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.
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.
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.
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.
Where VLC stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave VLC
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
How VLC compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| Video players checklist | VLC | mpv | IINA | Infuse | MPC-HC | SMPlayer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Format support breadth | ||||||
| Hardware decoding | ||||||
| Subtitle handling | ||||||
| Streaming (DLNA, network) | ||||||
| Playback speed & A-B loop | ||||||
| Plugins / scripting | ||||||
| Casting support | ||||||
| Open source | ||||||
| No ads or upsells | ||||||
| Library management |
Every fact and feature listed for VLC is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-10
Completely Free - no spyware, no ads and no user tracking.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ -
License GPL-2.0-or-later verified 2026-07-10
VLC** is released under the GPLv2 *(or later)* license.
https://github.com/videolan/vlc/blob/master/README.md -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android verified 2026-07-10
Runs on all platforms - Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, iOS, Android ...
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-10
2025-12-23T10:48:41Z""
datetime=
https://github.com/videolan/vlc/releases/tag/3.0.23-2 -
Format support breadth Yes verified 2026-07-10
Plays most codecs with no codec packs needed - MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3...
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ -
Hardware decoding Yes verified 2026-07-10
VLC has hardware decoding on most platforms. It supports 0-copy on the GPU
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html -
Subtitle handling Yes verified 2026-07-10
DVD, Text files (MicroDVD, SubRIP, SubViewer, SSA1-5, SAMI, VPlayer), Closed captions, Vobsub, Universal Subtitle Format (USF), SVCD / CVD, DVB, OGM, CMML, Kate.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html -
Streaming (DLNA, network) Yes verified 2026-07-10
Network browsing for distant filesystems (SMB, FTP, SFTP, NFS...)
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/3.0.0.html -
Playback speed & A-B loop Yes verified 2026-07-10
Speed control confirmed; VLC also has A→B loop.
Speed control
https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:VLC_for_dummies/ -
Plugins / scripting Yes verified 2026-07-10
Install extensions.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ -
Casting support Yes verified 2026-07-10
Can stream to Chromecast devices, even in formats not supported natively
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/3.0.0.html -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-10
is a libre and open source **media player** and **multimedia engine**,
https://github.com/videolan/vlc/blob/master/README.md -
No ads or upsells Yes verified 2026-07-10
Completely Free - no spyware, no ads and no user tracking.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ -
Library management Partial verified 2026-07-10
the Media Library feature offers only the most basic abilities
https://wiki.videolan.org/Media_library/
FAQ
Yes. mpv, IINA and Infuse have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
mpv, IINA and MPC-HC — every license claim links its source.