Open Source Windows Media Player Alternatives

    The best open source alternative to Windows Media Player is VLC Media Player, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Windows Media Player and loads of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Windows Media Player are MPC-HC (Free, Open Source), MPV (Free, Open Source), Clementine (Free, Open Source) and Strawberry (Free, Open Source).

    This page was last updated Jun 7, 2021

    1. 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
      • Kindle Fire
      • Haiku
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      VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. Features Simple, fast and powerful media player.
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      VLC Media Player vs Windows Media Player opinions
      Most users think VLC Media Player is a great alternative to Windows Media Player.
       all • positive • negative      relevance • date
      It's efficient and the music is clear to listen to!
      Top positive comment  7 months ago

      1
      VLC media player is an excellent alternative to Windows Media Player. Although, its UI isn't appealing, neither is Windows Media Player's.
      Top positive comment  about 4 years ago

      -2
      VLC, while an awesome media player, lacks WMP's library features. Thus, it is not an all-in-one system like WMP is.
      Top negative comment  about 6 years ago

      18
      The library features of WMP is far more intuitive.
      Negative comment • almost 3 years ago

      4
      RasheedAZ Can actually play most media files and actually fulfil its purpose unlike wmp
      Positive comment • almost 3 years ago

      5
      VLC can play just about every video and audio file in existence.
      Positive comment • over 3 years ago

      -1
      This media player has so many features I don't know where to start. Half of the features I didn't even know existed before I started using it. Everything you will ever need in a media player, and more are packed into this gem. I can't believe its free, its unreal.
      Positive comment • over 3 years ago

      -1
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      7 of 8 comments
    2. MPC-HC is an extremely light-weight, open source media player for Windows. It supports all common video and audio file formats available for playback.
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      Most users think MPC-HC is a great alternative to Windows Media Player.
    4. MPV is an audio and movie player based on MPlayer and mplayer2. It supports a wide variety of video file formats, audio and video codecs, and subtitle types.
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      MPV vs Windows Media Player opinions
      Most users think MPV is a great alternative to Windows Media Player.
      MPV is an open source and professional project
      Positive comment • almost 4 years ago

      5
    5. Clementine is a cross-platform free and open source music player and library organizer. It is a port of Amarok 1.
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      Most users think Clementine is a great alternative to Windows Media Player.
    6. Strawberry is a music player and music collection organizer. It is a fork of Clementine released in 2018 aimed at music collectors and audiophiles. The name is inspired by the band Strawbs. It's written in C++ using the Qt framework.
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    8. 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.
      No screenshots yet
    9. MPC-BE is a free and open source audio and video player for Windows. MPC-BE is based on the original Guliverkli project and "Media Player Classic Home Cinema" project, contains additional features and bug fixes.
    10. Media Player Classic was designed to look just like Windows Media Player 6.4, but with many additional new features.

      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

      Almost everyone thinks Media Player Classic is a great alternative to Windows Media Player.
    11. Audacious is an advanced audio player. It is free, lightweight, based on GTK+, runs on Linux and many other *nix platforms and is focused on audio quality and supporting a wide range of audio codecs. There is also support for several visual styles from Winamp.
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      Audacious vs Windows Media Player opinions
      pros, cons and recent comments
      Windows Media Player is not Light Weight and audacious is light weight and only an Audio player. Win Media Player is Multimedia Player/RIpper with library functions.
      Negative comment • over 2 years ago

      -4
    12. Rhythmbox is an audio player for Linux that plays and organizes digital music. Inspired by Apple's iTunes, it is free software that is designed to work well under the https://alternativeto.
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    Showing 10 of 73 alternatives