As of recent, I was attempting to decrease the file size of a file on my computer named chez.mp4. My goal was to go from a 178 MB (184,570,321 bytes) MP4 file that lasted about three hours (12,003 seconds) to a file that had the same runtime but was less than 25MB. Thus my journey down the search results had begun.
I couldn't recommend freecompress.com as I had to wait about two and a half hours for it to do its thing, but after it reached 100% it had, firstly, increased the file size by about 25% (199.9MB) and, secondly, it told me that I couldn't even download the larger file because it took over an hour. I'd assume that the thing works with smaller files and probably does a good job too, but for my usecases, it just wasn't for me.
Next I tried to use clideo.com but the only upside of using their service is that it is super speedy, its incredible and only took about five minuites. However, they dont provide a watermark free version unless you sign in/up which is a dealbreaker regardless, and even then it was only about 13% of difference (154.7MB) so, I'll pass
After that, I attempted to use compress-video-online.com which seems perfect on the surface, but when I attempted to put my huge file in, it just couldn't handle the sheer length of it and went kaput which is a shame because there is a perfect slider that lets you choose the size of the output and it even comes without a watermark, but alas, my file was too massive.
My last attempt was with compressvideo.io which was a faliure as it only dropped the size by 35% (113.52MB).
So thats where my story ends, I'll probably just use catbox.moe like a normal person, but still, its the thought that counts