Radar check
What we found when we opened it. Every bar is one fact, with its date.
Last code pushed 26 Oct 2026, 2 days before this check.
Latest release v0.6.0 on 26 Oct 2026.
Public since January 2020, a little over 6 years.
2,002 stars and 188 forks.
10 commits and 5 new issues in the last 90 days.
79 contributors. 6 pull requests merged in 90 days.
A security policy says how to report a problem. No published security advisories.
How the bars are scored
- Alive. Days since the last code push: a week or less 100, a month 90, three months 70, six months 50, a year 30, eighteen months 15, older 0.
- Releases. Age of the latest GitHub release, on a similar scale; no bar when the project publishes no releases.
- Maturity. Age of the project: eight years 100, five 90, three 70, two 55, one 40, six months 25, younger 10.
- Adoption. Stars on a log scale: 100,000 stars is 100, 10,000 is 80, 1,000 is 60, 100 is 40.
- Activity. Commits in the last 90 days: 300 or more 100, 100 85, 30 65, 10 45, any 25.
- Community. People who have contributed: 100 or more 100, 30 80, 10 60, 5 40, 2 25, one 10.
- Security. A published security policy 80, none 40; published advisories are listed, not scored.
Checked by Repo Radar on 28 Oct 2026 from the repository on GitHub.
In simple English
Video encoding takes a long time and often leaves most of your computer processor sitting idle. This tool chops a large video file into smaller pieces and encodes them all at the same time. It uses every CPU core you have to make the job finish much faster. You also get better video quality at a smaller file size. It is free to use, but you need some technical skill with the command line.
What it is
Av1an is a command-line video encoding framework written in Rust (a programming language known for speed and safety). It splits videos into scenes, encodes them in parallel using encoders like SVT-AV1 or x265, and stitches them back together.
What it is good for
Solo video creators, archivists, and anyone who compresses large video files and wants to make full use of their computer hardware without manual splitting.
Summary (Key Points)from the README
Key features
- Parallel encoding: Runs multiple encoder processes at once to speed up encoding and raise CPU utilization.
- Target Quality mode: Uses metrics to control the encoder's rate control and reach a desired video quality.
- VMAF plotting: Plots VMAF scores to check the quality of an encode.
- VapourSynth support: Accepts VapourSynth scripts (`.vpy`) as input.
- Cancel and resume: Stops and restarts encoding without losing progress.
- Multiple encoders: Supports aomenc, SvtAv1EncApp, rav1e, vpxenc, x264 and x265.
- Docker images: Pre-built images include all dependencies and are frequently updated.
- Cross-platform CLI: A minimal command-line tool written in Rust that runs on Windows, Linux and macOS.
Ways to install
| Platform or method | What it needs | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Arch Linux & Manjaro (`pacman -S av1an`) | pacman and an available Av1an package | Low |
| Cargo (`cargo install av1an`) | Cargo, plus the encoders and other tools you use | Low |
| Pre-built Docker images | Docker; all dependencies are included | Low |
| Windows prebuilt binaries | Downloads from the GitHub releases page; a nightly build of `master` is also offered | Low |
| Manual compilation | FFmpeg, VapourSynth and at least one encoder, plus optional plugins; see the compiling guide | High |
Important
- Executable encoder required: Av1an needs an encoder executable, not just its library. A package that installs only libvpx or libSvtAv1Enc is not enough.
- Manual install prerequisites: FFmpeg, VapourSynth and at least one encoder must be installed before Av1an will run.
- Optional tools change what works: VMAF, XPSNR, Vapoursynth-HIP, Vapoursynth-Zig Image Process and vapoursynth-julek-plugin are needed for Target Quality metrics. Better chunking needs L-SMASH, FFMS2 or BestSource.
- DGDecNV hardware limit: Its fast chunking needs an NVIDIA GPU with CUVID and the `dgindexnv` executable on the system path.
- Windows plugin setup: L-SMASH, FFMS2 and BestSource on Windows are installed with the VapourSynth `vsrepo.py` script, run from the VapourSynth directory.
- Nightly build: The nightly build tracks the current `master` branch, not a tagged release.
Written by an AI model from the project’s README; not part of the review, and it can be wrong.
- Speeds up video encoding by running multiple encoder processes across all CPU cores.
- Supports target quality encoding using visual metrics like VMAF to keep quality high.
- Allows you to stop an encode and resume it later without losing progress.
- Requires separate command-line encoders (like SVT-AV1 or x264) to be installed on your system.
- Can be difficult to set up for non-programmers due to numerous optional dependencies.
- Consumes 100% of your CPU and significant RAM while running, which may slow down your computer.
running FFmpeg or Handbrake on a single CPU core for long periods
FFmpeg
- HandBrake/HandBrake25k stars
A popular video transcoder with a graphical interface, but it lacks Av1an's scene-based parallel chunking.
- mifi/lossless-cut45k stars
A tool to trim and cut videos without re-encoding, whereas Av1an re-encodes and compresses them.
- mltframework/shotcut16k stars
A mature cross-platform desktop video editor with installers for Linux, macOS and Windows, reading almost any format through FFmpeg.
- spotify/pedalboard6.4k stars
Applies audio effects to recordings from Python, including studio plug-ins, without calling another program.
- iver56/audiomentations2.3k stars
Spoils sound recordings on purpose, 39 ways, so a model trained on them copes with real rooms.
cargo install av1an