Convert FLAC to MP3 online

If your music library is in FLAC — the audiophile's favourite format because it doesn't lose a single bit — and you need a version that sounds just as good on any phone, car, or simple Bluetooth speaker, this converter turns it into MP3 right in your browser, without uploading the file to any server.

What's converting a FLAC to MP3 good for?

FLAC is a lossless format: it compresses the file without dropping a single bit of information, which is why it's the standard among audiophiles and labels selling high-quality music. The catch is the size — an album in FLAC can weigh several times more than in MP3 — and the fact that not every device plays it well: older cars, some Bluetooth speakers and simple apps prefer MP3. Converting your library gets you a universal format without eating up so much storage.

How it works: converted in your browser, not on a server

We use ffmpeg compiled to WebAssembly, running inside your browser tab. When you hit 'Convert', the FLAC is decoded losslessly and that audio gets re-encoded as MP3 with libmp3lame at a high variable bitrate, without the file ever leaving your machine. The result downloads directly, just like any other file.

Steps to convert your FLAC to MP3

• Choose the FLAC file from your device ('Choose file' button).
• Hit 'Convert'. The first time, your browser downloads the conversion engine (a few MB); after that, it's faster.
• Wait for the progress bar to reach 100%.
• Download the resulting MP3 with the 'Download result' button.

Lossless vs. lossy: what you gain and what you give up

Going from FLAC to MP3 is a one-way trade: you gain universal compatibility and a much lighter file, but you give up the guarantee that the audio is an exact copy of the master. At the high VBR setting we use, that trade-off is inaudible in practically every real-world case — regular headphones, car speakers, Bluetooth — though a sound engineer with reference-grade gear could, in theory, tell the difference. For everyday listening, the resulting MP3 is more than good enough.

Honest limits worth knowing

Since the conversion happens in your browser, the real limit is your device's memory and processing power, not an artificial cap of ours. High-resolution FLAC files (24-bit/96 kHz) or very long full albums can take longer or use quite a bit of memory on phones with limited RAM. This converter processes one file at a time, on a single thread, so converting an entire discography goes better one file at a time from a computer.

Other related conversions

If your source file is instead an uncompressed WAV, use WAV to MP3; the result and the logic are the same. And if your audio is in M4A (from iTunes, say), check out M4A to MP3. If you don't have the audio file yet and want to download audio from YouTube, use our YouTube video downloader.