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Internet Friendly Media Encoder (IFME) is a free, GPL-licensed graphical front end for x264, x265, x266 and AV1 encoding on Windows and Linux, built so that every codec is a plugin you can swap yourself.
Internet Friendly Media Encoder is a free graphical front end for the video encoders that normally live on a command line.
It drives x264, x265, x266 and AV1, so the codec is something you pick from a dropdown rather than something you compile arguments for.
Version 8.7.0 arrived on 11 August 2026, and it is a speed and stability release rather than a feature one.
What IFME Actually Is
The useful way to think about it is as a control panel. IFME does not encode anything itself - it hands your files to real encoders and manages the queue, the settings and the muxing around them.
That matters because of how it is built. Every codec is a drop-in plugin, so when a new encoder build appears you can drop it into the IFME folder yourself instead of waiting for the app to be updated.
The 8.7.0 installer grants full permissions on its own program folder specifically so you can do that without administrator rights each time. If the phrase command line makes you uneasy, our GUI versus command line explainer covers what you are being spared.
Beyond encoding it also remuxes, merges streams, and burns or embeds subtitles, which covers most of what people otherwise open a second tool for.
Which Encoder Should You Pick?
This is the question IFME exists to make easy, and the answer depends on what the file is for.
- x264 - the safe choice. Everything plays H.264, so use it when the file has to work on someone else's device without a conversation about codecs.
- x265 - roughly half the file size of H.264 at similar quality, which is why it dominates archiving. Playback support is now good but not universal.
- AV1 - better compression again and royalty-free, encoded here through SVT-AV1. Slower to encode, and best for content you are keeping or streaming rather than sharing.
- x266 - VVC, the newest of the four, included through vvenc. Genuinely experimental, with very little playback support outside specialist software.
If you are weighing the middle two seriously, our guide on whether AV1 is better than H.265 goes through the trade-offs properly.
For encoder-specific detail there is also the best 4K HEVC encoder, plus a wider roundup of free HEVC encoders for Windows.
Converting Existing x264 Files to x265
This is the most common reason people install IFME, and it is a two-minute job. Drag the files in, choose x265 as the video encoder, pick a quality target, and start the queue.
Expect roughly half the file size at comparable quality, though the exact saving depends heavily on the source. Grainy or high-motion footage saves less than clean, static material.
Worth knowing before a large batch. Re-encoding is lossy, so converting an existing x264 file to x265 always loses a little quality on top of what the first encode already discarded. Keep the originals until you have checked a few results.
What Changed in 8.7.0
The theme is that the interface stopped waiting around. Several parts of it were starting threads that only slept, and the encode pipeline had fixed delays that guessed at how long things took.
- Selecting a file in the queue is now instant, and no longer shows you the previous file's settings if you click quickly.
- A 1.5 second wait after every encoded file and a 0.5 second wait before muxing are gone, which adds up substantially across a big batch.
- Encoder log output is batched, so a fast encoder no longer makes the window stutter.
- Importing files genuinely runs in the background - the progress dialog used to paint while the app was frozen.
- Window resizing costs about 22% less CPU.
On the bug side, the big one is that pressing Stop and then Start again used to do nothing for the rest of the session. That is fixed, and Stop now unwinds the pipeline cleanly instead of tearing it down mid-write.
Crashes when cycling output containers and when pressing Stop during encoder startup are also fixed, along with nonsense progress and ETA readings when an encoder reported a frame count IFME could not parse.
The bundled Windows encoders are FFmpeg git-2026-07-12, SVT-AV1 4.2.0, rigaya NVEnc 9.31, rigaya QSVEnc 8.26 and vvenc 1.15.0-dev. Interface wording was reworked throughout, and the deinterlace options now say what they actually do - mode 1 doubles the frame rate, which the old label never mentioned.
Hardware Encoding
If your machine has the hardware, IFME will use it. NVENC covers NVIDIA cards, Quick Sync covers Intel integrated graphics, and AMF covers AMD.
Hardware encoding is dramatically faster and noticeably worse per megabyte than the software encoders at the same file size. Use it when you need the job finished tonight, and use x265 or AV1 in software when you care more about the result than the wait.
What You Need to Run It
Your CPU needs AVX support, and 8.7.0 finally enforces it. The AVX and AVX2 check was broken in earlier versions and let unsupported processors carry on into startup, so some people running old hardware will find that IFME suddenly refuses to launch after this update. Starting it with the --skip-avx or --skip-avx2 argument bypasses the check if you want to try anyway.
- Windows, or Linux on Ubuntu and its derivatives.
- A CPU with AVX support, and AVX2 for some encoder builds.
- On Linux, the mono-complete package. The bundled plugins are statically compiled, so they travel across distributions.
- GPL-2.0 licensed and open source, with no paid tier and nothing bundled.
You can see the interface on the screenshots page before downloading anything.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
The tell is whether you want to choose settings at all. IFME exposes the encoders rather than hiding them, so if you want a single Convert button with no decisions attached, it will feel like too much.
If you only ever encode H.264, Simple x264 Launcher is a smaller tool built for exactly that. MediaCoder covers similar ground to IFME with a broader format list and a busier interface.
If you are not re-encoding at all but just need to change a container or shuffle streams, MKVToolNix does it without touching the video, which is faster and lossless. AVI ReComp remains the niche pick for older AVI material.
People who want the encoder itself rather than a front end should go straight to the x265 encoder or x264.
Our write-up of the x265 4.2 release covers what changed there most recently. A few other encoders are worth knowing about:
- Kvazaar - an open-source HEVC encoder built for academic and embedded work.
- X HEVC Encoder - a simpler standalone HEVC tool.
- x265vfw - for HEVC inside an application that only speaks Video for Windows.
The full video encoders category has the rest.
After Encoding
Check the result plays before you delete anything. Our free online HEVC Player opens an HEVC file in the browser with nothing to install, and the Codec Finder reports exactly what ended up inside the file.
If a finished file will not play elsewhere on the machine, that is a playback problem rather than an encoding one. K-Lite Codec Pack sorts it system-wide, and our guide to the best players for HEVC files covers which players handle it cleanly.
Quick questions
Is IFME free?
Yes, and open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. There is no paid version, no watermark and no bundled extras in the installer.
Does IFME only do x265?
No. It drives x264, x265, x266 and AV1, and each one is a swappable plugin you can update yourself without waiting for a new IFME release.
How much smaller will my files be?
Converting H.264 to x265 typically lands around half the size at comparable quality. Grainy or high-motion footage saves noticeably less than clean, static material.
Why will IFME not start after updating to 8.7.0?
Almost certainly the AVX check, which was broken before and now works properly. Launch it with the --skip-avx argument to bypass the check, though an unsupported CPU may still fail during encoding.
Does it run on Linux?
Yes, on Ubuntu and its derivatives, and support returned in 8.7.0. You need the mono-complete package installed first.
Should I use hardware encoding or software?
Hardware encoding through NVENC, Quick Sync or AMF is far faster but gives worse quality at the same file size. Use software x265 or AV1 when the result matters more than the wait.
Download IFME 8.7.0 and see how it handles your files, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.
