Windows Media Player AlternativesOnly apps from the EU

The best 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 many of them are so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting alternatives to Windows Media Player are MPC-HC, foobar2000, Winamp and SMPlayer.

filter to find the best alternatives

Windows Media Player alternatives are mainly Media Players, but if you're looking for Audio Players or Internet Radio Services you can filter on that. Other popular filters include CD Ripper, Linux, Android Tablet, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Android and Open Source. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Windows Media Player.
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Alternatives list

  1. VLC Media Player icon

    VLC Media Player

     7850 likes

    Enjoy seamless media experiences with this cross-platform, ad-free player supporting multimedia files, DVDs, streaming, Chromecast, 4K, and no tracking. Customize with themes, play offline, and get privacy-focused service without registration. Fully extensible by plugins.

    191 VLC Media Player alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Windows Mobile
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • HUAWEI AppGallery
    • iPad
    • AppImageHub
    • Apple Watch
    • Snapcraft
    • Google Chrome
    • Apple TV
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • F-Droid
    • Kindle Fire
    • Haiku
    • Android TV
    • Homebrew
    • Chocolatey
    • Xbox
    VLC Media Player screenshot 1
     
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    9
    VLC Media Player vs Windows Media Player Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Rasheed AZ
    6

    Can actually play most media files and actually fulfil its purpose unlike wmp

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    21

    VLC, while an awesome media player, lacks WMP's library features. Thus, it is not an all-in-one system like WMP is.

    tpc1095
    Positive
    1

    Not an alternative to Windows Media Player at all because the main function of WMP is to organize song tracks into albums by artist. Just playing a file isn't a big deal.

    3 of 9 comments
    • VLC Media Player is Free and Open SourceWindows Media Player is Free and Proprietary
    • VLC Media Player is a Media Player Windows Media Player is an Audio Player
    • VLC Media Player is Customizable, Decentralized and Privacy focusedWindows Media Player is not according to our users
  2. MPC-HC icon

    MPC-HC

     1328 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.

    155 MPC-HC alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    MPC-HC screenshot 1
     
  4. foobar2000 icon

    foobar2000

     1564 likes

    Audio player offering MP3, FLAC support, gapless playback, customizable interfaces, CD ripping, advanced tagging, ReplayGain, plugins, and is known for its freeware model, running on various Windows versions with high audio fidelity.

    227 foobar2000 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    Foobar custom.
     
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    3
    foobar2000 vs Windows Media Player Comments
    tvgoing1
    Negative
    2

    foobar is not windows media player, it does not play videos

    GGhz
    Positive
    0

    Light weight MUSIC player, has everything you need. about 4MB installer and 15MB on ram ,light on CPU

    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Difficult to use, I couldn't work out how to rip CDs with it.

    • foobar2000 is Free Personal and ProprietaryWindows Media Player is Free and Proprietary
    • foobar2000 is Customizable, Privacy focused and MinimalisticWindows Media Player is not according to our users
  5. Winamp icon

    Winamp

     903 likes

    Media player for Windows offering ease of use, skinnable design, advanced audio visualizers, and support for plug-ins, playlists, music library, and various audio formats. Known for extensibility, music visualization, and online community support.

    285 Winamp alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    Media Library
     
  7. SMPlayer icon

    SMPlayer

     465 likes

    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.

    139 SMPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • mpv
    • Snapcraft
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • MPlayer
    • Flathub
    • Homebrew
    Playing video - Default Skin
     
  8. Media Player Classic icon

    Media Player Classic

     764 likes

    Media Player Classic was designed to look just like Windows Media Player 6.4, but with many additional new features. It has a built in DVD player with real-time zoom, support for AVI subtitles, QuickTime and RealVideo support and built-in...

    142 Media Player Classic alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Media Player Classic screenshot 1
     
  9. DeaDBeeF icon

    DeaDBeeF

     200 likes

    Lightweight desktop music player designed for multiple platforms, supporting major audio codecs, gapless playback, playlist management, customizable global hotkeys, 18-band equalizer, streaming audio, plugin extensions, and command line controls.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Cinnamon
    • GNOME
    • MATE
    • Xfce
    DeaDBeeF screenshot 1
     
  10. Amarok icon

    Amarok

     410 likes

    Cross-platform music player featuring customizable interface, dynamic playlists, powerful tagging and sorting, contextual views, drag-and-drop menus, robust file tracking, language localization, bookmarking, database importing, script support, and audio CD playback.

    183 Amarok alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    Overview
     
  11. MPlayer icon

    MPlayer

     342 likes

    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.

    141 MPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • AmigaOS
    • Xfce
    • MorphOS
    • Haiku
    MPlayer on Ubuntu (Linux)
     
  12. Haruna icon

    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.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • KDE Plasma
    • mpv
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Haruna screenshot 1
     
  13. Elisa icon

    Elisa

     37 likes

    Elisa is a music player developed by the KDE community that strives to be simple and nice to use. We also recognize that we need a flexible product to account for the different workflows and use-cases of our users.

    84 Elisa alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Snapcraft
    Elisa Albums View
     
  14. Crates icon

    Crates

     24 likes

    Crates is a user-focused, next generation music app, that merges all user’s music collections into one, enables them to own their data, listen from any source and discover new music recommended by the community.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Crates screenshot 1
     
12 of 42 Windows Media Player alternatives