Open Source VLC Media Player Alternatives
The best open source alternative to VLC Media Player is MPC-HC. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to VLC Media Player and loads of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to VLC Media Player are MPV, SMPlayer, MPC-BE and Media Player Classic.
VLC Media Player alternatives are mainly Media Players but may also be Audio Players or Internet Radio Services. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of VLC Media Player.- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Windows S
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Blackberry 10
- Apple Watch
- Apple TV
- F-Droid
- Kindle Fire
- Haiku
MPC-HC's biggest advantage is arguably just how lightweight it is. Not only is it small in terms of hard drive space, but its CPU and overall system resource use is incredibly small compared to other video players, VLC included.
MPC-HC vs VLC Media Player opinions
RootBootOverall it just a better video player. Include basic feature such as click to pause/play, play the next file in folder, after playback task. MPC-HC also render (.ass) subtitle substantially better than any open source alternatives out there and can read .mkv better. Not to mention how light weight MPC is.
BIr4Run everything (with "K-lite mega codec pack" is perfect).
In my opinion MPC-HC is the definition of perfect for normal usage. It almost does every thing one can expect from a media player. Considering its performance, its size on the hard-disk as well as its CPU consumption is unbelievably low. Besides one have: Full control of playing screen size by default or cursor-dragging options Full control of video, audio, and playlist Full control of all after-play options
Thank to all people who develop the program.
Performance is superior to VLC.
mpc is best media player
Extremely Light weight and better in performance than vlc
this softwere play any file in best output
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
- Xfce
MPV is an MPlayer-based video player that is available on all major desktop operating systems. Linux users in particular cite MPV as one of the best alternatives to VLC. Its interface is extremely minimal, though with that comes extraordinary stability.
MPV vs VLC Media Player opinions
Shuunenfinally seeking in a video is smooth <3
JohnFastmanThere was a time when VLC was justifiably considered the best open-source cross-platform movie player. MPV has closed the gap substantially and is likely to work out-of-the-box in a minority of cases where VLC gets stuck. Excellent software. Open souce (trustworthy) and free, of course.
salvadormoraleslenIt does not have similar interface.
awvalentiVery minimal, indeed, and very fast. Has many keyboard shortcuts and displays album art for songs. I decided not to use it because I need global hotkeys (play/pause, next, previous) to work, and they didn't (at least on Windows).
vanzkiieeBest player for entertainment language learning as it can display 2 subs at a time and can be synched with Anki, the best tool for learning. ?
collorfrisieit integrates with syncplay
xvhpqgChanging playback speed doesn't cause audio dropouts.
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- mpv
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
- MPlayer
Like MPV, SMPlayer is based off of MPlayer, but unlike MPV, it's more focused on accessibility with its user interface. Out of the box, users cite SMPlayer as having the versatility and stability of MPV with the ease of use of players like VLC. It also supports add-ons such as a YouTube search.
SMPlayer vs VLC Media Player opinions
danydubeRemember the configuration of each file (audio track, subtitles,). Remember position in time Storing a subtitle from a video including support for automatically forced subtitles. Lightness of the program and high reactivity.
It is the best mpv frontend in my opinion. having such powerful media player engine such as mpv + a user friendly ui. built-in subtitle search engine makes you like a lot easier too.
awvalentiHighly configurable, but lacks stability, at least on Windows. Freezes sometimes, even after switching between back-end players.
AnisBarghouthiAll the benefits of MPV plus user-friendly reskinnable GUI ("Black" skin is clean and neat). You can customize everything (Subtitles, audio, video) from the GUI which is fairly easier than editing config files in my opinion.
armynIt has beautiful skins and is suitable for weak systems.
jrstraiSMPlayer is a better choice for playing videos and has an easier to use interface than alternatives, like MPV. I love MPV, but it's not intuitive at all, beyond playing.
I have problems sharing playlists made within VLC with other players, regardless of the format used. SMPlayer playlists just work.
It's great. Open everything and it fully (really fully) customizable. Also have YouTube search engine (need to be isntalled aside) with a lot of features like search video by date, size etc.
MPC-BE is another fork of Media Player Classic (specifically of the Home Cinema fork) with a focus on bug fixes and for automatically mounting ISO images. It is actively updated and performs really well for video playback. Users do not recommend it for music playback, as it lacks support for playlist looping and includes odd behaviors for shuffling media playback.
MPC-BE vs VLC Media Player opinions
rapheal21I haven't tried it until now but will try it soon and will update the reviews too.
thanks!
thumbnail view, available on MS store
Though it's been discontinued and almost entirely superseded by successors like Media Player Classic Home Cinema, some users still swear by it as a sort of "old reliable" video player that can play most files people throw at it with no issue. However, it's been 10 years since its last release, so it's highly recommended to look at MPC-HC and other forks actively in development.
Discontinued
The project is no longer developed. The currently active fork is MPC-HC . Latest version, 6.4.9.1, released in April 2011, can be still downloaded from FreeCodec.com
Media Player Classic vs VLC Media Player opinions
It doesn't feature an online streamer...
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- Raspberry Pi
- Fire TV
Though Kodi can function as an alternative to VLC, its strengths lie in its robust cataloging of media and robust sorting and organization options for TV shows, movies, and music. Its media server capabilities are front and center, its playback functionality is nothing to sneeze at, and it can be used for that exact purpose.
Kodi vs VLC Media Player opinions
Kody is more oriented to being a fullscreen video/music cataloguing application, but it has an internal video/audio/iptv playing system with very good decoding capabilities like VLC and can be windowed as well
Can also play many formats, and can organize video libraries, playing over UPnP, FTP, and many other protocols
Kodi, formerly XBMC, is a software media center.
LesterCovaxKodi is a media server first and foremost. It's like comparing Google Docs to Microsoft Office.
Kodi is a fullscreen media library manager, a whole home theater frontend. Slower for the purpose, with more complex navigation.
Though it's exclusive to macOS, IINA's users swear by it for being lightweight, efficient, and performative. Minor annoyances such as performance-based audio-video-subtitle desyncs that can be found on VLC are not a problem when using IINA. Additionally, its interface is neat clean, with clearly labelled settings. This ease of use combined with its excellent performance makes it an easy recommendation for macOS users looking for a media player.
IINA vs VLC Media Player opinions
POXGreat alternative to VLC if you're on macOS. It's lightweight, the UI is very clean, and has even more functionalities than VLC.
nicolaspatateIINA is the best modern player out there
Lean (simple), mean (versatile) player, void of the bad audio-video-sub sync as in VLC of late (i.e. at least for me).
Great integration with Mac touchbar & gestures, PiP, and looks like a native app instead of something cobbled together.
Best video player for macOS. Lightweight, clean user interface, many features...
VarunMohapatraThe best video player for mac!
HansaplastThe best alternative for macOS users who like a small, fast and minimalistic (yet very functional!) media player.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- AmigaOS
- Xfce
- MorphOS
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.
MPlayer vs VLC Media Player opinions
It read and play most media without any constraints.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE
- Cinnamon
- GNOME
- MATE
- Xfce
DeaDBeeF is a lightweight graphical music player created for easy playback of music and management of playlists. It supports major audio codecs and tags, global hotkeys, gapless playback, streaming audio, command line control, and has an 18-band equalizer.
DeaDBeeF vs VLC Media Player opinions
rivee03The only music player that can loop an audio file perfectly. Not for video though.
Only plays music, not video.
Quod Libet is a Gapless GTK+-based audio player written in Python. Its designed around the idea that you know how to organize your music better than we do. It lets you make playlists based on regular expressions (dont worry, regular searches work too).