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FLAC icon

FLAC

 625 likes

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed...

License model

  • FreeOpen Source

Application type

Country of Origin

  • US flagUnited States

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Android  FLAC tags are not always properly recognized: try Extended Media Scanner
  • BSD
5 / 5 Avg rating (5)
625likes
5comments
0news articles

Features

Suggest and vote on features
  1.  Lossless Compression
  2.  Lossless Audio

 Tags

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  • c17s5qhu, WiseSageBum, u7741339 and alexzeecomedy liked FLAC
    1 day ago
  • gaffe820, jesserosenbaum, gramblo353 and boomflex liked FLAC
    3 months ago
  • namdx1987 and kitsunta1l liked FLAC
    3 months ago
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FLAC information

  • Developed by

    US flagJosh Coalson
  • Licensing

    Open Source and Free product.
  • Written in

  • Rating

    Average rating of 5
  • Alternatives

    8 alternatives listed
  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Category

Audio & Music

GitHub repository

  •  1,967 Stars
  •  315 Forks
  •  49 Open Issues
  •   Updated Jun 13, 2025 
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Our users have written 5 comments and reviews about FLAC, and it has gotten 625 likes

FLAC was added to AlternativeTo by ruka_m on Mar 23, 2011 and this page was last updated Oct 30, 2023.

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Top Positive Comment
Unk42 Roman M
Mar 23, 2019
1

The best audio codec and file format (IMHO)

Shaz Shah
Dec 19, 2024
0

FLAC is an excellent lossless audio format for music. While MP3 is very popular and is compatible on various devices and media players, it is based on lossy compression where the quality difference can be noticed. I moved from MP3 to Ogg Vorbis, but now FLAC. Yes, the files are bigger but the quality is far superior.

Unk42 Roman M
Mar 23, 2019
1

In my opinion, the best patent-free audio codec and audio file format. Good compression support, save in some cases, more audio data, compared to wav.

landroni
Apr 16, 2011
2

Oh, and if any of you is afraid of FLAC being open-source, consider that Apple released a Beatles complete works using FLAC 24 bit (a bit pricy, between 250 and 350 euros), quality higher than that of ordinary CDs.

landroni
Apr 16, 2011
2

I was moving my discs on my SE Xperia X10 running Android and I was using OGG Vorbis with what I call(ed) quasi-insanely high quality, that is using -q 9 (targets 320kb/s). And I've decided to give FLAC a spin: it kicks ass! I think I'll stop caring about the size of FLACs (on an average CD, around 350MB, compared to about 160MB for Vorbis -q 9). The sound is crystal clear in my Phillips Stretch headphones.

On Android support for FLAC tags is patchy, and you can use Extended Media Scanner to fix it (worked for me).

What is FLAC?

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format similar to MP3, but lossless, meaning that audio is compressed in FLAC without any loss in quality. This is similar to how Zip works, except with FLAC you will get much better compression because it is designed specifically for audio, and you can play back compressed FLAC files in your favorite player (or your car or home stereo, see supported devices) just like you would an MP3 file.

FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API, and has several other independent implementations.

Official Links