Free tool
FLAC to MP3 converter
Drop a FLAC file here to convert FLAC to MP3 in your browser at 128, 192 or 320 kbps. Lossless music or a recording becomes an MP3 that nearly any phone, car stereo or player can handle, and nothing is uploaded.
- Free
- Works on phones
- Nothing is uploaded
Save as
MP3 quality
Plays everywhere. The sound is re-encoded at the quality you pick.
Drop your FLAC file here, or Choose your FLAC file
Any audio or video file, up to 1 GB and 2 hours. It’s converted in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
MP3 encoding by LAME, open-source software.
Is the FLAC a lecture, an interview or a long session? NoteOwl imports FLAC as it is and transcribes it on your Mac, with each speaker labelled and the transcript searchable.
How it works
How do you turn a FLAC file into an MP3?
Pick a bitrate, then drop the FLAC. The browser unpacks the lossless sound and an MP3 encoder running inside the page compresses it: about two and a half seconds for five minutes in Chrome. Listen to the result before you download it.
- 1
Choose 128, 192 or 320 kbps
320 for albums you want to keep, 192 for everyday listening, 128 for talks and audiobooks.
- 2
Drop the FLAC
Mono or stereo, 16-bit or 24-bit, up to 96 kHz. Chrome and Edge take files up to 2 hours; Safari takes up to 30 minutes.
- 3
Download the MP3
It is named after the FLAC, ending in .mp3. The FLAC itself stays exactly as it was.
What size MP3 does each bitrate give?
The bitrate alone sets it: 0.96, 1.44 or 2.4 MB a minute at 128, 192 or 320 kbps, whatever the FLAC weighed. The five-minute test FLAC was speech, which packs very small, so its MP3 outgrew it at 192 and 320 kbps.
- 5 min speech, 16-bit, 48 kHz stereo, 5.11 MB
- MP3 setting128 kbps
- MP3 size4.8 MB
- Seconds, Chrome / WebKit2.5 / 3.3
- Same FLAC
- MP3 setting192 kbps
- MP3 size7.2 MB
- Seconds, Chrome / WebKit2.5 / 2.8
- Same FLAC
- MP3 setting320 kbps
- MP3 size12.0 MB
- Seconds, Chrome / WebKit2.5 / 3.2
- 1 min, 24-bit, 96 kHz stereo, 4.78 MB
- MP3 setting320 kbps, written at 48 kHz
- MP3 size2.4 MB
- Seconds, Chrome / WebKit0.6 / 0.9
- 40 min, 16-bit, 48 kHz stereo, 40.9 MB
- MP3 setting192 kbps
- MP3 size57.6 MB
- Seconds, Chrome / WebKit19.3 / stops at 30 min
| FLAC in | MP3 setting | MP3 size | Seconds, Chrome / WebKit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 min speech, 16-bit, 48 kHz stereo, 5.11 MB | 128 kbps | 4.8 MB | 2.5 / 3.3 |
| Same FLAC | 192 kbps | 7.2 MB | 2.5 / 2.8 |
| Same FLAC | 320 kbps | 12.0 MB | 2.5 / 3.2 |
| 1 min, 24-bit, 96 kHz stereo, 4.78 MB | 320 kbps, written at 48 kHz | 2.4 MB | 0.6 / 0.9 |
| 40 min, 16-bit, 48 kHz stereo, 40.9 MB | 192 kbps | 57.6 MB | 19.3 / stops at 30 min |
What makes FLAC different from MP3?
FLAC is lossless: it packs sound the way a zip file packs a document, and unpacks to exactly the original samples. MP3 is lossy: it discards detail the ear is least likely to notice, which is how it gets small enough for any device.
Most FLACs are music: downloads from stores such as Bandcamp, and CDs ripped with XLD or Exact Audio Copy. Studio and hi-res releases use 24-bit sound at 48, 88.2 or 96 kHz, where a CD is 16-bit at 44.1 kHz. A FLAC also carries tags for title, artist and album, often with cover art.
Why turn lossless FLAC files into MP3?
To play them where FLAC can’t go, and to fit more on a device. Apple’s Music app won’t import FLAC, many car stereos and older players don’t read it, and lossless albums eat storage on a phone.
Keep the FLAC as your master copy. You can always make another MP3 from it at a different bitrate, but a FLAC rebuilt from an MP3 would hold nothing more than the MP3 did.
Is 320 kbps worth it for music from FLAC?
For music you care about, yes: 320 kbps is the highest bitrate MP3 has and the nearest an MP3 gets to the lossless original, at 2.4 MB a minute. 192 kbps suits most listening, and 128 kbps is plenty for spoken word.
- 128 kbps
- A minute0.96 MB
- A 45-minute album43 MB
- Good forTalks, lectures, audiobooks
- 192 kbps
- A minute1.44 MB
- A 45-minute album65 MB
- Good forEveryday listening (the default)
- 320 kbps
- A minute2.4 MB
- A 45-minute album108 MB
- Good forAlbums worth keeping
| Bitrate | A minute | A 45-minute album | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 128 kbps | 0.96 MB | 43 MB | Talks, lectures, audiobooks |
| 192 kbps | 1.44 MB | 65 MB | Everyday listening (the default) |
| 320 kbps | 2.4 MB | 108 MB | Albums worth keeping |
What happens to a 24-bit or 96 kHz FLAC?
It converts like any other. MP3 stores no fixed bit depth, so a 24-bit file goes to the encoder as readily as a 16-bit one. MP3 stops at 48 kHz, so 96 kHz becomes 48 kHz and 88.2 kHz becomes 44.1 kHz.
A one-minute 24-bit, 96 kHz FLAC became a 2.4 MB MP3 at 320 kbps in 0.6 seconds in Chrome. Untick Keep the original sample rate to get 44.1 kHz from every file.
Can NoteOwl open a FLAC recording without converting it?
Yes. NoteOwl on a Mac imports FLAC, along with MP3, WAV, M4A, AIFF, AAC and MP4, and transcribes each recording on your Mac with on-device AI models. Every speaker is labelled and the transcript stays searchable, so a recorded talk becomes notes.
For a quick transcript in the browser instead, try FLAC to text.
FAQ
Questions about converting FLAC to MP3
Is a FLAC to MP3 conversion lossless?
No. The FLAC is lossless but MP3 isn’t, so the MP3 gives up some detail; 320 kbps keeps as much as the format allows. Your FLAC is left exactly as it was, so you can always convert it again at another setting.
Is my FLAC uploaded anywhere?
No. Your browser decodes the FLAC on your own device and the page encodes the MP3 there too. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no transfer to wait for, however large the album file is.
Why is my MP3 bigger than the FLAC?
Because the FLAC holds speech or quiet material, which lossless compression packs very small, while an MP3’s size depends only on its bitrate. A five-minute speech FLAC of 5.11 MB became a 7.2 MB MP3 at 192 kbps. Music FLACs are far larger, and there the MP3 saves space.
Why does Safari stop at 30 minutes?
Safari can’t read FLAC a piece at a time, so the converter decodes the whole file at once there, which works up to 30 minutes and 300 MB. Chrome and Edge stream FLAC and convert files up to 2 hours long.
Can it convert a whole album at once?
No, one file at a time: drop a track, download its MP3, then drop the next. Each five-minute track takes around two and a half to three and a half seconds in Chrome or Safari.
Can I get a WAV from the FLAC instead?
Yes. Choose WAV before you drop the file and you get uncompressed 16-bit PCM, the same sound as a 16-bit FLAC. The five-minute test FLAC became a 57.6 MB WAV in half a second in Chrome. A 24-bit FLAC comes out at 16 bits.
Keep exploring
More audio converters
- Audio converterConvert audio and video files to MP3, WAV, M4A or OGG in your browser: M4A, FLAC, AIFF, OGG, Opus, WebM, MP4 and MOV in; nothing is uploaded
- WebM to MP3 converterConvert WebM to MP3 in your browser: the Opus or Vorbis sound of a browser or screen recording, saved as an MP3; nothing is uploaded
- AIFF to MP3 converterConvert AIFF and AIF files from GarageBand, Logic and other Mac apps to MP3 in your browser; nothing is uploaded
- MP3 to M4A converterConvert MP3 to M4A (AAC) in your browser at 96, 128 or 192 kbps, for iPhone, iPad and Mac apps; nothing is uploaded
Recorded talks into searchable notes, on your Mac
Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended
About NoteOwl
NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a one-time purchase.
NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds
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