Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

MPV VS VLC Media Player

Compare MPV VS VLC Media Player and see what are their differences

MPV logo MPV

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

VLC Media Player logo VLC Media Player

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

MPV features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    MPV is available on multiple operating systems including Windows, macOS, and various Linux distributions, making it versatile for users across different platforms.
  • High Customizability
    MPV offers extensive customization options through its configuration files, allowing users to tailor the player to their specific needs and preferences.
  • High-Quality Video Playback
    MPV supports a wide array of video codecs and formats out-of-the-box, providing high-quality playback and smooth performance.
  • Minimalistic Interface
    MPV features a clean and simple interface that focuses on the video content without unnecessary distractions, appealing to users who prefer a minimalist design.
  • Active Open-Source Community
    As an open-source project, MPV is continuously improved by a dedicated community, which contributes regular updates, new features, and bug fixes.

Possible disadvantages of MPV

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users might find MPV challenging to use initially, especially due to its reliance on command-line configurations and lack of a graphical user interface for settings.
  • Limited Built-In GUI
    MPV lacks a comprehensive built-in graphical user interface, which might be inconvenient for users who prefer GUI-based interaction for functionality like playlist management or detailed settings.
  • Dependency on External Scripts
    Some advanced functionalities require the use of external scripts and add-ons, which can be cumbersome to find, install, and configure.
  • Lack of Integrated Streaming Services
    MPV does not natively support integration with popular streaming services, requiring additional steps or tools for users who want to stream content directly within the player.
  • Occasional Stability Issues
    Being an actively developed open-source project, MPV can sometimes experience stability issues or bugs in new releases, impacting the user experience.

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.

MPV videos

Best MPVs: Our top 5

More videos:

  • Review - Mazda5 MPV review - CarBuyer
  • Demo - MPV - A Lightweight Powerful Video Player for Linux
  • Review - What Car? reviews seven-seat MPVs - Vauxhall Zafira Tourer, Seat Alhambra & Citroen Grand C4 Picasso

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 MPV and VLC Media Player)
Audio Player
32 32%
68% 68
Media Player
29 29%
71% 71
Video Player
33 33%
67% 67
Music Player
26 26%
74% 74

User comments

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Reviews

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

MPV Reviews

Best VLC Alternative Media Players
MPV is a highly acclaimed alternative to VLC media player that pretty much follows what VLC has started. It is free, open-source, cross-platform, and provides endless customization. It has a huge but still rapidly growing community and better shading and high-quality video rendering.
20 BEST Video Player | Media Players for Windows 10 PC (2021)
MPV is a media player tool. It is a free and open-source application released under GNU (General Public License). This tool supports MPV and MPEG-2 video formats.
Source: www.guru99.com
15 Best Media Players For Mac and Windows (2021 Edition)
MPV is an open source software that comes with streamlined CLI options. It supports video scaling with famous high quality algorithms, frame timing, HDR, interpolation and color management to give you the best experience.
Source: www.rankred.com

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, MPV seems to be a lot more popular than VLC Media Player. While we know about 230 links to MPV, 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.

MPV mentions (230)

  • How I Built a TUI Without Leaving the Terminal
    The biggest challenge I faced was getting some sort of way to play music. So I picked the easiest route—I directly implemented it with mpv and I channeled logs of mpv (which had timestamps, which I needed) to a log file under the .sparklines folder, and managed it with a socket (a two-way communication endpoint to handle the custom commands). With the power of NodeJS, I made it work out and somehow it turned out a... - Source: dev.to / 19 days ago
  • Lua scripting in mpv video player
    I checked it and the mpv-cut script turned out to be a Lua script that lets you cut a video fragment directly while watching it in the mpv player. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Qubes OS: A reasonably secure operating system
    Mpv is a free (as in freedom) media player for the command line. It supports a wide variety of media file formats, audio and video codecs, and subtitle types.[0] https://mpv.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Firefox slow to load YouTube? Just another front in Google's war on ad blockers
    Https://mpv.io/ has yt-dlp support, if yt-dlp is installed you just need to throw the URL at it and it plays the video (without download). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Video stops on furst frame, audio continues to play,seek works
    I apologise for not following procedure. I am in the middle of building mpv 0.37 from source. Irrespective of the outcome I will document what I had to do in addition to the instructions on mpv.io and if the problem perststs, where it happens and where not with kernel version, mpv version taken from the screen, and the terminal output. Source: over 1 year 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 MPV and VLC Media Player, you can also consider the following products

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

AIMP - AIMP : Free Audio Player : Официальный сайт программы

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

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.

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

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