# Alternatives to MPC-HC

The lightweight Windows classic, community-maintained.

MPC-HC ranks #6 of 7 in Video players, with an Alt Score of 68. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on Windows. 7 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mpc-hc/
Category: Video players

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Windows users who want a free, no-frills local media player, especially on older or low-spec hardware, and who don't need cloud features or active vendor support.
- **What you get**: A lightweight, open-source player that handles most common video and audio formats out of the box, with built-in codecs and filters so no separate codec pack is needed. It includes DVB tuner support for watching and recording digital TV, extensive playback and customization options, and no ads, toolbars, or bundled spyware. Note: development stopped after the 1.7.13 release in July 2017, so it receives no updates or security fixes.
- **How it works**: Install the standalone player (or the x64/ARM64 build) on Windows, then open a local video or audio file directly or via right-click/drag-and-drop; playback, subtitles, and audio/video filters are configured through the main window's menus and options dialogs.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows
- **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 | [IINA](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/iina.md) | 73 | GPL-3.0 | macOS |
| 4 | [Infuse](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/infuse.md) | 73 | Proprietary | iOS, macOS |
| 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 | MPC-HC | VLC | mpv | IINA | Infuse | SMPlayer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free | Free | Free | Freemium | Free |
| Starts at | ? | ? | ? | ? | $1.99/month | ? |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS | iOS, macOS | 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 | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Plugins / scripting | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Casting support | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| No ads or upsells | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial | ? |
| Library management | ? | Partial | ? | ? | Yes | No |

## Sources

Sources for MPC-HC. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/COPYING.txt> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Version 3, 29 June 2007”
- **Platforms**: Windows — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 / 11”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPC-HC) is a free and open-source video and audio player for Windows.”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/releases/tag/2.7.3> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Changes from 2.7.2 to 2.7.3”
- **Format support breadth**: Yes — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “HEVC (H.265) / VVC (H.266) / AV1 video, and AC4 audio.”
- **Hardware decoding**: Yes — <https://mpc-hc.org/about/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Supports GPU assisted decoding.”
- **Subtitle handling**: Yes — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Improved subtitle rendering performance, and ability to use libass. Plus support for WebVTT.”
- **Streaming (DLNA, network)**: Yes — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “You can stream videos directly from Youtube and many other video websites”
- **Playback speed & A-B loop**: Yes — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Speed control confirmed; MPC-HC also has A-B repeat.
  - Quote: “Adjust playback speed”
- **Plugins / scripting**: Partial — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Extensible via DirectShow filters; no native scripting.
  - Quote: “Being a DirectShow player, it also allows flexibility and extensibility through third party filters.”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/blob/develop/Readme.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “free and open-source video and audio player for Windows”

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