--- title: 'VP9 Video Codec: What It Is & How It Works - OpenClip' description: "VP9 is Google's open, royalty-free video codec offering better compression than H.264. Learn how VP9 powers YouTube and modern video streaming workflows." canonical: 'https://openclip.app/learn/vp9' markdown: 'https://openclip.app/learn/vp9.md' --- Open Video Codec # VP9: Google's Open-Source Video Codec VP9 is Google's royalty-free video codec that delivers H.265-level compression without licensing fees — and it's the backbone of YouTube's streaming infrastructure. ## Definition VP9 is an open, royalty-free video compression codec developed by Google and released in 2013. It was designed as a successor to VP8 and a competitive alternative to the proprietary H.265 (HEVC), offering comparable compression efficiency without the licensing costs associated with HEVC's patent pools. VP9 typically achieves 30–50% better data compression than H.264 at the same visual quality, meaning videos can be streamed at lower bitrates or stored at smaller file sizes. Google developed VP9 primarily for use on YouTube, where it is the dominant codec for HD and 4K video delivery. The codec is supported natively in Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and most Android devices, as well as Smart TVs and streaming devices. VP9 uses a superblock structure of up to 64×64 pixels, advanced spatial prediction, and loop filtering to achieve its efficiency gains. Encoding VP9 video is computationally intensive compared to H.264, though hardware encoder support has improved in recent GPU generations. VP9 is commonly used as the video codec inside the WebM container format, which pairs it with the Opus audio codec — making it the open-source alternative to the MP4/H.264 combination. In content repurposing workflows, VP9 is relevant because platforms like YouTube automatically transcode uploaded videos into VP9 for delivery, meaning the quality of your uploaded master file directly affects the VP9-encoded version viewers receive. VP9 has largely been superseded by AV1 as the next-generation royalty-free codec, but remains widely deployed due to its mature browser and device support. ## Related Terms [Av1](/learn/av1) [H264](/learn/h264) [H265](/learn/h265) [Video Codec](/learn/video-codec) [Codec](/learn/codec) [Transcoding](/learn/transcoding) [Video Encoding](/learn/video-encoding) [Bitrate](/learn/bitrate) [Webm](/learn/webm) [Container Format](/learn/container-format) [Adaptive Bitrate](/learn/adaptive-bitrate) [Variable Bitrate](/learn/variable-bitrate) ## Features ### Royalty-Free Compression VP9 is completely open and royalty-free, making it the go-to codec for platforms and developers who need efficient video compression without paying licensing fees to patent holders. ### YouTube's Codec of Choice Google built VP9 specifically for YouTube's scale. Nearly all HD and 4K YouTube videos are delivered to viewers in VP9, making it one of the most widely streamed codecs on the internet. ### 30–50% Better Than H.264 VP9 compresses video significantly more efficiently than H.264, reducing bandwidth usage and buffering for viewers while maintaining comparable visual quality. ### Broad Browser Support Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Edge all support VP9 natively. Combined with widespread Smart TV and Android support, VP9 reaches the vast majority of online video viewers. ### WebM Container Integration VP9 is the standard video codec for the WebM container format — an open alternative to MP4 widely used for web-based video embedding and HTML5 video playback. ### 4K Streaming Ready VP9 was designed to handle 4K and beyond, and is used by YouTube and other major platforms to stream ultra-high-definition content at reasonable bitrates to global audiences. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is VP9 and who created it? VP9 is a royalty-free video compression codec developed by Google and released in 2013. It was created as both a successor to Google's own VP8 codec and a free alternative to the patent-encumbered H.265 (HEVC). It is primarily associated with YouTube and the WebM container format. ### How does VP9 compare to H.264? VP9 generally achieves 30–50% better compression than H.264 at equivalent visual quality. This means a VP9-encoded video can be significantly smaller in file size or require less bandwidth to stream than the same video in H.264. The trade-off is that VP9 is slower to encode. ### Does YouTube use VP9? Yes — YouTube is the largest user of VP9. When you upload a video to YouTube, the platform transcodes it into multiple formats including VP9 for HD and 4K delivery. This is why upload quality matters: YouTube's VP9 transcoder produces better results from a high-quality source file. ### Is VP9 better than AV1? AV1 is generally more efficient than VP9, offering another 20–30% compression improvement in many tests. AV1 is the intended successor to VP9. However, VP9 has more mature hardware decode support across devices, while AV1 hardware decoding is still rolling out. Both are royalty-free. ### How does VP9 relate to the WebM format? WebM is a container format created by Google that typically packages VP9 video with Opus audio. It's the open-source equivalent of MP4 for web delivery. Most browsers that support WebM support VP9 video playback within it. ### Does VP9 matter when repurposing videos for YouTube Shorts? Indirectly, yes. When you upload a clip to YouTube Shorts, YouTube transcodes it to VP9 for delivery. Uploading a high-quality, well-encoded source clip (whether in H.264, H.265, or another format) ensures YouTube's VP9 transcoder has the best possible input to work with, resulting in better-looking Shorts for your audience. ### Is VP9 supported on Apple devices? Safari on iOS and macOS added VP9 support relatively late (Safari 14, released in 2020), and older Apple hardware lacks dedicated VP9 hardware decoding. This means VP9 can cause higher battery drain on older Apple devices compared to H.264 or HEVC. AV1 support on Apple hardware is also improving. ## Turn Long Videos into YouTube Shorts & More OpenClip's AI detects your best moments and exports them as platform-optimized clips — ready to upload to YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. [Get Started Free](https://openclip.app/register) ## Related Pages ### Glossary [What Is a Video Codec? A Creator's Guide](/learn/codec) [Video Encoding Explained | OpenClip Glossary](/learn/encoding) [H.265 (HEVC) Video Codec Explained](/learn/h265) [What Is Transcoding? Video Format Conversion](/learn/transcoding) [Video Codec Explained: H.264, H.265 & More](/learn/video-codec) [WebM Format Explained | OpenClip Glossary](/learn/webm) ### Use Cases [Add AI Captions to YouTube Videos Automatically](/use-cases/add-captions-to-youtube) [Create YouTube Shorts from Long Videos](/use-cases/create-youtube-shorts)