MPC-HC Alternatives for Windows

Alternatives list

1. 

   

   VLC Media Player

    7775 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.

   175 VLC Media Player alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-2.0)

   Application types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • France
   • EU

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • 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

   

   

   

   +4

   

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

    

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   VLC Media Player vs MPC-HC Comments

    

   Top Positive Comment

   Guest

   Mar 14, 2020

   3

   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.

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   Top Negative Comment

   Guest

   Mar 13, 2017

   18

   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.

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   Guest

   Positive comment•May 31, 2026

   0

   lightweight, easy to use, capable

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

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   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. 

   

   MPV

    575 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.

   122 MPV alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

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

   

   

   

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   MPV vs MPC-HC Comments

    

   zlelmefs

   Negative comment•Jul 23, 2022

   3

   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.

   Guest

   Positive comment•Jul 5, 2018

   6

   • 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

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   papatheodorou

   Positive comment•May 22, 2021

   -1

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

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   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
4. 

   

   MPC-BE

    184 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...

   119 MPC-BE alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

   Application types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • Russia

   Platforms

   • Windows

   

   

   

   +2

   

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   MPC-BE vs MPC-HC Comments

    

   Guest

   Positive comment•Oct 29, 2017

   5

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

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   Boris Yakubchik

   Positive comment•Dec 15, 2018

   0

   Best video player I've found!

   Guest

   Positive comment•Jun 26, 2019

   -2

   Simple and efficient - comes with codecs and quality

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

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   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
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6. 

   

   SMPlayer

    463 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.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-2.0)

   Application types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • Spain
   • EU

   Platforms

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

   

   

   

   +4

   

   More about SMPlayer  

   

   Is SMPlayer a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    

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   4comments

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   SMPlayer vs MPC-HC Comments

    

   aseixas

   Positive comment•Apr 16, 2017

   7

   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.

   shorter

   Positive comment•Jul 26, 2025

   0

   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.

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   Guest

   Negative comment•Jun 2, 2016

   -1

   SMPlayer lacks the features and the feel of MPC-HC

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

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   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

    700 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.

   135 PotPlayer alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free Personal
   • Proprietary

   Application types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • South Korea

   Platforms

   • Windows

   

   

   More about PotPlayer  

   

   Is PotPlayer a good alternative to MPC-HC?

    

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   PotPlayer vs MPC-HC Comments

    

   Guest

   Positive comment•Apr 15, 2018

   2

   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

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   

   

   • PotPlayer is Free Personal and ProprietaryMPC-HC is Free and Open Source
   • PotPlayer is Customizable and MinimalisticMPC-HC is not according to our users
8. 

   

   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...

   132 Media Player Classic alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • Media Player

   Origin

   • Hungary
   • EU

   Alerts

   • Discontinued

   Platforms

   • Windows

   

   More about Media Player Classic  

   

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

    
10. 

    

    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.

    159 KMPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Origin

    • South Korea

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad

    

    

    More about KMPlayer  

    

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11. 

    

    MPlayer

     341 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.

    131 MPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Origin

    • Hungary
    • EU

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

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

    

    More about MPlayer  

    

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12. 

    

    LLPlayer

     25 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.

    66 LLPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application type

    • Media Player

    Platforms

    • Windows

    

    

    

    +2

    

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13. 

    

    Haruna

     26 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.

    46 Haruna alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application types

    • Media Player
    • Audio Player

    Origin

    • Germany
    • EU

    Platforms

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

    

    

    

    +1

    

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14. 

    

    Windows Media Player

     266 likes

    Windows Media Player is a video and audio player developed by Microsoft for Windows 11 and Windows 10. It is the successor to Groove Music (previously Xbox Music), Microsoft Movies & TV and the original Windows Media...

    220 Windows Media Player alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    • Audio Player
    • Media Player

    Origin

    • United States

    Platforms

    • Windows

    

    

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15. 

    

    Harmonoid

     34 likes

    Material-based cross-platform player managing music libraries, playlists, and radio streams with synced and custom lyrics, tag editor, pitch, speed, and volume controls, Discord and Last.fm integration, light-dark themes, and low RAM usage for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.

    61 Harmonoid alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    • Audio Player
    • Media Player

    Origin

    • India

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android

    

    

    

    +3

    

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