VLC is a cross-platform multimedia player that supports various audio and video formats. It’s also one of the most popular media players, with versions available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.
VLC Media Player is known for its not-so-sophisticated but functional interface that is easy to use. This app supports streaming and can be extended virtually endlessly by downloading plugins. As well as adding extra features, these also allow integration with other applications.
VLC Media Player is also capable of searching album covers. Multi-film playlists allow you to play them one after another. You can use this feature if you have downloaded a film in several parts or wish to watch several shorter video clips.
Another cool feature of this media player is that you can find subtitles automatically and download them directly from the web for virtually any video format. To cap it off, it is free!
Despite all these plus points, it has some drawbacks too.
With VLC Media Player, it is tricky to edit metadata such as title and artist names when compared to similar software. Finding songs in your library can also be a lot of work. Some users have experienced bugs with the audio syncing in movies downloaded from the web with subtitles enabled, as well as occasional crashes.
In this post, I share the 15 best VLC Media Player alternatives. Some boast improved functionality or offer additional features not found in VLC. So if you’re looking for a replacement for VLC, keep reading.
Best VLC Media Player Alternatives
1. MX Player
MX Player is one of the most popular VLC Media Player alternatives. It is a media player that also allows you to stream videos from the internet or play local media files on your computer or mobile device using almost any codec available.
But unlike VLC Media Player, you must download another app (Video Downloader for MX Player) to save video files from YouTube and other video sites on your device.
MX Player is versatile and customizable, supporting various formats and codecs. It also offers a very lean interface. You can choose between a light or dark theme to suit your preferences.
With MX Player, you can also synchronize subtitles with the movie so you can read them as you watch. And like VLC, this app is free for Windows, iOS, Mac, Android, and Linux. However, you will be bombarded with many ads, but it is, after all, a free app.
2. KMPlayer
KMPlayer is a video player that offers a lot of features and capabilities. Despite being an open-source project (free), the look and feel are similar to most commercial players, and it has a simple interface that is easy to use.
The playback is smooth and the audio and video are synced perfectly. You can control playback by using shortcuts on your keyboard or your mouse. The speed trim feature is intuitive and works well for adjusting playback speed.
Like VLC Media Player, KMPlayer allows users to find subtitles for their movies and shows automatically. But with KMPlayer, you can customize your subtitle options in terms of font type, size, color, and even transparency level.
KMPlayer is available on many platforms, including Windows, macOS X, Linux, Android, and iOS. Users can also enjoy streaming music and videos from online sources by entering the URL of the video they want to watch in the player’s address bar.
One other cool feature of KMPlayer is that you can create your own GIFs from your favorite videos – how cool is that? With an MP3 converter and VIP Themes, it is no wonder that this media player is a favorite among many users.
3. MPV
If you like minimalism and open-source, you’ll love MPV. MPV is one of the most powerful open-source media players that, like VL Media Player, supports a wide range of audio and video formats. MPV features a minimalist interface that focuses on playing videos.
The playback controls are pretty limited and occupy a small screen section, but they provide features similar to the playback controls in VLC Media Player. You can add subtitles to a movie or stream video and audio from online sources to your device.
MPV allows users to add multiple items to a playlist, including videos, images, and music, and switch between them easily.
MPV has powerful scripting capabilities that allow you to build your own extensions and add features to the media player. And if you prefer a dark theme, it is perfect for you.
4. GOM Lab
GOM Lab has free video tools available to all users on Windows, macOS X, Linux, Android, iOS, and more. The platform has video editing tools, video, and audio players, and utilities, including a meme maker. In a nutshell, this is the one-stop solution to all your multimedia needs.
Its video player feature is divided into three parts: GOM Player, which is available for PC and mobile; GOM Player Plus, which is only available for PC; and GOM Audio, also accessible for PC and mobile.
With GOM Player, a media player, like VLC, supports various audio and video formats. This program sub-category also supports subtitles for movies or TV shows in multiple formats.
According to the website, the GOM library has over 10 years of data cataloging, meaning you can find almost any movie or TV show that has ever been released on the platform’s database in seconds.
You can also enjoy 360-degree immersion in a 360-degree mode and play 360-degree videos. But this is not supported on Windows XP/Mac OS.
The difference between GOM Player and GOM Player Plus is that GOM Player Plus:
- Provides an ad-free playback environment
- Enables you to watch high-quality, 4K UHD movies without buffering
- Gets priority on service inquiries and technical support
You guessed it right; GOM Player Plus is a paid version that costs $15.
5. Pot Player
Pot Player is a multimedia player with a built-in recorder and, like VLC Media Player, supports a wide range of formats. It is also free to download and supports various codecs and subtitle formats. This player’s seamless interface lets you play media files in full-screen mode.
Besides the brief list of features in other media player applications, Pot Player allows its users to take screenshots of videos.
You can also record any streams or download videos from the web. The platform supports Direct3D9Ex Flip Mode and Overlay. This means you have a more comprehensive range of customization options and the ability to enhance video quality while streaming content online.
If you have 3D glasses, you can also use these with the player to play 3D content. And Pot Player supports various devices like HDTV, projector, and TV box/STB/Zapper/Android Box/PC.
6. SMPlayer
SMPlayer is a free media player for Windows and Linux that plays almost all video and audio formats. No external codecs are required. After installing SMPlayer, you can play all forms without finding and installing codecs.
Like VLC, you can download subtitles for movies or TV shows from an online database and synchronize them with playback in real time using SMPlayer.
The interface of the media player is simple and easy to use. The player has several skins and icon themes, so you can quickly change its appearance. If you prefer a dark theme, select one from the app’s settings menu options. The platform has more than 30 languages for you to choose from.
An exciting feature of SMPlayer is that it remembers settings for all files. Suppose you start watching a movie but have to leave. Once you return to it, it will continue at the same point – audio track, subtitles, and volume.
SMPlayer also supports multi-platform, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.
7. Kodi Player
One of the best things about Kodi Player is that you get a fantastic selection of add-ons. I like this because I can watch TV shows and movies for free without paying for a premium subscription.
Kodi is an incredible multimedia player and, like VLC Media Player, works on almost all platforms including Windows, macOS X, iOS, and Android. Kodi supports most video, audio, and image formats and has thousands of add-ons that let you access online sources and stream videos to your devices.
Kodi is free to download and supports multiple file formats and you can install new addons from the Kodi repository easily. It is one of the finest free media centers available. Kodi’s open source roots allow users to customize nearly every aspect, giving them more control over what to watch and how to watch it.
A key reason for Kodi getting a lot of attention is that you can get new skins to change the interface’s appearance. Kodi has a library of themes that can be downloaded from its website and installed to add new skins to the player.
Explore the best alternatives to Kodi in this post.
8. RealPlayer
RealPlayer is another VLC Media Player alternative that is also free and works on almost all platforms. The media player provides users with a wide range of features and easy-to-use controls.
RealPlayer supports many file formats and helps you download subtitles for movies and shows from an online database.
With the RealPlayer 1-Click Downloads feature, you can quickly download videos from thousands of sites, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and more, with a single click. Think about it; instead of copying and pasting URLs from one site to another, you can quickly click the Download button in RealPlayer and watch a video in a few seconds. That’s pretty convenient.
Users can also organize videos by people they know. Then you can jump to scenes with specific people. You can also clean up and create a playlist of videos by adding tags to them and organizing them as you like – by person, genre, or year – whatever works for you.
9. 4K Video Player
As its name says, this video player is designed to play high-quality video files in Ultra HD resolutions such as Ultra HD Blu-rays, MKV files, and other advanced formats.
4K Video Player is an audio and video player which supports all media formats including 4K, HD, Ultra HD, and 1080p Full HD. Like VLC, it has a simple but efficient user interface.
This app is exclusive to Android and takes up very little space on your device. You can search music files from specific folders, browse and play songs from a music library stored on your Android device or SD card, or play a song by an artist’s name.
4K Video Player has an interface lock function that hides the playback controls when your device is locked and prevents users from accidentally stopping playback while playing games or performing other tasks.
The app is free, but it displays ads at the bottom of the screen during video playback.
10. MediaMonkey
MediaMonkey is free media manager software for Windows that allows you to catalog your media files and add metadata to them. Like VLC, MediaMonkey has a simple and easy-to-use interface that makes it easy to organize your audio and video files by genre, artist, or album name.
The program automatically adds metadata to your media files so that you can locate files by time, date, or title. In addition, the program can tag video files based on the IPTC /XMP standard and includes a CD ripping tool to extract tracks from audio CDs.
The program has built-in editing tools that you can use to edit metadata tags manually or perform batch operations on selected files in the library and then sync metadata across multiple files.
MediaMonkey lets you import data directly from EXIF and IPTC tags in image files and MP3 ID3 tags in audio files. You can create and modify multiple libraries for an unlimited number of digital media files.
The program automatically keeps your music collection in sync and updated between all your devices, including your computer, portable music player, and mobile devices.
The software allows you to quickly back up your files to CD/DVD, an attached storage device, or network share and synchronizes files between multiple devices.
11. ALLPlayer
“The Best Video Player for Subtitles” is how ALLPlayer describes itself, and with good reason. It takes subtitles to a new level with its Computer Reader feature.
This feature enables the possibility of reading subtitles by a speech synthesizer instead of displaying them on the screen. So, although it has a subtitle feature like VLC, it also provides much additional functionality.
More features like Movies Search lets you find your favorite movies very quickly. As with VLC, you can play audio files from the app and enjoy free internet radio.
ALLPlayer has a neat interface design and a fast response time. And with the Playlist function, you can watch your favorite videos whenever you want without going through the hassle of browsing for them each time.
Lastly, you can feel safe when your youngsters use this program because it has a Parental Control feature that lets you password-protect a file so that only you can see its content. Overall, ALLPlayer is more than a decent VLC Media Player alternative.
12. BSPlayer
BSPlayer is a well-known alternative to the VLC Media Player for Windows. BSPlayer is a free download AV software video player with a simple and minimalistic user interface. It can not only play media files but also DVDs, DivX, VOB, or ISO images.
Like VLC Media Player, the program supports a wide range of video and audio formats, including AVI, MP4, MKV, M3U8, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG -2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, and more. It can also play numeric subtitles files and includes built-in audio filters and effects to enhance audio quality.
BSPlayer also organizes and displays your movies in a user-friendly way. With BSPlayer, you can play YouTube videos directly from the internet and store them as FLV files on your hard drive for later playback. It lets you download all your favorite YouTube videos right to your PC. Any YouTube content can be played and downloaded with BSPlayer.
Like VLC, BSPlayer allows you to download subtitles. But apart from basic features like font type and size selection, the program supports many others: outlines, shadows, subtitle location, etc.
With simple keyboard shortcuts, inaccurate subtitle timings can be fixed within the program.
BSPlayer supports the simultaneous display of two external subtitle files (.srt, .sub, .txt…). Enjoy dual subtitles in two languages while watching your favorite movie. For those high-resolution movies with subtitles, BS.Player also displays subtitles in .mkv files.
13. 5KPlayer
5KPlayer combines free video and music players, an AirPlay and DLNA media streamer, and an online downloader. With this free media player, you can play 4K/1080p/360° video, DVD, and IPTV with a revolutionary design.
You can also enjoy MP3, AAC, APE, and FLAC music to stimulate your senses. And like VLC Media Player, you can stream and download videos from over 300 websites.
Whenever a subtitle is in the same folder as the video, 5KPlayer automatically reads it. You drag and drop the file to play subtitles onto your Android mobile device.
Besides converting online movies to MP3, AAC music formats, or ringtones, 5KPlayer can also create ringtones from them. Furthermore, it downloads and converts videos to MP3s.
In general, 5KPlayer is an all-in-one media player for playing HD/4K videos and playing any music and audio files for free.
14. Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player for Windows that, like VLC Player, is compatible with several media files and file formats, including MP4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, Windows Audio Video Interleaved (WAVI), and Advanced Systems Format (ASF) codecs. DVDs, AVCHD, and MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) files can be played back as well.
It also lets you stream your media to DLNA-compatible devices like TVs, phones, and portable media players. It features a simple user interface and many customization options that allow you to configure a playback profile, create custom playlists, adjust audio settings, and more.
The latest version of the program supports a few media formats natively, including ASF and AAF. But as before, it needs codecs to play many forms, including AVI, MPG, WMV, MOV, VOB, ASF, WMA, WMA Lossless, and WAV files.
The program supports DVDs with chapters, menus, multiple audio tracks, the Windows Media Center remote control, media autoplay, and files from shared folders or network shares. You can also organize your content by artist, album, or playlist.
Windows Media Player is an often-used application that belongs in the arsenal of every Windows user. It can play practically any media file with ease.
Everything the program offers has been polished and simplified over the years, making file playback a pleasant experience.
15. Bomi Player
Bomi uses graphical user interfaces (GUIs) based on MPV for Linux. It provides a variety of features by utilizing MPV and GUI.
With Bomi, you have a complete playback history since the app automatically records all playback history and allows you to resume playback later.
Bomi has an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI), and you can find all features in the context menu. As well as tracking playback states, it follows audio and subtitle selection.
Bomi can generate playlists based on file names. Additionally, last-played playlists are automatically saved and restored.
Like VLC Media Player, Bomi can play a variety of subtitle formats. It can also display subtitles in style formats such as SAMI and ASS. With Bomi, you can render multiple subtitles at once.
Wrap Up
Many multimedia players on this list can be considered the best available. But I like KMPlayer. One of the reasons for that is that it has a similar look and feel to most commercial players. It also has an easy-to-use interface.
And as with VLC Media Player, KMPlayer also finds subtitles automatically. You can even customize the transparency level of your subtitles with KMPlayer.
The most impressive thing about this player is that you can create GIFs from your favorite videos – that’s awesome!
