encoded the video (9.3 Mb/s down to 4.7 Mb/s, still 1080p), so the MP4 is half the size. A tool that only swaps the container would be faster and keep the size. Which one you want depends on the file.
If you only convert video
HandBrake
HandBrake is free and open source, and it has been the default answer for video for years. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, needs macOS 10.13 or later, and its last release came out in June 2026. It converts video only: no images, no audio files on their own.
Pick it if video is the whole job and the price has to be zero. Expect a window full of encoder settings.
Not tested by me. Facts from handbrake.fr.
ffWorks
ffWorks puts FFmpeg behind a native Mac window: 450+ options, 60+ filters, quality metrics (VMAF, PSNR, SSIM), hardware encoding and a watch folder. It costs €22 once and needs its own FFmpeg build.
Pick it if you already know what those options mean and you’re tired of typing them.
Not tested by me. Facts from ffworks.net.
Permute
Permute converts video, audio, images and PDF, and it edits a little on the way: trim, crop, combine, split, plus OCR and on-device transcription. It’s $14.99 once, or part of Setapp. Version 4 needs macOS 26 and Apple Silicon; version 3 covers macOS 11 to 15.
Pick it if you trim and convert clips in the same sitting.
Not tested by me. Facts from the maker’s site.
If you only convert images
Kompressor
Kompressor converts and resizes images with a live preview, so you see what a quality setting does before you commit. It reads 50+ formats and writes 20+. It’s a free download on the Mac App Store with paid upgrades (lifetime is $14). The maker calls its updates “sporadic”.
Pick it if you want to watch the quality slider before you trust it.
Not tested by me. Facts from kompressor.app and its App Store listing.
XnConvert
XnConvert reads 500+ image formats and chains 80+ actions (resize, crop, watermark, filters) into one batch. It’s free for personal and educational use; a company license is €15. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and it looks like it.
Pick it if a format nobody else opens lands on your desk, or if one batch needs ten steps.
Not tested by me. Facts from xnview.com.
If you want smaller files, not new formats
Compresto
Compresto compresses video, images, GIF and PDF, and turns video into GIF. It watches folders and works from Raycast. It’s $49 once for one Mac, $69 for two, or a subscription, and it’s on Setapp. The maker says files come out up to 90% smaller; I didn’t check that.
Pick it if your problem is a 12 GB folder, not a format.
Not tested by me. Facts from compresto.app.
If you also convert documents
How To Convert
How To Convert lists 6,098 conversions, including documents, ebooks, email and subtitles, next to images, video and audio. It’s $29 once, still marked beta, with a free demo that runs in your browser. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.
Pick it if Word files and EML messages show up next to your photos.
Not tested by me. Facts from howtoconvert.co.
If you convert images, video, audio and PDF
Picmal
Picmal is the one I make, and the one I timed above. It converts and compresses images (HEIC, RAW, SVG, PSD and the usual ones), video, audio and PDF, in batches, without leaving your Mac. It also combines videos, burns in subtitles, watermarks images and videos, crops images and PDFs, merges audio, and handles PDF pages.
It lives where you already work: Finder’s right-click menu, Shortcuts, Raycast, watched folders and a command line tool. It needs macOS 15 or later.
It’s $29 once for one Mac, with a 7-day free trial and a 14-day refund. No subscription.
What it doesn’t do: frame-by-frame editing, quality metrics like ffWorks, or documents like How To Convert. If you need those, the apps above are the better pick.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best media converter for Mac? It depends on what you convert. For video only, HandBrake is free. For images only, Kompressor and XnConvert cost little or nothing. If you convert images, video, audio and PDFs and want one app for all of it, Picmal is $29 once. I make Picmal, so weigh that.
Is there a free media converter for Mac? Yes, but none of the free ones covers everything. HandBrake is free for video. XnConvert is free for personal use on images. Kompressor is a free download with paid upgrades. For all media types you end up with two free apps side by side, or one paid app.
Do I need to upload my files to convert them on a Mac? No. Every app in this list runs on your Mac, according to its maker. Online converters upload your files to a server you do not control, which matters for anything with faces, documents, client work or location data in it.
How fast is Picmal? On an M3 Mac, Picmal 2.0 converted 24 PNG photos to JPG in 0.56 seconds and a 10-minute 1080p MOV to MP4 in 68 seconds, with default settings. The test files are public, and the method is in the article.
Can a Mac convert files without any extra app? Partly. Preview exports a few image formats, QuickTime Player exports a few video formats, and the sips command line tool converts images in batch. None of them covers audio, video and PDF together, and none of them batches comfortably from a window.
Weighing Picmal against one app in particular? There’s a side-by-side page for Permute, HandBrake, ffWorks, Kompressor, XnConvert, Compresto and How To Convert.
If you only convert images, there’s a comparison of batch image converters. For one format at a time, see the video converter for Mac, the audio converter for Mac or the image converter for Mac.
