HEVCut vs Compress Videos: Which App Is Right for You?

Running low on iPhone storage? You're not alone. Videos and photos are the biggest space hogs on most devices, and finding the right app to manage them can make a real difference.

Two popular options you'll find on the App Store are Compress Videos & Resize Video (from New Marketing Lab) and HEVCut. Both help you shrink video files, but they take different approaches, and one offers a lot more than just video compression. This guide breaks down the key differences so you can pick the one that fits your needs.

Details about Compress Videos are as listed on the US App Store (checked 19 October 2026), where it was the top search result for video compression and rated 4.7 from about 18,000 ratings. Listings change, so check the current page before you buy.

Compress Videos

Free with ads

HEVCut

Ad-free · iPhone, iPad, Mac

Quick Comparison

The Big Difference: How Compression Works

This is the most important thing to understand when comparing these apps.

Compress Videos: Compress and Resize

As the name says, Compress Videos & Resize Video shrinks and resizes videos. Its listing says it accepts H.264, HEVC, and MPEG-4 videos, but it doesn't say which codec it writes. Compressed videos are saved as copies in your library and in a "Compressed Videos" album, so the originals stay until you delete them yourself.

HEVCut: HEVC With Presets You Can Read

HEVCut re-encodes every video to HEVC (H.265), a modern codec that is more efficient than older formats such as H.264. HDR sources are encoded in 10-bit, so HLG and HDR10 footage stays HDR.

You pick one of four presets: Gentle, Standard (the default), High, or Maximum. HEVCut adapts the bitrate to each video's resolution and frame rate, and the settings sheet sums up the result in plain words, such as "Similar look" and "Up to 1080p."

By default the presets cap output at 1080p (Maximum at 720p). If you want your 4K videos to stay 4K, turn on Keep original resolution in the Video Compression settings. It's free. With HEVCut Pro, Fine-tune sets an exact bitrate, resolution, and frame rate.

HEVCut also skips videos it expects to shrink by less than 5%, and if a result comes out larger than the original, it throws the result away and keeps the original.

Metadata: The Hidden Problem Most Apps Ignore

Here's something most people don't think about until it's too late: metadata.

When you take a video on your iPhone, it stores more than just the footage. It records:

• Date and time the video was taken
• GPS location where you recorded it
• Camera settings (exposure, lens, etc.)
• Device information
• Orientation data

This metadata is what lets you search "videos from Paris" or scroll to a specific date in your library. It's incredibly valuable.

The Problem with Some Compression Apps

Not every compression app carries this metadata over. Reviews on several App Store compressor listings complain about lost dates and locations: after compression, a video can show today's date instead of when it was recorded, or lose its place on the map.

The Compress Videos listing doesn't say whether it keeps the date and location, so compress one test video and check its info in Photos before you convert a whole batch.

What HEVCut Keeps

HEVCut copies the original file's metadata into the new video and restores the details Photos uses to organize your library. Your compressed video keeps:

After compression, your video appears where it should in your library: same date, same location, same albums. The difference is the file size.

More Than Just Video Compression

Compress Videos focuses on video. Photo compression is offered as a separate app, and its listing has no duplicate or clutter tools.

HEVCut is a complete storage management toolkit:

If you're serious about freeing up storage, videos are only part of the equation. Duplicate photos, forgotten screenshots, and uncompressed images can eat up just as much space. HEVCut handles all of it in one app.

Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Compress Videos is an iPhone and iPad app. On a Mac it runs as the iPad version, which its listing marks "Not verified for macOS."

HEVCut has a native Mac app alongside the iPhone and iPad versions, with the same tools on each. It needs iOS, iPadOS, or macOS 26 or later.

If you manage your photo library across multiple Apple devices, you can use HEVCut wherever you are. Compress on whichever device is handy, and iCloud Photos syncs the smaller files to the others.

Other Key Differences

Ads vs. Ad-Free

Compress Videos shows ads in its free tier, with paid Pro options (monthly, annual, or lifetime) for batch compression and other Pro features.

HEVCut has no ads at all. Scanning your library, browsing results, and reviewing compressed files are free, and you can try three compressions before deciding on Pro for unlimited compression.

Processing Multiple Videos

Compress Videos lists batch compression as a Pro feature. Some reviews on its listing mention progress being lost when switching to another app.

HEVCut can compress every photo and video that matches your filters in one run. Videos are encoded one at a time on your device's hardware HEVC encoder. On iOS 26 the queue keeps going in the background with a system progress indicator; if iOS pauses it, it picks up again when you return to the app. On a Mac it keeps encoding while you use other apps.

Review Before You Replace

Compress Videos saves compressed copies, so you delete the originals yourself.

HEVCut saves each compressed version as a new item and leaves the original in place. Compare them, then tap Keep Compressed (the original moves to Recently Deleted) or Revert (the compressed copy is removed). You can also keep or revert a whole batch at once.

Photo Compression

Compress Videos handles video only; photo compression is a separate app.

HEVCut compresses photos too, saving them as HEIC or AVIF. The photo presets also cap image size (3840 px on the long edge for Gentle and Standard), so very large 48 MP shots shrink in pixels as well as bytes. Fine-tune in Pro can keep full resolution.

Duplicate Detection

Compress Videos doesn't help with duplicates.

HEVCut groups duplicate photos and videos into four tiers, from byte-identical Exact copies to Near matches and Burst frames. Keep Best Copy picks the copy to keep, based on favorites, location, edits, resolution, and size, and tells you why. Review the groups, keep the ones you want, delete the rest.

Clutter Cleanup

HEVCut helps you find and remove clutter: screenshots, screen recordings, QR codes and barcodes, blurry photos, and images saved from messaging and social apps. Blur and code detection come from Apple Photos' own on-device analysis, and you review and delete in bulk.

External Drives and SD Cards

The Compress Videos listing doesn't mention external storage.

HEVCut can also compress videos and photos in a folder on an external drive, an SD card, or another Files location. Each result is saved next to the original and keeps the source file's dates.

What Each App Does Well

Who Should Use Which?

Choose Compress Videos if:

• You only need to compress the occasional video
• You don't mind ads in the free tier
• Your iPhone or iPad can't run iOS 26, which HEVCut requires
• You only use iPhone or iPad

Choose HEVCut if:

• You want to choose between 1080p savings and keeping 4K at 4K
• Preserving dates, locations, favorites, and albums matters to you
• You want one app that handles videos, photos, duplicates, and cleanup
• You use a Mac too, or compress footage on an SD card or external drive
• You have lots of media to process at once
• You'd rather not deal with ads

The Bottom Line

Compress Videos is a popular, ad-supported compressor for iPhone and iPad. It saves compressed copies to their own album, but its listing doesn't say which codec it outputs or whether dates and locations survive, so test one video before you compress a batch.

HEVCut compresses videos to HEVC and photos to HEIC or AVIF, keeps dates, locations, favorites, and albums, and lets you review every result before the original goes. It outputs 1080p by default, with a free toggle to keep 4K, and it goes beyond compression with duplicate, clutter, and swipe cleanup in a native app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

If you want compression and cleanup in one ad-free app, HEVCut is built for that.

For a wider look, see our video compressor app comparison or browse all comparisons.