The Best Free MPC-HC AlternativesTop Media & Audio Players like MPC-HC

Alternatives list

1. 

   

   VLC Media Player

    7859 likes

   Enjoy seamless media experiences with this cross-platform, ad-free player supporting multimedia files, DVDs, streaming, Chromecast, 4K, and no tracking. Customize with themes, play offline, and get privacy-focused service without registration. Fully extensible by plugins.

   192 VLC Media Player alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-2.0)

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • France
   • EU

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • Windows Mobile
   • Android
   • iPhone
   • Android Tablet
   • BSD
   • HUAWEI AppGallery
   • iPad
   • AppImageHub
   • Apple Watch
   • Snapcraft
   • Google Chrome
   • Apple TV
   • Flathub
   • PortableApps.com
   • F-Droid
   • Kindle Fire
   • Haiku
   • Android TV
   • Homebrew
   • Chocolatey
   • Xbox

   • France
   • EU

   

   

   

   +4

   

   More about VLC Media Player  

   

   Good alternative?Is VLC Media Player a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    

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   9comments

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   VLC Media Player vs MPC-HC Comments

   Top Positive Comment by Guest · Mar 14, 2020

   It's one alternative, not the best, MPC-HC is very very fast and simple , it's a shame that doesn't exist a very MPC-HC equivalent app in Linux comunity.

   Top Negative Comment by Guest · Mar 13, 2017

   It's all about the functionality while playing, the capability in adjusting the control keys and the skip times configuration.

   Yeah, it can be personalized and the wide of the compatible video and audio formats is almost equal, yet VLC is still no capable of being personalized in the important thing to me.

   Positive comment by Guest · May 31, 2026

   lightweight, easy to use, capable

   3 of 9 comments

   

   

   • VLC Media Player is Free and Open SourceMPC-HC is also Free and Open Source
   • VLC Media Player is Customizable and DecentralizedMPC-HC is not according to our users
2. 

   

   MPC-BE

    186 likes

   Media Player Classic - Black Edition (MPC-BE) is a fork of MPC and MPC-HC. It moved away from MPC's aim to mimic the look and feel of Windows Media Player with updated player controls and provides additional features on top of MPC-HC such as a video preview tooltip when...

   132 MPC-BE alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • Russia

   Platforms

   • Windows

   • Russia

   

   

   

   +2

   

   More about MPC-BE  

   

   Good alternative?Is MPC-BE a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    

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   4comments

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   MPC-BE vs MPC-HC Comments

   Positive comment by Guest · Oct 29, 2017

   It supports all formats and color quality is also the best. It is the world's best media player.

   Positive comment by Boris Yakubchik · Dec 15, 2018

   Best video player I've found!

   Positive comment by Guest · Jun 26, 2019

   Simple and efficient - comes with codecs and quality

   3 of 4 comments

   

   

   • MPC-BE is Free and Open SourceMPC-HC is also Free and Open Source
   • MPC-BE is CustomizableMPC-HC is not according to our users
4. 

   

   MPV

    587 likes

   Versatile audio and video player featuring support for a wide range of formats, audio and video codecs, subtitle types, hardware acceleration via GPU, OpenGL output with high-quality scaling, on-screen controls, and embeddable C API for integration into applications.

   126 MPV alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • Android
   • BSD
   • Snapcraft
   • Flathub
   • F-Droid
   • Haiku
   • Xfce
   • Chocolatey
   • OpenAPK

   • United States

   

   

   

   More about MPV  

   

   Good alternative?Is MPV a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    

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   4comments

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   MPV vs MPC-HC Comments

   Negative comment by zlelmefs · Jul 23, 2022

   A minamalist GUI is not a positive trait, especially for a media player. The appropriate amount of command line usage for an everyday application in 2022 is zero.

   Positive comment by Guest · Jul 5, 2018

   • Plays all video files
   • Has a simple and uncluttered GUI
   • Easy on the CPU and battery

   • A bit harder to set up than other media players

   Positive comment by papatheodorou · May 22, 2021

   Ultra lightweight, minimal interface, borderless / frameless if desired.

   3 of 4 comments

   

   

   • MPV is Free and Open SourceMPC-HC is also Free and Open Source
   • MPV is MinimalisticMPC-HC is not according to our users
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   PlayerFab

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6. 

   

   SMPlayer

    465 likes

   SMPlayer intends to be a complete front-end for MPlayer, from basic features like playing videos, DVDs, and VCDs to more advanced features like support for MPlayer filters and more. SMPlayer remembers the settings of all files you play.

   139 SMPlayer alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-2.0)

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • Spain
   • EU

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • BSD
   • mpv
   • Snapcraft
   • PortableApps.com
   • Haiku
   • MPlayer
   • Flathub
   • Homebrew

   • Spain
   • EU

   

   

   

   +4

   

   More about SMPlayer  

   

   Good alternative?Is SMPlayer a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    

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   4comments

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   SMPlayer vs MPC-HC Comments

   Positive comment by aseixas · Apr 16, 2017

   Very similar to MPC-HC in terms of features, and very customisable as well, even though it's lightweight all the same. Includes one of my favourite features from MPC-HC which is the subtitle search and download feature for the video file you're watching.

   Positive comment by shorter · Jul 26, 2025

   SMPlayer is highly customizable, you can make it looks like MPC and has support for hash subtitle download, you can set the keyboard shortcuts to match mpc as well. My go to alternative to mpc on linux.

   Negative comment by Guest · Jun 2, 2016

   SMPlayer lacks the features and the feel of MPC-HC

   3 of 4 comments

   

   

   • SMPlayer is Free and Open SourceMPC-HC is also Free and Open Source
   • SMPlayer is CustomizableMPC-HC is not according to our users
7. 

   

   PotPlayer

    702 likes

   Extensive Windows media player with wide format compatibility, robust customization, ad-free interface, hardware acceleration, advanced and animated subtitle support, smooth seamless playback, 3D output modes, scene preview, bookmarks, OpenCodec, and device support.

   144 PotPlayer alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free Personal
   • Proprietary

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • South Korea

   Platforms

   • Windows

   • South Korea

   

   

   More about PotPlayer  

   

   Good alternative?Is PotPlayer a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    

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   1comment

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   PotPlayer vs MPC-HC Comments

   Positive comment by Guest · Apr 15, 2018

   It's the all around best media player in my opinion. It's lightweight,minimalistic and supports pretty much every media format under the sun. It has already replaced VLC and windows media player on my PC

   1 of 1 comments

   

   

   • PotPlayer is Free Personal and ProprietaryMPC-HC is Free and Open Source
   • PotPlayer is Customizable and MinimalisticMPC-HC is not according to our users
9. 

   

   Media Player Classic

    764 likes

   Media Player Classic was designed to look just like Windows Media Player 6.4, but with many additional new features. It has a built in DVD player with real-time zoom, support for AVI subtitles, QuickTime and RealVideo support and built-in...

   142 Media Player Classic alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • Media Player

   Origin

   • Hungary
   • EU

   Alerts

   • Discontinued

   Platforms

   • Windows

   • Hungary
   • EU

   

   More about Media Player Classic  

   

   Good alternative?Is Media Player Classic a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    
10. 

    

    IINA

     148 likes

    Modern macOS media player with retina-optimized video playback, supports numerous audio and video formats via mpv core, features an interactive UI, gesture and Touch Bar controls, Picture-in-Picture, and comprehensive customization through open source scripting and settings.

    59 IINA alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application typeApplication types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • mpv

    • Global

    

    

    

    More about IINA  

    

    Good alternative?Is IINA a good alternative to MPC-HC?

     
11. 

    

    KMPlayer

     484 likes

    KMPlayer is an excellent free video player for PC with a user-friendly interface, Ultra HD support, 3D movies, clear subtitles, online streaming, and external digital TV compatibility.

    169 KMPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application typeApplication types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Origin

    • South Korea

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad

    • South Korea

    

    

    More about KMPlayer  

    

    Good alternative?Is KMPlayer a good alternative to MPC-HC?

     
12. 

    

    MPlayer

     342 likes

    MPlayer is a movie player which runs on many systems (see the documentation). It plays most MPEG/VOB, AVI, Ogg/OGM, VIVO, ASF/WMA/WMV, QT/MOV/MP4, RealMedia, Matroska, NUT, NuppelVideo, FLI, YUV4MPEG, FILM, RoQ, PVA files, supported by many native, XAnim, and Win32 DLL codecs.

    141 MPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application typeApplication types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Origin

    • Hungary
    • EU

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • AmigaOS
    • Xfce
    • MorphOS
    • Haiku

    • Hungary
    • EU

    

    More about MPlayer  

    

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13. 

    

    LLPlayer

     28 likes

    A media player to enhance your language skills with dual and AI-generated subtitles powered by OpenAI Whisper. Real-time OCR, translation with Google/DeepL, and word lookup boost learning. Supports 134 languages, fully customizable shortcuts, and it's free & open-source.

    73 LLPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application type

    • Media Player

    Platforms

    • Windows

    

    

    

    +2

    

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14. 

    

    Haruna

     29 likes

    Open source video player leveraging Qt/QML and libmpv, featuring dual subtitle support, customizable shortcuts, auto chapter skipping by keyword, YouTube and online video playback, integrated playlist overlay, dynamic navigation, and KDE ecosystem compatibility.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application typeApplication types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Origin

    • Germany
    • EU

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • KDE Plasma
    • mpv
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak

    • Germany
    • EU

    

    

    

    +1

    

    More about Haruna  

    

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15. 

    

    Celluloid

     49 likes

    Celluloid (formerly GNOME MPV) is a simple GTK+ frontend for mpv. Celluloid interacts with mpv via the client API exported by libmpv, allowing access to mpv's powerful playback capabilities.

    71 Celluloid alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application typeApplication types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • mpv
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Linux Mobile

    

    

    

    +1

    

    More about Celluloid  

    

    Good alternative?Is Celluloid a good alternative to MPC-HC?