The latest articles on DEV Community by Chris Howe (@chris_howe). https://dev.to/chris_howe https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3556974%2Fcfad7c8c-1e3d-44f8-a8fb-7def84c0bd49.png https://dev.to/chris_howe en Chris Howe Fri, 10 Oct 2025 04:12:12 +0000 https://dev.to/chris_howe/i-built-a-free-online-video-compressor-in-2-weeks-49id https://dev.to/chris_howe/i-built-a-free-online-video-compressor-in-2-weeks-49id <p>Hi everyone! <br> Over the past two weeks, I built a small side project called VideoCompress<br> — a fast, free, and easy-to-use online video compressor with no watermark or usage limits.</p> <p>💡 <strong>The Problem</strong></p> <p>There are plenty of “free” online video compressors, but most of them come with frustrating limitations — watermarks, file size limits, or hidden paywalls.<br> I wanted something simple: just upload → compress → download — no distractions, no tricks.</p> <p>🧱 <strong>The Tech Stack</strong><br> The project is built with:</p> <ul> <li>Frontend: Nuxt, for static site generation and an ultra-fast UI.</li> <li>Backend: FastAPI, for handling API requests.</li> <li>Video Processing: FFmpeg, running on the server for efficient compression.</li> </ul> <p>The Nuxt app is completely static — deployed on a CDN for fast global access — while the backend API handles the heavy lifting on the server.</p> <p>⚙️ <strong>Why I Moved Compression to the Backend</strong></p> <p>Initially, I implemented compression on the frontend using WebAssembly builds of FFmpeg.<br> It worked, but the performance wasn’t great — CPU utilization was low, and large files took ages to compress.</p> <p>By moving the compression process to the server side, I could fully leverage the machine’s CPU and I/O performance.<br> This resulted in much faster compression, especially for longer videos or high-resolution formats (like 1080p or 4K).</p> <p>It also gave me more flexibility to:</p> <ul> <li>Optimize compression presets dynamically</li> <li>Handle larger uploads</li> <li>Support multiple video formats (MP4, MOV, AVI, etc.)</li> </ul> <p>🧪 <strong>Lessons Learned</strong></p> <ul> <li>Frontend compression sounds cool, but for heavy workloads, it’s just not efficient.</li> <li>FFmpeg remains unbeatable when it comes to quality-to-size ratio.</li> <li>Keeping the UI minimal is key — users just want results, not settings overload.</li> <li>Building static with Nuxt + FastAPI backend is a great combo for projects like this — quick to build, easy to deploy, and highly scalable.</li> </ul> <p>🌍 Try It Out</p> <p>If you’d like to give it a try, you can check it out here:<br> 👉 <a href="https://videocompress.ai" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://videocompress.ai</a></p> <p>It’s completely free, no watermarks, no hidden limits.<br> Would love to hear your feedback or suggestions for improvement!</p> webdev productivity beginners javascript