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MPC-BE VS VLC Media Player

Compare MPC-BE VS VLC Media Player and see what are their differences

MPC-BE logo MPC-BE

MPC-BE is a free and open source audio and video player for Windows.

VLC Media Player logo VLC Media Player

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework.
  • MPC-BE Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14
  • VLC Media Player Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-13

MPC-BE features and specs

  • Lightweight
    MPC-BE is a lightweight media player, which means it requires minimal system resources to run efficiently, making it ideal for older or less powerful systems.
  • Free and Open Source
    MPC-BE is completely free to use and its source code is available for anyone to inspect or modify, promoting transparency and allowing community contributions.
  • Wide Format Support
    The player supports a wide range of audio and video formats out of the box, reducing the need for additional codecs.
  • Customizable Interface
    Users can customize the interface according to their preferences, improving the overall user experience.
  • Regular Updates
    MPC-BE receives regular updates, which include new features, bug fixes, and improved compatibility with various media formats.
  • High-Quality Playback
    The player provides high-quality video and audio playback, making it suitable for users who demand excellent media performance.

Possible disadvantages of MPC-BE

  • Complexity
    For users who are not tech-savvy, the plethora of features and settings might be overwhelming, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to some other media players, MPC-BE may lack certain advanced features such as built-in streaming services or extensive library management.
  • Windows-Only
    MPC-BE is only available for Windows, which limits its use for people who prefer or require Linux or macOS systems.
  • Infrequent Comprehensive Documentation
    Although the software is frequently updated, comprehensive and user-friendly documentation may occasionally lag, making it harder for new users to fully understand all features.
  • Community-Driven Support
    Support is primarily community-driven, which can result in slower response times and potential difficulties in resolving less common issues.

VLC Media Player features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    VLC Media Player is available on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, providing a consistent experience across different devices.
  • Wide Format Support
    VLC supports virtually all audio and video file formats, making it a versatile media player for various types of content.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, VLC is free to use and its source code is accessible, allowing for community-driven modifications and improvements.
  • No Ads or Spyware
    VLC Media Player is free of advertisements, spyware, and user tracking, offering a clean and private user experience.
  • Customizable Interface
    Users can customize the interface with skins and add functionality through plugins and extensions, enhancing the user experience.
  • Streaming Support
    VLC can stream content over networks and manage internet radio streams, making it ideal for both local and remote media playback.
  • Frequent Updates
    The development team regularly updates VLC, ensuring it remains secure, stable, and compatible with the latest media formats.

Possible disadvantages of VLC Media Player

  • Resource Intensive
    VLC can be resource-intensive, which may cause performance issues on older or less powerful devices.
  • Complex Interface
    The extensive range of features and settings can be overwhelming for new or less tech-savvy users, making it difficult to navigate.
  • Occasional Bugs
    Like any software, VLC is not immune to bugs, which can sometimes result in crashes or unexpected behavior during playback.
  • Limited Library Management
    VLC's media library functionality is relatively basic compared to dedicated media management software, which may be a downside for users with large media collections.
  • Suboptimal Subtitle Support
    While VLC supports subtitles, the functionality can sometimes be glitchy, with occasional issues in displaying or syncing subtitles accurately.
  • Advanced Features Can Be Hidden
    Some advanced features are not immediately obvious and may require digging into the settings or using command-line options, which can be a barrier for less experienced users.

MPC-BE videos

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VLC Media Player videos

VLC Media Player Review!

More videos:

  • Tutorial - VLC Media Player Android Review and Tutorial - Cool Features of VLC

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to MPC-BE and VLC Media Player)
Media Player
16 16%
84% 84
Audio Player
16 16%
84% 84
Video Player
24 24%
76% 76
Music Player
10 10%
90% 90

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare MPC-BE and VLC Media Player

MPC-BE Reviews

The Best Top 5 Free Alternatives to Windows Media Player
Media Player Classic, as the name implies, this alternative to Windows Media Player is a tribute to the classic version of Windows Media Player 6.4. It is also an open source media player, supporting lots of video and audio formats, and can play Discs like VCD、SVCD、DVD, etc. Of course, as the successor of MPC, MPC-HC has more features. It can be used as DVB player and...

VLC Media Player Reviews

  1. Muhammad Yaseen
    Playing Videos

    This is very useful application for me. Now i can watch videos of any format on my laptop with vlc player. It solved my all problems of video formats and play problem.


Best VLC Alternative Media Players
Users might seek alternatives to VLC Media Player due to preferences for a different user interface, additional features not available in the program, performance issues like lagging or compatibility problems, or specialized needs such as specific codec support. While VLC offers robust functionality and broad compatibility, exploring other media players can address personal...
9 Best VLC Alternatives to Play Media in Any Format
In today's fast-paced world, media players have become an essential part of our lives. VLC Media Player has always been a popular choice, but it seems that the video player exhibits more problems as time goes on. A quick search of user reviews proves that it has fallen behind competitors in terms of advanced features, and newer updates of VLC are fraught with bugs, glitches,...
10 Best VLC Media Player Alternatives in 2024 (Free)
Some years before VLC Media Player provided a lot of useful and satisfying features to the users as one of the best Media Players but as the use of Media Players increased many more alternatives to VLC Media Player developed that became its competitors. These not only serve similar features as VLC Media Player but also provide more useful features and various file formats...
Top 5 GOM Player Alternatives for Windows
You can spot VLC Media Player on the first position of almost every media-player-based list. It’s been one of the standards for playing wide variety of media formats — including audio and video. Being an open-source program, you are completely free to use VLC. As far as playing media in Windows is concerned, VLC Media Player comes with the best-in-class support. You will...
Source: xtendedview.com
Top 5 Alternatives of VLC for iPad
VLC player is one of the famous media players that is commonly used across multiple operating systems, including iPadOS. It's an open-source and easy-to-use media player that shows compatibility with every mainstream video and audio format. IPad users can use the file synchronization feature to stream videos saved in cloud storage platforms like Dropbox, iCloud Drive,...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, MPC-BE seems to be a lot more popular than VLC Media Player. While we know about 58 links to MPC-BE, we've tracked only 3 mentions of VLC Media Player. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

MPC-BE mentions (58)

  • Can someone help me in identifying the cause for this issue?
    Try MPC-BE and see if it has the same issues. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Live Upscale Videos On PC/Steam Deck
    NVIDIA's AI upscaling technique, requires: GeForce RTX 40 or 30 Series GPU. If you have mediaplayer classic black edition MPC-BE + emoose-VideoRenderer. For PC that's what I ended up using. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Windows software that supports frame by frame video play
    MPC-BE (Media Player Classic - Black Edition) can do frame-by-frame skip, both backwards and forwards. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Must have programs for a fresh Windows 10 install.
    MPC has been abandoned. MPC-BE was forked and has current maintenance. Source: about 2 years ago
  • they can't be serious, right?
    Your PC is old enough to attend high school but it still should be ok with 1080p content. It would definitely struggle with 4K regardless of the bitrate. But in case I might be wrong here is the link. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

VLC Media Player mentions (3)

  • The 10 tools I install on every new Mac I get
    VLC - plays everything, has excellent keyboard shortcuts and can in a pinch even record screens for you (free). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Why Open Source Software VLC's official website has been blocked for over 5 months now?
    Try accessing it without the 'www' subdomain (https://videolan.org/vlc/). Source: almost 3 years ago
  • AV1 no working
    I think I recommend you to use VLC Media Player without AV1 extension, it just decode. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing MPC-BE and VLC Media Player, you can also consider the following products

MPC-HC - MPC-HC, the free, open source media player for Windows. DownloadsNote. Supported Operating Systems: Windows® XP SP3 .

AIMP - AIMP : Free Audio Player : Официальный сайт программы

PotPlayer - Potplayer is a minimalist media player that has an extensive range of configurable options to...

Winamp - Winamp is a media player that allows users to play multiple-file formats, arrange media in a varied file-management system, and play unique media with AAC encoding.

MPV - MPV is an audio and movie player based on MPlayer and mplayer2. A free, open source, and cross-platform media player.

foobar2000 - An advanced freeware audio player for the Windows platform.