Windows Media Player Alternatives for Linux

Windows Media Player is not available for Linux but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on Linux with similar functionality. The best Linux alternative 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 are available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux alternatives to Windows Media Player are MPV, Clementine, SMPlayer and Audacious.

filter to find the best alternatives

Windows Media Player alternatives are mainly Audio Players, but if you're looking for Media 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.
More about Windows Media Player
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Windows Media Player alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. VLC Media Player icon

    VLC Media Player

     7773 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.

    173 VLC Media Player alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • 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
    VLC Media Player screenshot 1
     
    |
    9
  2. MPV icon

    MPV

     574 likes

    Versatile audio and video player featuring support for a wide range of formats, audio and video codecs, subtitle types, hardware acceleration via GPU, OpenGL output with high-quality scaling, on-screen controls, and embeddable C API for integration into applications.

    120 MPV alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    • Haiku
    • Xfce
    • Chocolatey
    MPV screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
  4. Clementine icon

    Clementine

     761 likes

    Free cross-platform audio player and library organizer featuring support for local files, internet radio, smart and dynamic playlists, playlist import/export, projectM visualizations, lyrics, artist info, album art, tag editing, transcoding, device sync, and remote control.

    253 Clementine alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    Clementine with lyrics pane
     
    |
    1
  5. SMPlayer icon

    SMPlayer

     463 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.

    130 SMPlayer alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • mpv
    • Snapcraft
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • MPlayer
    • Flathub
    • Homebrew
    Playing video - Default Skin
     
  6. Audacious icon

    Audacious

     304 likes

    Lightweight open-source audio player for Unix-like platforms focused on high sound quality, extensive codec support, playlist handling, Internet radio, plugins, Winamp-style skins, cue sheets, metadata display, effects, equalizer, and efficient resource usage.

    137 Audacious alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • Xfce
    Audacious screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
  7. Strawberry icon

    Strawberry

     249 likes

    Music player and collection organizer featuring support for diverse audio formats, bit-perfect playback, playlist management, tag editing, advanced output controls, streaming from Subsonic, Tidal, Qobuz, scrobbling, CD playback, and cover art retrieval.

    242 Strawberry alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • Mac
    Strawberry screenshot 1
     
    |
    2
  10. Amarok icon

    Amarok

     411 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.

    171 Amarok alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

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

    186 DeaDBeeF alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

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

    MPlayer

     341 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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

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

    Wora

     34 likes

    Open-source lossless music player with playlist creation, support for FLAC, WAV, Dolby, and common formats, attractive interface, quick command controls, synced and unsynced lyrics, minimal resource use, and cross-platform compatibility for music library management.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Wora screenshot 1
     
  14. Celluloid icon

    Celluloid

     50 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.

    62 Celluloid alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • mpv
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Linux Mobile
    Celluloid screenshot 1
     
12 of 73 Windows Media Player alternatives