Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

QuickTime VS VLC Media Player

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

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

QuickTime logo QuickTime

Apple company product

VLC Media Player logo VLC Media Player

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework.
  • QuickTime Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-07
  • VLC Media Player Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-13

QuickTime features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    QuickTime provides a clean and simple interface that is easy to navigate, making it accessible for users of all experience levels.
  • High-Quality Playback
    QuickTime supports high-quality video playback with smooth motion and clear audio output, enhancing the viewing experience.
  • Wide Format Support
    QuickTime is capable of handling various media formats, including MP4, MOV, H.264, AAC, and more, offering flexibility in media playback.
  • Editing Capabilities
    QuickTime allows for basic video editing tasks such as trimming, rotating, and combining clips, which can be handy for quick edits.
  • Screen Recording
    QuickTime includes screen recording features that enable users to capture their screens for tutorials, presentations, and other needs.

Possible disadvantages of QuickTime

  • Limited Advanced Features
    QuickTime lacks some advanced editing and playback features found in more specialized software, which may not meet the needs of professional users.
  • MacOS Preference
    While QuickTime is available on Windows, it is optimized for MacOS, leading to potentially less optimal performance on non-Apple devices.
  • File Conversion Limitations
    Converting certain file types may require third-party software, as QuickTime's native conversion capabilities are limited.
  • Discontinued Support for Windows
    Support for QuickTime on Windows has been discontinued, which may lead to security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues.
  • Resource Intensive
    QuickTime can be resource-intensive, which might be a concern for users with older or less powerful hardware.

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.

Analysis of VLC Media Player

Overall verdict

  • Yes, VLC Media Player is widely considered to be a good media player.

Why this product is good

  • VLC Media Player is praised for its versatility, open-source nature, cross-platform support, and ability to play a wide variety of media formats without needing additional codecs. It also offers features like streaming, conversion, and extensive subtitle support.

Recommended for

  • Users who need a reliable and versatile media player.
  • Anyone looking to play non-standard or less common media formats.
  • People who prefer open-source software or want a player that is consistently updated.
  • Users who require cross-platform compatibility between Windows, macOS, and Linux.

QuickTime videos

BEST SCREEN RECORDING APP FOR YOUTUBE - why you shouldn't use QuickTime

More videos:

  • Review - Olsa magnetic bit organizer Quicktime review
  • Review - Quicktime! Pyramex face shield review! No fog!

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 QuickTime and VLC Media Player)
Screenshot Annotation
100 100%
0% 0
Audio Player
0 0%
100% 100
Screenshots
100 100%
0% 0
Media Player
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using QuickTime and VLC Media Player. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

QuickTime Reviews

10 Proven Screen Recorders for Mac [Updated in 2023]
Have you ever needed to go online to a webinar, an online class, a YouTube streaming video, or an app window to show someone your Mac device's screen? If you want to share your Mac screen with others after recording, the screen recorder for Mac can help you record anything that happens on the Mac screen. Maybe you have heard or used Mac Screenshot or QuickTime player. They...

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, VLC Media Player should be more popular than QuickTime. It has been mentiond 3 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.

QuickTime mentions (1)

  • Codecs will not activate
    Quicktime was used in Vegas to enable MP4 container decoding in Vegas 13 and before. It doesn't do anything since then. Quicktime hasn't even supported Windows since Windows 7. I don't think you're aware how many extant exploits there are for Quicktime on Windows. It's not a safe thing to add and it does nothing. It is not required to run Vegas. You can disagree, but I'd like to see some evidence for saying that.... Source: over 2 years ago

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: almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing QuickTime and VLC Media Player, you can also consider the following products

OBS Studio - Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming for Mac, Windows and Linux.

AIMP - AIMP : Free Audio Player : Официальный сайт программы

ScreenToGif - This tool allows you to record a selected area of your screen and save as a animated gif.

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.

UkeySoft Screen Recorder for Windows - UkeySoft Screen Recorder for Windows is a full-featured but lightweight screen recorder for you to to capture desktop activities and create video tutorials, demonstrations and presentations.

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