# Alternatives to IINA

The modern macOS player on mpv.

IINA ranks #4 of 7 in Video players, with an Alt Score of 73. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on macOS. 7 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/iina/
Category: Video players

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: macOS users who want a modern, native alternative to standard media players for playing local video and audio files, including power users who want gestures, plugins, and format flexibility that QuickTime lacks.
- **What you get**: IINA plays nearly any media format via the mpv engine under the hood, wrapped in a native macOS interface with dark mode, Picture-in-Picture, Touch Bar and system media control support. It adds trackpad/mouse gestures, thumbnail previews, online subtitle search, a music-only mode, and a plugin system for extending functionality. It's free, open-source (GPLv3), and built in Swift.
- **How it works**: Open or drag in a local media file (or a URL from sites like YouTube via built-in yt-dlp/youtube-dl support) and IINA decodes and plays it through mpv, presenting standard playback controls alongside macOS-native touches like PiP and gesture navigation.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: macOS
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [VLC](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/vlc.md) | 96 | GPL-2.0-or-later | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 2 | [mpv](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mpv.md) | 78 | GPL-2.0-or-later | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Infuse](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/infuse.md) | 73 | Proprietary | iOS, macOS |
| 4 | [MPC-HC](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mpc-hc.md) | 68 | GPL-3.0 | Windows |
| 5 | [SMPlayer](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/smplayer.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 6 | [MX Player](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mx-player.md) | 28 | Proprietary | Android, iOS |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Video players checklist | IINA | VLC | mpv | Infuse | MPC-HC | SMPlayer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free | Free | Freemium | Free | Free |
| Starts at | ? | ? | ? | $1.99/month | ? | ? |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Platforms | macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux | iOS, macOS | Windows | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Format support breadth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware decoding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Subtitle handling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming (DLNA, network) | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Playback speed & A-B loop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Plugins / scripting | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial | ? |
| Casting support | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| No ads or upsells | ? | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | ? |
| Library management | ? | Partial | ? | Yes | ? | No |

## Sources

Sources for IINA. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://github.com/iina/iina/blob/develop/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE”
- **Platforms**: macOS — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iina/iina/develop/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Designed with modern versions of macOS (11.0+) in mind”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://github.com/iina/iina/blob/develop/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Free/libre — GPL-3.0 open-source software.
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE”
- **Status**: active — <https://iina.io/download/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Released on 2026-06-24”
- **Format support breadth**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iina/iina/develop/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Based on [mpv](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv), which provides the best decoding capacity on macOS”
- **Hardware decoding**: Yes — <https://github.com/iina/iina/blob/develop/iina/en.lproj/Localizable.strings> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: quicksetting.hwdec" = "Hardware Decoding";"
- **Subtitle handling**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iina/iina/develop/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Online subtitle searching and intelligent local subtitle matching”
- **Streaming (DLNA, network)**: Yes — <https://iina.io/download/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Opens online/network media; no native DLNA.
  - Quote: “You can open various online media in IINA directly from web browsers by using our browser extensions.”
- **Playback speed & A-B loop**: Yes — <https://github.com/iina/iina/blob/develop/iina/en.lproj/Localizable.strings> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: settings.doubleClickAction.items.5" = "A-B loop";
"settings.doubleClickAction.items.6" = "Reset speed";"
- **Plugins / scripting**: Yes — <https://iina.io/plugins/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “The plugin system allows you to extend IINA's functionality with JavaScript. You can control the playback, call the mpv API, access the network and file system, adding custom UI elements, and more.”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://github.com/iina/iina/blob/develop/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/