MPC-HC icon
MPC-HC icon

MPC-HC

 1293 likes

A lightweight open-source media player for Windows, giving support for all video/audio formats. It boasts no ads, dark themes, codec support, and seamless YouTube playback. Developed by longtime contributors, it's mature software with community improvements and crash fixes.

MPC-HC screenshot 1

License model

  • Free • Open Source

Application types

Country of Origin

  • PL flagPoland
  • European Union flagEU

Platforms

  • Windows
  • PortableApps.com
MPC-HC screenshot 1
MPC-HC screenshot 2
+5
MPC-HC screenshot 3
MPC-HC alternatives  
4.4 / 5 Avg rating (61)
1293likes
48comments
130alternatives
0news articles

Features

Suggest and vote on features

Properties

  1.  Lightweight
  2.  Support for Themes
  3.  Privacy focused

Features

  1.  Ad-free
  2.  Dark Mode
  3.  Works Offline
  4.  Stream audio
  5.  No registration required
  6.  Support for 4K
  7.  Portable
  8.  Webcam recording
  9.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions

 Tags

  • dvb-viewer
  • vcd-player
  • dvd-player
  • dvb-player
  • ffmpeg
  • directshow
  • webcam-monitoring
  • webcam-snapshot
  • Video Player

MPC-HC News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent News

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Recent activities

  • u7741339 liked MPC-HC
    13 days ago
  • App icon
    PinkPlastic added MPC-HC as alternative to Look-See
    23 days ago
  • PinkPlastic liked MPC-HC
    about 1 month ago
  • App icon
    POX added MPC-HC as alternative to DivX
    about 1 month ago
  • TheEmperorArt updated MPC-HC
    about 2 months ago
  • nickthemanat liked MPC-HC
    about 2 months ago
  • POX updated MPC-HC
    about 2 months ago
  • sc54168 and omarselim liked MPC-HC
    2 months ago
  • App icon
    POX added MPC-HC as alternative to Submarine Player
    2 months ago
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MPC-HC information

  • Developed by

    PL flagclsid

  • Licensing

    Open Source (GPL-3.0) and Free product.

  • Written in

  • Rating

    Average rating of 4.4 (61 ratings)

  • Alternatives

    130 alternatives listed

  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Categories

Video & Movies, Audio & Music, Photos & Graphics, CD/DVD Tools

GitHub repository

  •  12,800 Stars
  •  536 Forks
  •  28 Open Issues
  •   Updated Jun 9, 2025 
View on GitHub

Popular alternatives

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Our users have written 48 comments and reviews about MPC-HC, and it has gotten 1293 likes

MPC-HC was added to AlternativeTo by wiak on Jul 24, 2009 and this page was last updated May 1, 2025. MPC-HC is sometimes referred to as Media Player Classic Home Cinema, MPCHC, Media Player Classic.

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Comment summary: MPC-HC is praised for being a lightweight and versatile video player with a simple UI, ideal for those who value performance over aesthetics. It supports a wide range of formats without extra codecs and is noted for its swift loading and playback, competing well with VLC in certain areas like fast seeking and stability. Comments highlight its active maintenance through third-party forks, keeping it relevant despite earlier claims of discontinuation. Some users miss more modern customization options.
Top Positive Comment
matteopzz91
★
★
★
★
★
Apr 26, 2017
10

I've always used VLC but when I play mp4 or some mkv files and I want to skip from a position to another in the progress bar, VLC takes a long time to render and it's frustrating.

MPC HC is always fast!

Sean
Sep 12, 2021

Get latest release from here https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/releases

Top Negative Comment
jeffsnap321
★
★
★
★
★
Jan 14, 2022
-3

The website at https://mpc-hc.org/ says "MPC-HC is not under development since 2017. Please switch to something else."

Sorry.

ThePirate42
Feb 1, 2022

There is an active fork by clsid

bugra
★
★
★
★
★
Jan 28, 2025
0

Can't run some codecs well

anti_canada_ranger
★
★
★
★
★
Sep 11, 2024
0

Runs smooth without the common artifacts and stuttering of VLC, but less configurable and rather ugly UI. Glad it exists.

Pi9D
★
★
★
★
★
Aug 12, 2024
0

The most versatile and lightweight video player under windows. Updated fork with new features, ehnacements, and some regresion bugs. On Linux Mplayer, on Android VLC, on Windows this fork of MPC-HC.

Sam Lander
★
★
★
★
★
Jun 8, 2024
0

While it's not the best video player out there (MPlayer and VLC are superior on Windows), it is lightweight and easy to use.

It has a decent shuffle feature, so I specifically use this to play folders of music. Unlike some apps, it will play subfolders as well.

Sasu2009
★
★
★
★
★
Feb 1, 2024
0

Fantastic app, runs videos smoothly, supports a lot of codecs and you can tweak some settings in the program.(only with K-Lite Codec Pack, includes MPC-HC). Homewer the app only supports Windows 7/8/8.1/10.

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7 of 48 comments

What is MPC-HC?

The original MPC-HC was discontinued in 2017, a year later MPC-HC was forked and revived by Clsid2 keeping the original name.

Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC) is an extremely light-weight, open source media player for Windows®. Media Player Classic Home Cinema supports all common video and audio file formats available for playback. Based on the original Guliverkli project, Media Player Classic Home Cinema contains a lot of additional features and bug fixes. Plus Media Player Classic Home Cinema is 100% spyware free, there are no advertisements or toolbars.

About Development of the original MPC-HC project has ended. The few other developers that were involved have all lost interest. But don't worry, MPC-HC is still very much alive! My repository is a continuation of the original MPC-HC project. I have been involved in MPC development for almost 15 years, even before MPC-HC existed, so consider my builds as the new 'official' releases.

Development state MPC-HC does not have many active developers right now. So don't expect much new functionality or other big changes. The player already is mature and provides all functionality that most people need. MPC-HC is open source, so anyone who is interested can contribute fixes and improvements. You can submit patches to me, and when I think your change is useful, I will gladly include it in a future build.

Several people have already contributed improvements, fixes, and even new functionality.

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