FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec)
FLAC is a free lossless audio format that keeps CD-quality sound at roughly half the size of WAV. Learn when to use FLAC instead of MP3.
- Type
- Audio
- File extensions
- .flac
- MIME type
- audio/flac
What is FLAC?
FLAC compresses audio without losing any information: decoding a FLAC file gives back exactly the original samples. Files are typically 40–60% of the size of WAV.
It supports tags and album art and is widely used for music archiving and high-resolution audio.
When to use FLAC
- Archiving music collections
- High-resolution audio
- Converting WAV to save space without loss
Limitations
- Much larger than MP3 or AAC
- Not supported by some older players
Compatibility
Supported by modern browsers, Android, Windows, macOS and most media players; on iPhone through the Files app and Apple Music in recent iOS versions.
Compared with other formats
- MP3: MP3 is much smaller but lossy.