Here is the list of 8 free VLC alternative media players for Windows PC.
VLC Media Player is surely one of the best media player and probably the most famous media player. However, there are many good alternatives to VLC media player that I have listed here. These media players provide many features that you find in VLC, such as: play HD videos, create playlist, use equalizer, online videos, load subtitles, stream radio etc. Most of these media players have other interesting and unique features as well. For example, you can record Internet radio, trim and convert videos, apply beautiful skins, create bookmarks, use transparent interface, and more. Lets have a look at these free VLC alternative media players.
Real Player Cloud
RealPlayer Cloud media player is a strong VLC alternative that provides 2 GB free online storage. Apart from playing your PC media files, you can also stream online videos directly from its interface. Features to upload videos to your free account and download a particular video are also available that makes it unique as compared to other media players available in this list.
Other great features provided by this player are: separate section to access PC and cloud videos, trim a video, convert a video, record online videos, watch Facebook videos, etc. So, it is a fantastic media player that is useful for online and offline video playing, but requires a good configured PC.
Full review is here.
QQPlayer
Another great VLC alternative media player is ‘QQPlayer‘. It might not be a very popular software, but it is a strong competitor in this list. Three main and unique features are available in this media player. You will be able to generate animated GIF (10 seconds) from playing video, split and join audio files, and convert a 2D video to 3D.
QQPlayer also comes with dozens of other important features. For example, you can capture snapshots, compress video files to save disk space, use beautiful skins, amplify volume, use equalizer, and many other features that you find in VLC player. Although podcast and desktop recording feature is not available, but rest of the features are brilliant.
Full review is here.
MPC-HC
MPC-HC (Media Player Classic Home Cinema) is one of the famous media player that can be a good VLC alternative for you. You will find a ‘Renderer Settings’ option that will help to manage colors, presentation of video, output color range, VSync settings, etc.
Another valuable feature of this media player is that it is very lightweight and supports 37 languages. So if you want a media player that consumes less system resources and memory, then this is a good VLC alternative for you.
Its simple interface comes with many features that must be available in a good media player. It can automatically create thumbnails (as a single image) from playing video or you can manually take screenshots. You can also find and download subtitles. Video rotation feature is also available to set the orientation of a video.
Read more here.
Light Alloy
Light Alloy media player also comes with various features that should be present in a VLC alternative. However, the most important feature that I found is ‘record Internet radio’. It automatically fetches list of radio stations and you can add them to favorites. After that, you can listen to any radio station and record it, whenever needed. Another great feature that comes with this media player is that you can bookmark position of any playing song and resume that song from that position later on.
This software also provides a scheduler feature that is handy to automatically turn off PC, display, hibernate, set an alarm, etc. Apart from this, you will find all the basic options to play and handle media files. It is available with installer and portable version.
Check its detailed review here.
Wondershare Player
Another good VLC alternative in this list is ‘Wondershare Player’. It comes with a very beautiful interface and supports 600+ media formats, which is fabulous. You can also activate its Mini Mode that is useful when you are listening to audio tracks. Other than that, it comes with feature to generate thumbnails of a video, switch to stereo and 5.1 surround channel, and bookmark online videos (need a free account) for later use. So, it has all the necessary features that makes it a handy media player and useful replacement for VLC.
You can also read its full review.
SMPlayer
SMPlayer comes with multiple advanced features and good interface. You can find subtitles at OpenSubtitles.org right from its interface, apply audio video filters, flip and rotate video, switch to a particular stereo mode, etc. It can also help to stream YouTube videos, but you need to install plugin.
Apart from this, SMPlayer comes with built-in codecs. So you won’t find any trouble to play media files. It also supports multiple skins and available in 30+ languages.
ALLPlayer
ALLPlayer is also a fantastic media player and a good alternative to VLC. You can adjust video aspect ratio and can also flip and rotate video. Feature to fetch subtitles for a movie is also available that works very well. One more interesting feature that I found in this player is that you can create bookmarks (known as Chapters) for any playing video. This is really handy when you want to store favorite moments of a movie.
Other than these features, you can play online videos, radio stations, use equalizer, watch TV shows, and adjust various settings.
Check its full review.
KMPlayer
KMPlayer has a lot of features that makes it a better VLC alternative. I personally liked its feature to make its main window transparent. Other than that, you have the options to add bookmarks, capture screenshots, change skin, adjust brightness, contrast, and more. It also comes with different video effects that you won’t find in any other VLC alternative in this list.
All its main features can be accessed by right-clicking on its interface and rest of the playback controls are directly accessible on its interface.
Use this link to check full review.
Note: GOM Player is also a very popular media player. However, the reason I didn’t include that media player in this list is that its setup file contains a lot of malware (as per my testing using VirusTotal).
Also check out: Free CCleaner Alternatives.
Conclusion:
These are my best picked media players that you can guys can use as alternatives to VLC. Among these software, my personal favorite media players are: RealPlayer Cloud and QQPlayer. What about you guys? Share with me in comments.
