Format Showdown

MOV VS FLV

The ultimate comparison guide. Understanding the technical differences between QuickTime Movie and Flash Video.

MOV

mov

Multimedia framework developed by Apple, common in editing.

Pros

Professional editing standard
Alpha channel support (ProRes)
High quality

Cons

Large file sizes
Compatibility issues on Windows

FLV

flv

Legacy streaming container widely used before HTML5 video adoption.

Pros

Small file sizes
Progressive playback
Easy to embed in legacy players

Cons

Deprecated technology
No iOS/Android support
Must be converted for modern browsers

When MOV wins

Stay with MOV when you need video editing or apple devices. Its strengths center on professional editing standard and a feature set native to Apple.

When FLV wins

Choose FLV when your workflow prioritizes legacy archives or intranet training portals. It delivers small file sizes plus modern compression perks.

Technical Specifications

Feature	MOV	FLV
MIME Type	video/quicktime	video/x-flv
Developer	Apple	Macromedia
Release Year	1991	2002
Best For	Video editing, Apple devices, Post-production	Legacy archives, Intranet training portals

Need to switch?

Convert FLV to MOV

Opportunity map

Where MOV still wins

Keep MOV when you need professional editing standard and workflows depend on video editing / apple devices. Link those teams directly to the converter above so they can ship FLV deliverables without leaving their browser.

• Reference the .mov glossary from this page.
• Embed the conversion CTA in docs, wikis, and onboarding runbooks.
• Use FLV for legacy archives while archiving originals as MOV.

Internal linking plan

Keep crawlers in the conversion hub

Link this comparison to the relevant tool, glossary, and documentation pages so every crawl discovers a monetizable route.

MOV to FLV converter FLV to MOV converter Use case library Implementation docs