VLC Media Player Alternatives for Mac
There are many alternatives to VLC Media Player for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is MPV, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to VLC Media Player and loads of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to VLC Media Player are SMPlayer, IINA, Kodi and MPlayer.
filter to find the best alternatives
VLC Media Player alternatives are mainly Media Players but may also be Audio Players or Internet Radio Services. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of VLC Media Player.- Audio Player
- Free • Open Source
- 503 likes104 MPV alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
- Xfce
MPV VS VLC Media Player
Is MPV a good alternative to VLC Media Player? - 448 likes124 SMPlayer alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- mpv
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
- MPlayer
SMPlayer VS VLC Media Player
Is SMPlayer a good alternative to VLC Media Player?Comments about SMPlayer as an Alternative to VLC Media Player
Comment summary: Comments highlight SMPlayer's advantages over VLC Media Player, emphasizing ease of use, customization, and versatility. Users appreciate its ability to sync settings across devices, intuitive GUI, and handling of subtitles and incomplete files better than VLC. While generally viewed as superior, a concern over stability on Windows is noted. SMPlayer is praised for being resource-efficient, supporting diverse video files, and providing enhanced playback quality.ArminIt has beautiful skins and is suitable for weak systems.
2Mayank-AroraI have stopped using VLC, since I came across SMPlayer. It works seamlessly on all my devices. I once made keyboard shortcuts, and saved it on cloud. Now, it is very easy to copy that file and have same settings and same shortcuts across all devices. For me, this is better than VLC media player and it is so easy to set aspect ratio, increase and decrease volume, manage video speeds and sync audio/subtitles.
0It 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.
3 - 121 likes37 IINA alternatives
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 set...
IINA VS VLC Media Player
Is IINA a good alternative to VLC Media Player?Comments about IINA as an Alternative to VLC Media Player
PaulGreat alternative to VLC if you're on macOS. It's lightweight, the UI is very clean, and has even more functionalities than VLC.
5Lai Curagastill no RTSP support (for local webcam/small cctv)
0nicolaspatateIINA is the best modern player out there
2 - 1496 likes72 Kodi alternatives
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 th...
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Raspberry Pi
- Fire TV
Top Kodi Features
Kodi VS VLC Media Player
Is Kodi a good alternative to VLC Media Player?Comments about Kodi as an Alternative to VLC Media Player
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
6Lester CovaxKodi is a media server first and foremost. It's like comparing Google Docs to Microsoft Office.
5Too Bloated. Not really meant for playing local video files
0 - 340 likes131 MPlayer alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- AmigaOS
- Xfce
- MorphOS
MPlayer VS VLC Media Player
Is MPlayer a good alternative to VLC Media Player?Comments about MPlayer as an Alternative to VLC Media Player
Sam LanderVery lightweight, glitchless. MPlayer is probably the best media player currently on the market.
0It read and play most media without any constraints.
1 - 241 likes136 GOM Player alternatives
GOM Player is a freeware media player. Key strengths are the ability to play the majority of media files without the need to obtain a codec, and the ability to play some broken media files, both advantages over traditional players, like Windows Media Player.
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application type
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
BundlewareThe installer contains additional bloatware that can hijack your browser's settings. Be careful during the installation: https://alternativeto.net/discussions/applications/11718/be-careful-in-the-installation/
GOM Player VS VLC Media Player
Is GOM Player a good alternative to VLC Media Player?Comments about GOM Player as an Alternative to VLC Media Player
clydelymanIts effects are easier to use and it has an extensive Preferences selection; BE AWARE, they have a separate music player. I have both. the Reverb is solid. you can avoid the crapware by doing the first download from Ninite and just updating or do a custom install. To my knowledge GOM does not recored.
2VLC Player looks like it belongs on a Windows 95 computer. GOM Player has a much more professional interface with lots of options.
-2Support almost all types of video formats.
-1 - 194 likes171 DeaDBeeF alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE
- Cinnamon
- GNOME
- MATE
- Xfce
DeaDBeeF VS VLC Media Player
Is DeaDBeeF a good alternative to VLC Media Player?Comments about DeaDBeeF as an Alternative to VLC Media Player
Richard ElmsworthThe only music player that can loop an audio file perfectly. Not for video though.
0Only plays music, not video.
0
Comments about MPV as an Alternative to VLC Media Player
I tried to play a movie encoded to 1080p av1 but vlc was struggling on my device. I used this website to find an alternative MPV plays av1 encoded movies smoothly.
In Linux, VLC sometime struggles playing MP4 videos & navigating within those MP4 videos. Celluloid (MPV frontend) works better in these regards.
VLC was having stuttering problems for whatever reason. Installed MPV and bam! Also love the UI, really well integrated for playing movies which is great.