h264ify

Name: h264ify
Rating: 4.4113 (231 reviews)
Author: erkserkserks

By: erkserkserks

Makes YouTube stream H.264 videos instead of VP8/VP9 videos

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Features & Capabilities

h264ify is a Chrome extension that enhances your YouTube viewing experience by switching video streams from YouTube's default VP8/VP9 codecs to H.264. Since H.264 is hardware accelerated on most GPUs, this results in smoother playback, reduced CPU usage, and extended battery life—perfect for laptops and less powerful machines.

Note that while h264ify improves performance, it restricts streaming availability for 4K and 1440p videos as YouTube no longer provides these resolutions in H.264 encoding. You can learn more or contribute on its GitHub page.

User Growth & Download Statistics

Add-on

By:

Daily users:

Rating:

Version:

1.1.0 Last updated: 2019-09-09

Version code:

4854553

Creation date:

2015-02-17

Risk:

Permissions:

storage

Content scripts matches:

*.youtube.com
*.youtube-nocookie.com
*.youtu.be

Size:

34.95KB

URLs:

Website

Full description:

Source:

Firefox Add-ons Store

Data ingested on:

2026-06-24

Compare stats and ranking:

Ranking

# 268 ▲ 3

Other rankings

#38 in Other extensions ▲ 1

#35 in laptop keyword 3

#65 in cause keyword 25 ▲ 1

#89 in stream keyword 36

#91 in reduce keyword 32 ▲ 1

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Other platforms

h264ify (v2.0.1)

156,518 4.80

(32)

For Developers

Monetize with App Pass Boost with Extension Booster

Contact the developer

Chrome-Stats does not own this Firefox add-on. Please use these information below to contact the Firefox add-on developer.

Developed by:

erkserkserks

Firefox Add-ons Store

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/h264ify/

Website:

https://github.com/erkserkserks/h264ify-firefox

User Reviews

Users praise h264ify for boosting performance on older machines by reducing CPU/RAM load and enabling hardware-accelerated H.264 on YouTube. It can help counteract AV1 usage by favoring older codecs. However, it can hide higher resolutions (2K/4K) and block VP8/VP9, which some dislike. The add-on may require manual config changes and restarts, and its lack of recent updates poses compatibility questions. Overall, a helpful tool for legacy setups with notable trade-offs.

Pros

Improves playback performance on older GPUs/CPUs, reducing lag and CPU/RAM usage.
Enables hardware-accelerated H.264 (AVC1) decoding for YouTube on older hardware.
Helps avoid YouTube's AV1 dominance by prioritizing older codecs (H.264/VP8/VP9) when possible.
Remains functional on long-ago maintained versions, providing value for legacy setups.

Cons

Disables higher resolutions above 1080p (e.g., 2K/4K) in some cases, reducing video quality options.
Blocks VP8/VP9 codecs, which can degrade quality or limit certain videos that rely on those formats.
Often requires manual tweaks (about:config) or a Firefox restart to apply changes.
Not updated for years (last around 6 years), raising potential compatibility concerns.

Recent reviews

by Gr*****, 2026-05-01

by fl*****, 2026-04-12

by Te*****, 2026-03-24

View all user reviews ›

Is h264ify Safe?

Risk impact

Risk impact measures the level of extra permissions an extension has access to. A low risk impact extension cannot do much harms, whereas a high risk impact extension can do a lot of damage like stealing your password, bypassing your security settings, and accessing your personal data. High risk impact extensions are not necessarily malicious. However, if they do turn malicious, they can be very harmful.

h264ify requires some sensitive permissions that could impact your browser and data security. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk impact analysis details

Critical Request access to the following domains: youtube.com, youtube-nocookie.com, youtu.be
High ******* ******* **** *** ****** ***** *** ***** ** ******* **** ********* ********* ** * *********** *****

Risk likelihood

Risk likelihood measures the probability that a Firefox add-on may turn malicious. This is determined by the publisher and the Firefox add-on reputation on Firefox Add-ons Store, the amount of time the Firefox add-on has been around, and other signals about the Firefox add-on. Our algorithms are not perfect, and are subject to change as we discover new ways to detect malicious extensions. We recommend that you always exercise caution when installing a Firefox add-on.

h264ify has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

Risk likelihood analysis details

Low This extension was updated more than 6 months ago. Older versions are more likely to be stable and safe.
Low **** ********* *** ***** **** **** * ****** **** ***** ********** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
Low **** ********* *** **** **** ****** ******* ********** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
Good **** ********* *** **** **** *******