ReelCapHome

WEBM vs MP4 for demo videos

For demo videos on the web, WEBM is almost always enough: YouTube, Product Hunt, X, LinkedIn, Discord and every modern browser accept it directly. MP4 still matters for older desktop editors, some presentation software and iOS-native workflows. ReelCap exports WEBM — upload it as-is, and convert it once in the rare case something insists on MP4.

Doing it without an extension

  1. 1Check whether your destination actually needs MP4 — most upload forms take WEBM without complaint.
  2. 2If it does, install ffmpeg, or use any local converter you already trust.
  3. 3Run a single conversion command over the recording, keeping the original as your master.
  4. 4Upload the converted file, and keep the WEBM for future re-exports.

Where that falls short

  • Every re-encode costs a little quality, so converting more than once compounds the loss.
  • Online converters mean uploading your recording to a stranger's server — the opposite of recording locally.
  • MP4 files of the same visual quality are usually larger than the WEBM you started with.

Doing it with ReelCap

  1. 1Record in ReelCap and download the WEBM file.
  2. 2Upload it directly wherever you're publishing — YouTube, Product Hunt and social platforms accept it as-is.
  3. 3Only if a tool refuses WEBM, convert once locally with ffmpeg: ffmpeg -i demo.webm -c:v libx264 -crf 20 -c:a aac demo.mp4
  4. 4Keep the WEBM as the master, so future conversions start from the original quality.

Every step happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and the export carries no watermark.

Questions about this

Record your next demo in the next five minutes

Install the extension, open the tab you want to show, and press record. That's the whole setup.

Free · no account · nothing leaves your browser