diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0d1fa9e..7a04fe9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ All are optional, JWT_SECRET is recommended to be set.
 | WEBROOT                      |                                                    | The address to the root path setting this to "/convert" will serve the website on "example.com/convert/"                                                      |
 | FFMPEG_ARGS                  |                                                    | Arguments to pass to the input file of ffmpeg, e.g. `-hwaccel vaapi`. See https://github.com/C4illin/ConvertX/issues/190 for more info about hw-acceleration. |
 | FFMPEG_OUTPUT_ARGS           |                                                    | Arguments to pass to the output of ffmpeg, e.g. `-preset veryfast`                                                                                            |
+| FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE       | false                                              | Use hardware encoders (NVENC, VAAPI, etc.) when available instead of software encoders for h264/h265 formats                                                 |
 | HIDE_HISTORY                 | false                                              | Hide the history page                                                                                                                                         |
 | LANGUAGE                     | en                                                 | Language to format date strings in, specified as a [BCP 47 language tag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF_language_tag)                                     |
 | UNAUTHENTICATED_USER_SHARING | false                                              | Shares conversion history between all unauthenticated users                                                                                                   |
diff --git a/src/converters/ffmpeg.ts b/src/converters/ffmpeg.ts
index 8418e2d..454c633 100644
--- a/src/converters/ffmpeg.ts
+++ b/src/converters/ffmpeg.ts
@@ -712,15 +712,27 @@ export async function convert(
     const split = convertTo.split(".");
     const codec_short = split[0];
 
+    // Check if hardware encoding is preferred (NVENC, VAAPI, etc.)
+    const preferHardware = process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE === "true" ||
+                          process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE === "1";
+
     switch (codec_short) {
       case "av1":
         extraArgs.push("-c:v", "libaom-av1");
         break;
       case "h264":
-        extraArgs.push("-c:v", "libx264");
+        if (preferHardware) {
+          extraArgs.push("-c:v", "h264_nvenc");
+        } else {
+          extraArgs.push("-c:v", "libx264");
+        }
         break;
       case "h265":
-        extraArgs.push("-c:v", "libx265");
+        if (preferHardware) {
+          extraArgs.push("-c:v", "hevc_nvenc");
+        } else {
+          extraArgs.push("-c:v", "libx265");
+        }
         break;
       case "h266":
         extraArgs.push("-c:v", "libx266");
diff --git a/tests/converters/ffmpeg.test.ts b/tests/converters/ffmpeg.test.ts
index 6f0afc6..e190892 100644
--- a/tests/converters/ffmpeg.test.ts
+++ b/tests/converters/ffmpeg.test.ts
@@ -121,6 +121,66 @@ test("uses libx266 for h266.mp4", async () => {
   expect(loggedMessage).toBe("stdout: Fake stdout");
 });
 
+test("uses h264_nvenc for h264.mp4 when hardware preferred", async () => {
+  process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE = "true";
+
+  const originalConsoleLog = console.log;
+
+  let loggedMessage = "";
+  console.log = (msg) => {
+    loggedMessage = msg;
+  };
+
+  await convert("in.mkv", "mkv", "h264.mp4", "out.mp4", undefined, mockExecFile);
+
+  console.log = originalConsoleLog;
+
+  expect(calls[0]).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(["-c:v", "h264_nvenc"]));
+  expect(loggedMessage).toBe("stdout: Fake stdout");
+
+  delete process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE;
+});
+
+test("uses hevc_nvenc for h265.mp4 when hardware preferred", async () => {
+  process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE = "true";
+
+  const originalConsoleLog = console.log;
+
+  let loggedMessage = "";
+  console.log = (msg) => {
+    loggedMessage = msg;
+  };
+
+  await convert("in.mkv", "mkv", "h265.mp4", "out.mp4", undefined, mockExecFile);
+
+  console.log = originalConsoleLog;
+
+  expect(calls[0]).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(["-c:v", "hevc_nvenc"]));
+  expect(loggedMessage).toBe("stdout: Fake stdout");
+
+  delete process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE;
+});
+
+test("uses libx264 for h264.mp4 when hardware not preferred", async () => {
+  process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE = "false";
+
+  const originalConsoleLog = console.log;
+
+  let loggedMessage = "";
+  console.log = (msg) => {
+    loggedMessage = msg;
+  };
+
+  await convert("in.mkv", "mkv", "h264.mp4", "out.mp4", undefined, mockExecFile);
+
+  console.log = originalConsoleLog;
+
+  expect(calls[0]).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(["-c:v", "libx264"]));
+  expect(loggedMessage).toBe("stdout: Fake stdout");
+
+  delete process.env.FFMPEG_PREFER_HARDWARE;
+});
+
 test("respects FFMPEG_ARGS", async () => {
   process.env.FFMPEG_ARGS = "-hide_banner -y";