Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Plyr VS MediaElement.js

Compare Plyr VS MediaElement.js and see what are their differences

Plyr logo Plyr

A simple, accessible and customisable HTML5 media player

MediaElement.js logo MediaElement.js

MediaElement.js provides HTML5 audio and video players in pure HTML and CSS.
  • Plyr Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-23
  • MediaElement.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30

Plyr features and specs

  • Customizable
    Plyr offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to adjust the player's appearance and functionality to match the design and needs of their website or application.
  • Responsive Design
    Plyr is built to be responsive, ensuring that media content plays well on various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
  • Lightweight
    The library is lightweight, which means it can load quickly and improve the overall performance of a website or application.
  • Accessibility
    Plyr is designed with accessibility in mind, providing support for keyboard navigation, screen readers, and other assistive technologies.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, Plyr allows developers to contribute to its improvement and adapt it to suit specific needs. It also means there is no cost to use it.
  • Browser Compatibility
    Plyr supports a wide range of modern browsers, ensuring that media playback is consistent across different environments.
  • Plugin Support
    Plyr supports various plugins and integrations, making it easier to extend its functionality and integrate with third-party services or platforms.

Possible disadvantages of Plyr

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While Plyr offers many basic and essential features, it may lack some advanced features found in other premium or specialized media players.
  • Dependency on CSS and JavaScript
    Plyr relies on additional CSS and JavaScript files, which means developers need to ensure those assets are loaded correctly to maintain the player's functionality.
  • Customization Complexity
    Although Plyr is customizable, making significant changes to its default settings may require a deeper understanding of its API and underlying code.
  • Community and Support
    As an open-source project, Plyr may not have the same level of dedicated support or comprehensive documentation as some commercial alternatives.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues
    While Plyr aims to be compatible with many modern browsers, there may still be occasional issues or inconsistencies, particularly with less commonly used browsers or older versions.
  • Performance Overhead
    Even though Plyr is lightweight, integrating it into a highly optimized web application may add some performance overhead, particularly if not managed properly.

MediaElement.js features and specs

  • Cross-browser compatibility
    MediaElement.js is designed to work across all major web browsers, providing a consistent media experience regardless of the user's browser.
  • HTML5 and Flash support
    It supports both HTML5 and Flash, ensuring media plays even on older browsers that do not support HTML5.
  • Customizable
    It offers various options for customization, allowing developers to tailor the media player to fit the design and functionality needs of their website.
  • Accessibility
    The player is designed with accessibility in mind, featuring support for screen readers and keyboard navigation.
  • Extensible
    It supports plugins, making it easier for developers to extend functionality as needed.
  • Playlist support
    It has built-in support for playlists, making it easier to manage and play a sequence of media files.
  • Consistent API
    Provides a consistent API for media playback, which simplifies the process of media integration for developers.

Possible disadvantages of MediaElement.js

  • Dependency on Flash
    While it provides fallback to Flash, this can be seen as a downside since Flash is becoming obsolete and presents security vulnerabilities.
  • Performance
    Depending on the complexity and number of media elements, performance can be an issue, especially on resource-constrained devices.
  • Size
    The library can be relatively large compared to other media players, which can affect load times and overall performance of web applications.
  • Complexity
    Though customizable, the process can be complex for developers who are not familiar with JavaScript and the library's configuration options.
  • Limited advanced features
    While it covers basic needs well, it may not have advanced features out-of-the-box that other specialized media players provide.

Analysis of Plyr

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Plyr is considered a good choice for developers looking for a flexible and efficient media player solution. It stands out due to its user-friendly design, comprehensive feature set, and strong community support.

Why this product is good

  • Plyr is a popular open-source media player that provides a simple and customizable interface for playing video, audio, and other media formats. It's lightweight and designed to be compatible with a variety of web platforms. Users appreciate its ease of integration, responsive design, and support for modern browsers. Additionally, Plyr offers a consistent user experience across different devices and a range of customization options for developers.

Recommended for

  • Web developers seeking a lightweight, customizable media player.
  • Projects requiring a consistent user experience across various devices and browsers.
  • Developers who need a player with support for captions and accessibility features.
  • Teams looking for an open-source solution with easy integration capabilities.

Analysis of MediaElement.js

Overall verdict

  • MediaElement.js is generally considered a good choice for developers needing a comprehensive, cross-browser media player solution. Its flexibility, ease of integration, and extensive feature set make it a valuable tool in projects where media playback is a core component.

Why this product is good

  • MediaElement.js is a robust HTML5 media player library that bridges the gap between HTML5 and modern web browsers, offering support for audio and video playback in a consistent manner. It automatically provides fallback support for older browsers using Flash and Silverlight, ensuring a broad range of compatibility. The library touts an easy-to-use API, excellent customizability, and a strong community, which make it a popular choice for developers looking to implement media playback on their websites or web applications.

Recommended for

  • Developers seeking cross-browser compatibility for audio and video playback
  • Projects requiring support for both modern and legacy browsers
  • Websites or applications that need a customizable media player component with a flexible API
  • Developers looking for an open-source solution with an active community and ongoing support

Plyr videos

ReevoH's Skullcandy PLYR 2 Wireless Headset Review/Unboxing

More videos:

  • Review - Skullcandy PLYR 1 Gaming Headset Review/ First Impression

MediaElement.js videos

youtube

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Plyr and MediaElement.js)
YouTube Tools
58 58%
42% 42
Video Platform
60 60%
40% 40
Marketing Platform
61 61%
39% 39
Video Players & Editors
49 49%
51% 51

User comments

Share your experience with using Plyr and MediaElement.js. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Plyr seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 13 times since March 2021. 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.

Plyr mentions (13)

  • Embed video player
    Has anyone tried integrating something like Plyr into a framer site? Source: over 1 year ago
  • Best way to showcase videos without the site becoming slow?
    Just going to post my free no-code tool again for u/Thenmatwaslike. It's a great way to visualize the changes you're making to your Vimeo video with plyr.io, and then it spits out the code you need for your Webflow site. Https://vimeoconfig.com/. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Best way to showcase videos without the site becoming slow?
    Here is a free no-code tool I made that lets you use plyr.io with your Vimeo videos. The benefit also being that you can customize your Vimeo videos appearance without a Vimeo pro account: vimeoconfig.com. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Anyone Knows of A Good Responsive Video Player For SvelteKit?
    You shouldn’t need a svelte-specific video player—you can just use a vanilla js library, Plyr for example. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Replacing web media players with CSS/Userscript
    Is it possible to force the media player style to be replaced with the plyr.io style? Source: over 2 years ago
View more

MediaElement.js mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of MediaElement.js yet. Tracking of MediaElement.js recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Plyr and MediaElement.js, you can also consider the following products

VideoJS - VideoJS is an HTML5 Video Player, built with Javascript and CSS, with a fallback to a Flash video...

JW Player - JW Player is an embeddable media player.

Flowplayer - Flowplayer is a video player for web sites.

FV Player - WordPress's most reliable, easy to use and feature-rich video player.

SublimeVideo - The HTML5 Video Player Everyone Deserves.

VPlayed - A Self-hosted OTT Streaming Solution for Content Owners & Broadcasters