# Alternatives to VLC

Plays everything, everywhere, forever.

VLC ranks #1 of 7 in Video players, with an Alt Score of 96. It is licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later, free and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

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

## Where VLC stands out

- **No ads or upsells** — 2 of 4 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Anyone who needs to play media files or discs without worrying about format or codec compatibility, from casual users to power users on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS.
- **What you get**: A free, open-source media player that plays virtually all audio and video formats, plus DVDs, VCDs, Audio CDs, and streaming protocols, with no need for separate codec packs. It includes extras like an equalizer, subtitle support, skins, and extensions for customizing playback.
- **How it works**: Download and install the VLC app for your platform, then open a local file, disc, or network stream directly in the player to start playback.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-2.0-or-later (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [mpv](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mpv.md) | 78 | GPL-2.0-or-later | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2 | [IINA](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/iina.md) | 73 | GPL-3.0 | macOS |
| 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 | VLC | mpv | IINA | Infuse | MPC-HC | SMPlayer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Free | Free | Freemium | Free | Free |
| Starts at | ? | ? | ? | $1.99/month | ? | ? |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS | 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 | Partial | Yes | 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 VLC. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Completely Free - no spyware, no ads and no user tracking.”
- **License**: GPL-2.0-or-later — <https://github.com/videolan/vlc/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “VLC** is released under the GPLv2 *(or later)* license.”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Runs on all platforms - Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, iOS, Android ...”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/videolan/vlc/releases/tag/3.0.23-2> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: 2025-12-23T10:48:41Z""
  - Quote: “datetime=”
- **Format support breadth**: Yes — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Plays most codecs with no codec packs needed - MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3...”
- **Hardware decoding**: Yes — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “VLC has hardware decoding on most platforms. It supports 0-copy on the GPU”
- **Subtitle handling**: Yes — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “DVD, Text files (MicroDVD, SubRIP, SubViewer, SSA1-5, SAMI, VPlayer), Closed captions, Vobsub, Universal Subtitle Format (USF), SVCD / CVD, DVB, OGM, CMML, Kate.”
- **Streaming (DLNA, network)**: Yes — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/3.0.0.html> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Network browsing for distant filesystems (SMB, FTP, SFTP, NFS...)”
- **Playback speed & A-B loop**: Yes — <https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:VLC_for_dummies/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Speed control confirmed; VLC also has A→B loop.
  - Quote: “Speed control”
- **Plugins / scripting**: Yes — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Install extensions.”
- **Casting support**: Yes — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/3.0.0.html> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Can stream to Chromecast devices, even in formats not supported natively”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://github.com/videolan/vlc/blob/master/README.md> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “is a libre and open source **media player** and **multimedia engine**,”
- **No ads or upsells**: Yes — <https://www.videolan.org/vlc/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Completely Free - no spyware, no ads and no user tracking.”
- **Library management**: Partial — <https://wiki.videolan.org/Media_library/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “the Media Library feature offers only the most basic abilities”

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