FLAC vs ALAC: What's the Difference and How to Choose Between Them

FLAC: Short for Free Lossless Audio Codec, FLAC is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio. Despite being compressed, it remains lossless, which means that FLAC can retain the original sound quality while taking up less space. As an open format with royalty-free licensing, it is supported by different operating systems like Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.

ALAC: Also known as Apple Lossless Audio Codec, ALAC is another audio coding format developed by Apple Inc. for lossless compression of digital audio. Very similar to FLAC, but only supported on Apple products.

Also read: FLAC vs WAV | OGG vs FLAC | DSD vs FLAC | 320kbps vs FLAC | AIFF vs FLAC

1.File Extension

FLAC: .flac

ALAC: .m4a, .caf

2.Sound Quality

Since both are lossless compressed audio, their sound quality is close to the original recording, which means that when both FLAC and ALAC are made from the same original source, they have the same sound quality - that of the original file.

3.Compression Ratio and File Size

FLAC has a better compression ratio than ALAC (FLAC: 57%, ALAC: 57.8%), hence a relatively smaller size than ALAC.

Note: The compression ratio is compressed size/uncompressed size * 100. So, lower is better.

4.Supported Programs

FLAC can be played on most music apps except on iTunes while ALAC can be played only on limited apps on iOS, such as iTunes.

From Part 2, we come to know that FLAC and ALAC have the same audio quality and about-the-same file size. The only difference that matters lies in the devices, which could be the criteria to divide audiophiles into two groups: one is the Apple user who would likely prefer ALAC to FLAC, and the other is non-Apple users who may find FLAC a more versatile format. In all, neither FLAC nor ALAC wins in the ALAC vs FLAC battle for it is up to the individual’s own taste.