Download Sample WEBM Files (HTML5 Video)

Download free sample WEBM files. Optimized for the modern web (HTML5 Video), WEBM offers high compression and native transparency support in browsers, making it the superior alternative to GIF and MOV. STANDARD Web Video & Streaming File Name Codec / Specs Size Action big_buck_bunny_720p.webm Standard VP9 VP9 Codec. The standard for YouTube and modern HTML5…

Download free sample WEBM files. Optimized for the modern web (HTML5 Video), WEBM offers high compression and native transparency support in browsers, making it the superior alternative to GIF and MOV.

STANDARD
Web Video & Streaming

File Name Codec / Specs Size Action
big_buck_bunny_720p.webm
Standard VP9		 VP9 Codec. The standard for YouTube and modern HTML5 players. 2.5 MB Download
legacy_vp8.webm
Old Compatibility		 VP8 Codec. Larger file size but compatible with very old versions of Chrome/Firefox. 4 MB Download
ui_interaction_loop.webm
GIF Replacement		 Short, silent loop. High quality. 10x smaller than a GIF. 200 KB Download

QA / ALPHA CHANNEL
Transparency & AV1 Codec

Test Case Description Size Action
Transparent Background (VP9) With Alpha. Place this video over a colored `div` to see the background through the video. Essential frontend test. 1.5 MB Download
AV1 / WebM (Next-Gen) The newest open standard. Better compression than VP9. Tests browser hardware acceleration support. 1.2 MB Download
Audio-Only WebM Contains only an Opus audio stream, no video track. Useful for testing fallback players. 500 KB Download

Technical Specs: WebM

  • Open Source: Sponsored by Google, WebM is royalty-free. It uses the Matroska (MKV) container structure but is restricted to VP8, VP9, or AV1 codecs.
  • Transparency: Unlike MP4 (H.264), WebM (VP8/VP9) supports an Alpha Channel natively in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
  • Safari Support: Historically poor, but modern Safari (macOS/iOS) now supports WebM (VP9), though transparency support can vary by OS version.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I use WebM instead of MP4?
WebM is royalty-free and open-source. More importantly for designers, it is the best way to have transparent video on the web. To get transparency in MP4, you need HEVC which is harder to produce and has licensing costs.
Will these files play on iPhone?
Yes, on modern iPhones (iOS 14+). Apple added support for VP9/WebM in recent updates. However, for older devices, you should always provide a fallback `.mp4` source in your video tag.

How to play WebM files?

WebM is designed for browsers, not desktop apps. The best way to preview them is simply to drag and drop them into Google Chrome or Edge.

  • Web Browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera have native support.
  • VLC Media Player: Plays WebM files smoothly on Windows/Mac without extra codecs.
  • IrfanView: Excellent lightweight viewer for Windows, if you install the plugins.

Developer’s Corner: Transparent Video

The power of WebM is the Alpha Channel. Use this FFmpeg command to convert a QuickTime Animation (MOV) to a transparent WebM.

# Create Transparent WebM (VP9) from source
ffmpeg -i “source_with_alpha.mov” \
-c:v libvpx-vp9 \
-pix_fmt yuva420p \
-b:v 0 -crf 30 \
“transparent_output.webm”

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