VLC Media Player AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Media Players

Alternatives list

1. 

   

   IINA

    150 likes

   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.

   62 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 VLC Media Player?

    

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   8comments

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   IINA vs VLC Media Player Comments

   Top Positive Comment by Paul · Oct 31, 2017

   Great alternative to VLC if you're on macOS. It's lightweight, the UI is very clean, and has even more functionalities than VLC.

   Top Negative Comment by Lai Curaga · Aug 4, 2024

   still no RTSP support (for local webcam/small cctv)

   Positive comment by nicolaspatate · Jun 7, 2020

   IINA is the best modern player out there

   3 of 8 comments

   

   

   • IINA is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
   • IINA is LightweightVLC Media Player is not according to our users
2. 

   

   MPC-HC

    1330 likes

   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.

   160 MPC-HC alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Audio Player

   Origin

   • Poland
   • EU

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • PortableApps.com

   • Poland
   • EU

   

   

   

   +5

   

   More about MPC-HC  

   

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

    

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   22comments

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   MPC-HC vs VLC Media Player Comments

   Top Positive Comment by Paul Karpo · Mar 20, 2019

   Very light-weight. With super easy interface and without any bugs.

   Top Negative Comment by AikkabBasH · Nov 22, 2025

   MPC-HC is not under active development since 2017 and therefore there is no downloads available of this application on their official website.

   Positive comment by veddev · Dec 2, 2024

   Its light-weight, included with the K-Lite codec pack... so awesome media player!

   3 of 22 comments

   

   

   • MPC-HC is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
   • MPC-HC is LightweightVLC Media Player is not according to our users
4. 

   

   MPV

    591 likes

   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.

   131 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 VLC Media Player?

    

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   28comments

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   MPV vs VLC Media Player Comments

   Top Positive Comment by John Fastman · Dec 20, 2016

   There 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.

   Top Negative Comment by Marek-Piekielnik · Dec 30, 2025

   MPV on Windows is half baked (at best). No setup, no file associations, no hi-dpi interface.

   Positive comment by crayon-cod-usable · Jun 15, 2026

   Although it doesn't have a proper UI to set things up, its quite minimalist yet powerful compared to VLC because of their pre-configured easy to use keybindings

   3 of 28 comments

   

   

   • MPV is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
   • MPV is Lightweight and MinimalisticVLC Media Player is not according to our users
5. Ad

   

   

   CyberLink PowerDVD

   Supports Ultra HD 4K, 8K, Blu-ray, 3D playback, and DTS-HD 7.1 surround sound, enhances quality using TrueTheater, upscales SD videos, stores media in the cloud, streams to mobile via PowerDVD Mobile, enables remote control, and ...

   https://www.cyberlink.com

   Learn More
6. 

   

   PotPlayer

    703 likes

   PotPlayer is a modular video player that also works with most video file formats by default. Many of our users also find that it starts up faster and performs better than VLC, while also including small quality of life features that can be useful in specific contexts (such as support for two subtitle tracks on the same video file in order to help learn a new language).

   150 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 VLC Media Player?

    

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   25comments

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   PotPlayer vs VLC Media Player Comments

   Top Positive Comment by Guest · Nov 27, 2017

   Looks better! more customizable, easier to use and support add two subtitle files at the same time (useful for the people who learn other language while watching)

   Positive comment by Guest · Mar 17, 2026

   It's simply better, lightweight and the feature is more complete than VLC.

   Positive comment by Seth Mitchell · Apr 1, 2023

   I used it and found it very lightweight. Good alternative to VLC

   3 of 25 comments

   

   

   • PotPlayer is Free Personal and ProprietaryVLC Media Player is Free and Open Source
   • PotPlayer is Lightweight and MinimalisticVLC Media Player is not according to our users
7. 

   

   SMPlayer

    465 likes

   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.

   142 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 VLC Media Player?

    

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   18comments

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   SMPlayer vs VLC Media Player Comments

   Top Positive Comment by Armin · Jul 17, 2021

   It has beautiful skins and is suitable for weak systems.

   Positive comment by Mayank-Arora · Mar 6, 2023

   I 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.

   Positive comment by Guest · Apr 18, 2022

   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.

   3 of 18 comments

   

   

   • SMPlayer is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
   • SMPlayer is LightweightVLC Media Player is not according to our users
9. 

   

   GOM Player

    241 likes

   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.

   146 GOM Player alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Freemium
   • Proprietary

   Application type

   • Media Player

   Origin

   • South Korea

   Alerts

   • Bundleware

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Android
   • iPhone
   • Android Tablet
   • iPad

   • South Korea

   

   

   

   +9

   

   More about GOM Player  

   

   Good alternative?Is GOM Player a good alternative to VLC Media Player?

    

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   3comments

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   Bundleware

   The installer contains additional bloatware that can hijack your browser's settings. Be careful during the installation:

   GOM Player vs VLC Media Player Comments

   Positive comment by clydelyman · Mar 7, 2017

   Its 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.

   Positive comment by Guest · Jul 26, 2015

   VLC Player looks like it belongs on a Windows 95 computer. GOM Player has a much more professional interface with lots of options.

   Positive comment by Guest · Dec 21, 2017

   Support almost all types of video formats.

   3 of 3 comments

   

   

   • GOM Player is Freemium and ProprietaryVLC Media Player is Free and Open Source
   • GOM Player is LightweightVLC Media Player is not according to our users
10. 

    

    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.

    72 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 VLC Media Player?

     

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    2comments

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    Celluloid vs VLC Media Player Comments

    Positive comment by Paul · Feb 7, 2023

    Good alternative to VLC, it's basically MPS with a nice GTK interface. Pretty lightweight, easy to use, with enough settings for 99% of the use cases.

    Positive comment by Guest · Dec 8, 2024

    In Linux, VLC sometime struggles playing MP4 videos & navigating within those MP4 videos. Celluloid (MPV frontend) works better in these regards.

    2 of 2 comments

    

    

    • Celluloid is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
    • Celluloid is LightweightVLC Media Player is not according to our users
11. 

    

    Media Player Classic

     764 likes

    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.

    144 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  

    

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    1comment

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    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 Comments

    Negative comment by Guest · Nov 7, 2016

    It doesn't feature an online streamer...

    1 of 1 comments

    

    

    • Media Player Classic is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
12. 

    

    MPC-BE

     186 likes

    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.

    135 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  

    

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    2comments

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    MPC-BE vs VLC Media Player Comments

    Positive comment by Guest · Nov 10, 2021

    thumbnail view, available on MS store

    Positive comment by rapheal dowry · Jan 12, 2022

    I haven't tried it until now but will try it soon and will update the reviews too.

    thanks!

    2 of 2 comments

    

    

    • MPC-BE is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
    • MPC-BE is LightweightVLC Media Player is not according to our users
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.

    76 LLPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application type

    • Media Player

    Platforms

    • Windows

    

    

    

    +2

    

    More about LLPlayer  

    

    Good alternative?Is LLPlayer a good alternative to VLC Media Player?

     
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.

    57 Haruna alternatives

    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  

    

    Good alternative?Is Haruna a good alternative to VLC Media Player?

     

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    1comment

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    Haruna vs VLC Media Player Comments

    Positive comment by librevr · Dec 14, 2024

    Works much better than others on this list that I have tried. Has a pretty good clean and modern interface with shortcuts that make actions faster.

    1 of 1 comments

    

    

    • Haruna is Free and Open SourceVLC Media Player is also Free and Open Source
    • Haruna is LightweightVLC Media Player is not according to our users
15. 

    

    KMPlayer

     484 likes

    KMPlayer is often praised for its interface, which has been described as more functional and user-friendly than VLC or Media Player Classic Home Cinema. Its playlist manager is more akin to WinAmp's than it is to VLC or other video players, which makes it desirable for those with vast multimedia catalogs. It also includes very granular customization options.

    172 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 VLC Media Player?

     

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    1comment

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    KMPlayer vs VLC Media Player Comments

    Positive comment by James Hunt · Aug 8, 2022

    Better interface and more features. For instance, KMP can skip one frame backwards, which VLC can't

    1 of 1 comments

    

    

    • KMPlayer is Free and ProprietaryVLC Media Player is Free and Open Source