v0.1 · macOS + Windows

Send any video
anywhere it needs to go.

WhatsApp, iMessage, Reels, YouTube — pick a destination and Video Forge bakes the right codec, size cap, and aspect ratio. No bitrate math. Pro encode controls when you want them. Everything stays on your machine.

Download the app See it work
  • 10 free conversions, then $5
  • 5 devices per license
  • 30-day refund, no questions
Video Forge
demo_4k_cinema.mp4
3840×2160 31s H264 187 MB
5s preview
62% · 1.4× · ETA 18s
CRF 22 target 100 MB VideoToolbox
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What is Video Forge?

Video Forge is a desktop video converter for macOS Apple Silicon and Windows x64. It converts files locally — without uploading them to the cloud. You pick a destination (WhatsApp, iMessage, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, YouTube, Slack, Discord, Email, or Web Optimized) and the app applies the correct codec, resolution, aspect ratio, and size cap for that platform. ffmpeg is bundled inside the installer, so no separate setup is required.

Key takeaways

  • Local-only conversion. Files never leave your machine. No upload, no telemetry, no account, no network calls during encoding.
  • Destination-first workflow. 10 seeded destinations lock the codec, resolution, aspect ratio, and size cap for each target platform.
  • 5-second preview with side-by-side A/B. See the encoded result against the source before committing to a full conversion.
  • Two-pass target-size encoding. Request a specific output size (e.g. 100 MB) and the bitrate math is handled automatically.
  • Hardware acceleration. Auto-detects VideoToolbox (Apple Silicon), NVENC (NVIDIA), Quick Sync (Intel), and AMF (AMD).
  • Smart actions. One-click Extract audio (MP3/M4A/WAV), Make GIF, and Speed change (0.25× to 4×).
  • $5 lifetime, 10 free conversions first. One purchase, up to 5 devices, 30-day refund.
Platforms
macOS Apple Silicon; Windows x64
Trial
10 conversions free
Pricing
$5 lifetime
Built with
Tauri 2, Rust, React 18, ffmpeg
The fast path

Send a video anywhere in two clicks.

Pick where it's going — WhatsApp, iMessage, Reels, YouTube, Slack — and Video Forge bakes the right codec, resolution, size cap, and aspect ratio. No codec menu, no bitrate math, no second attempt.

Each destination locks codec, resolution, aspect ratio, and target bitrate for that platform. Source already under the cap? Video Forge remuxes instead of re-encoding — faster and pixel-identical.

Why this exists

If you encode video, you've felt this.

The 40-minute mistake

You hit Convert. Forty minutes later, ffmpeg says it's done. You open the file: it looks like garbage. The CRF was wrong. You start over.

The cloud tax

Uploading 4K to a SaaS converter takes longer than the encode itself, eats your bandwidth, and now your unreleased footage lives on someone else's server.

The CLI wall

Native ffmpeg is bulletproof, but the moment you need two-pass, hardware accel, or a target file size, you're back to reading man pages.

What's in v0.1

Built for the conversion you actually care about.

Not another “convert MP4 to MKV” one-click toy. A pro encoding harness that respects your time, your files, and your bandwidth.

5-second sample before you commit

Render a 5-second preview using the exact encoder settings you picked. If it looks wrong, change the knobs and re-preview. No more 40-minute encodes ending in disappointment.

Side-by-side A/B comparison

Original on the left, your new encode on the right. Playback is synced — pause, scrub, unmute either side. You see exactly what the compression cost.

Target a file size, not a guess

Pick "100 MB" and Video Forge does the bitrate math, runs a two-pass encode, and hits the target. Useful for size-capped uploads, email attachments, and lossless-to-compressed pipelines.

Multi-video queue with live progress

Drop in five videos, configure once, walk away. Per-job percent, encode speed, ETA. Cancel one mid-flight without affecting the rest.

Hardware acceleration, automatic

Detects VideoToolbox on Apple Silicon, NVENC on NVIDIA, Quick Sync on Intel. Falls back to software gracefully when a codec isn't supported.

Your videos stay on your machine.

Files are read from your disk, encoded locally via the bundled ffmpeg, and written back to your disk. No upload, no analytics, no accounts. The only network call the app ever makes is a small periodic license check.

The 5-second preview

See the encode before you commit to it.

Render a 5-second sample with the exact settings you picked. Compare it side-by-side with the source. Adjust CRF, change codec, re-preview — until it looks right. Then start the full encode and walk away.

Size 187 MB → 28 MB −85%
Codec H.264 → H.265
Resolution 4K → 1080p
Time 00:00:00 → 00:00:05
How it works

Four steps. Zero ceremony.

  1. 01

    Drop in your videos

    Drag a file or a folder — or use Browse. Video Forge reads metadata via ffprobe in milliseconds and shows the spec at a glance.

    drop zone
  2. 02

    Pick a preset, or fine-tune the encode

    Start from one of six built-in presets (Archive H.265, Web Optimized, Compress Heavily…) — or pop the Manual tab to tune codec, CRF, two-pass target size, audio.

    presets
  3. 03

    Generate the 5-second preview

    ffmpeg renders a representative sample using the exact pipeline the full job will use. Compare it next to the source. Adjust and re-preview until it's right.

    side-by-side
  4. 04

    Approve and walk away

    The full encode goes into the queue with live progress and ETA. Drop in more videos while it runs. Hit Convert All to flush the lot in one click.

    queue
Smart actions

More than convert. Three tools you keep reaching for.

Extract audio

Pull the audio out of any video as MP3, M4A, or WAV — pick the bitrate, keep the trim range. Useful for interview cuts, podcast prep, ripping the music bed off a clip.

MP3 · M4A · WAV

Make GIF

Turn a video clip into a GIF you can drop into Slack, docs, or a marketing page. Two-pass palette encoding for the best quality-per-byte. Tiny mode for chat-friendly sizes.

palette · width · fps

Speed change

Slow it down for breakdowns, speed it up for highlight reels. Audio pitch-corrects automatically, or strip the audio entirely. From 0.25× to 4× with a custom slider.

0.25× → 4×
Built-in presets

Six presets that cover 95% of real conversions.

Don't want to think about codecs and CRFs? Pick one. Save your own as you go.

Web Optimized

1080p · H.264

Streaming-friendly H.264 at 1080p with smart CRF. Compatible with every player ever made.

Best for: YouTube, Vimeo, posting clips.

Archive H.265

Source · H.265

Source resolution, H.265 (HEVC), high quality CRF. Smallest file at no visible quality loss.

Best for: backing up cameras, long-term archive.

Compress Heavily

720p · H.265

720p, aggressive CRF, AAC 96 kbps. For when storage matters more than pixels.

Best for: phone-recorded footage you need to ship.

Lossless ProRes

Source · ProRes 422

Apple ProRes 422 HQ. Editor-friendly intermediate format with negligible quality loss.

Best for: feeding into Final Cut / Resolve / Premiere.

Audio-Only AAC

Audio · AAC

Strip video entirely, keep AAC audio at the original bitrate. M4A output.

Best for: extracting interviews, podcast cuts.

GIF-Compatible MP4

480p · H.264

Tiny, autoplay-friendly MP4 you can use anywhere a GIF would go. Mute by default.

Best for: Slack, docs, marketing pages.

Need something different? Click Manual — codec, container, CRF, two-pass target, framerate, audio codec, audio bitrate, trim points. Save your tuning as a preset and reuse it.

Pricing

Pay once, use forever.

Try the first ten conversions free — no signup, no card, no email. After that, $5 one-time unlocks everything, forever, on up to 5 devices.

Free trial

Try first

$0 / no card needed

  • 10 conversions, lifetime
  • Every feature: send-to, manual mode, smart actions
  • Side-by-side preview and target-size encoding
  • Hardware acceleration on every backend
  • No signup, no card, no email
Download free
Lifetime
Video Forge Pro

One-time

$5 / once, forever

  • Unlimited conversions, every feature unlocked
  • One license, up to 5 devices
  • macOS Apple Silicon and Windows x64
  • 30-day refund, no questions
  • Future updates included (v1.x line)
Buy Video Forge — $5

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The first 10 conversions are free for every install. There is no time-based trial and no email gate. Pay once when you decide to keep using the app.

How it compares

Where Video Forge wins — and where it doesn't.

Pick the right tool for the job. If you need batch-job server pipelines or HEVC fine-tuning, you'll outgrow Video Forge. For everyone else, here's where we sit.

Feature Video Forge HandBrake CloudConvert ffmpeg CLI
5-second preview before full encode yes no no manual
Side-by-side A/B compare yes no limited no
Target file size (two-pass) yes yes yes manual
Multi-video queue + ETA yes yes yes no
Hardware acceleration (auto) yes yes yes manual
Bundled ffmpeg in installer yes yes n/a no
Files stay on your machine yes yes no yes
Pricing $5 once free $9+/mo free
Available on macOS + Windows yes yes n/a yes

Verified against HandBrake 1.8, CloudConvert (web tier, May 2026), and ffmpeg 7.0 CLI. "Manual" means possible with a long incantation but not provided by the tool itself.

Privacy

Your footage never leaves your machine.

Cloud converters are convenient. They are also slow on big files, expensive at scale, and a liability the moment your footage contains anything you wouldn't put on a billboard.

Video Forge is a desktop app. ffmpeg runs as a sidecar process. Files are read from your disk, encoded locally, and written back to your disk. Your videos never touch our server; after activation, the only network call is a small license refresh.

We can't sell, leak, or subpoena what we never receive.

  • Your videos never leave your machine

    Files are read from your disk, encoded locally via the bundled ffmpeg, and written back to your disk. No upload step. No cloud transcoding. No analytics or crash reporting on the conversion path.

  • One tiny network call: the license check

    After you paste your key, the app fetches a signed token from our license server and caches it. The token works offline for 30 days; the app refreshes it weekly when you're online. That's the only outbound traffic the app ever makes.

  • ffmpeg ships in the installer

    Your end-user does not run brew install ffmpeg or wrangle PATHs. The macOS and Windows installers contain the bundled ffmpeg binary.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Does Video Forge need ffmpeg installed?

No. The installer bundles a static ffmpeg binary that Video Forge invokes as a sidecar. Your end-user does not need to install anything else — no Homebrew, no PATH wrangling, no admin rights.

Are my files uploaded anywhere?

No. Video Forge reads from your disk, encodes locally via the bundled ffmpeg, and writes back to your disk. Videos are never uploaded; the only network call is a small license check after activation. You can still encode offline while the cached license token is valid.

What's the difference vs. using ffmpeg from the terminal?

Same encoder, less typing. Video Forge gives you a 5-second preview before the full encode, a side-by-side A/B with the original, a multi-video queue with live progress, target-size two-pass automation, and a HW-acceleration picker. It's still ffmpeg under the hood — you can save your config as a preset.

Will it run on my old Intel Mac?

v0.1 ships an Apple Silicon (arm64) build. Intel macOS support is on the v0.2 roadmap.

Why can macOS still show a first-launch warning?

The v0.1 macOS build is Developer ID signed, but Apple notarization credentials are not configured yet. Until the build is notarized, macOS may still require System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway on first launch. Public launch builds should be notarized before broad distribution.

Can I use my own ffmpeg arguments?

Today: pick a built-in preset or use the Manual tab to tune codec, container, CRF, two-pass target, framerate, audio codec, audio bitrate, and trim points. Direct "escape hatch" custom-args support is on the roadmap (v0.3).

What codecs are supported?

Video: H.264, H.265 (HEVC), AV1 (libaom), VP9, ProRes 422 HQ. Audio: AAC, MP3, Opus, FLAC, PCM. Containers: MP4, MKV, WebM, MOV, M4A. Whatever ffmpeg supports, in principle Video Forge can drive — contact support if your favorite codec is missing from the UI picker.

How much does it cost?

Your first 10 conversions are free — no signup, no card, no email. After that, $5 one-time unlocks unlimited conversions forever on up to 5 devices. 30-day refund, no questions asked.

Is the app subscription-based?

No. A single $5 payment unlocks Video Forge for life. No recurring charges, no auto-renewal, no upgrade tiers. Pay once, use forever on available desktop builds.

How is my license verified?

When you paste your license key, the app talks to our license server once to fetch a signed token. After that, the token works offline for 30 days at a time and refreshes weekly when you're online. The only network traffic is this tiny periodic check — your videos never leave your machine.

Download

Local conversion, paid once.

Pre-built installers for macOS Apple Silicon and Windows x64. ffmpeg is bundled.

macOS

Apple Silicon · 12+ · 47 MB

Developer ID signed arm64 build. Static ffmpeg, no Homebrew needed.

Download .dmg VideoForge_aarch64.dmg

Windows

10 / 11 · x64 · 91 MB

Unsigned early access x64 installer. Static ffmpeg is bundled; no separate setup required.

Download .exe Download MSI instead VideoForge_x64-setup.exe

Early access builds — macOS signed, notarization pending; Windows unsigned.

The macOS build is Developer ID signed, but Apple notarization credentials are not configured yet. On first launch, macOS can still show “Apple cannot check it for malicious software.” Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. The Windows build is not code-signed yet, so Microsoft SmartScreen can warn on first install. Public launch builds should be notarized and code-signed before broad distribution.

The first 10 conversions are free. After that, $5 unlocks unlimited use on up to 5 devices, forever. See pricing · 30-day refund.