VLC player is one of the most powerful video players for almost every platform. It can virtually play any video format and even fix headers for corrupted video files. Apart from these, it can also record videos, take snapshots, supports all types of audio codecs, and so on. While it sounds like a perfect video player, it comes with its own set of drawbacks. Here is the list:
- It cannot play encrypted Blu-ray.
- Can only play ISO file if the DVD structure is intact
- The interface is complicated, especially for beginners.
- Playing 4K video can be choppy and with hiccups resulting from the software decoding.
So, even though VLC is a versatile player, but still has some shortcomings, which will make some consumers want to find an alternative that works on Windows, Mac, or even an Online Player, which can answer the drawback.
Top 10 VLC Alternative for Windows/Mac/Online in 2020
Part 2: 5 Alternatives to VLC Media Player for Mac. For Mac users, the default QuickTime player could be a wonderful VLC alternative Mac. However, we all know that the QuickTime player supports only a few video formats. If you download a MKV movie to your Mac computer and then try to play MKV movie on QuickTime player, you will be failed. Mac users can take a look at Mac media player apps. It contains both free and paid apps. If you’re seriously thinking to replace VLC player (we don’t know why do you want to do that anyway), then look no further. Even SMPlayer could be considered as a good VLC alternative, but it is still behind other players in terms of features. The VLC alternative for Mac. As we all know, Mac has its own operating system that does sometimes creates a compatibility issues with the software being used with it. And in an event that you want to have a spare media player aside from VLC then have a look at these programs. Modify File Caching Parameter: In case, the lagging HD video is stored on your local hard drive. Aside from open source VLC player featured by 360 degree video playback, you can resort to below alternatives. DVDFab Player 6. available for Windows and Mac. plays DVDs. Blu-rays, 4K Ultra HD and HEVC.265 and regular videos. auto-load DVDs.
Here is the list of the best alternative you can find on the internet for the VLC Player. Make sure to pick one based on the requirement, such as editing, playback features, codec support, and apply effects to enhance the video.
1. EaseUS Video Editor
EaseUS Video Editor is a powerful video editor that supports a wide variety of video codecs on Windows. The codecs include M4A, WMA, WMV, AAC, MKV, MOV, etc. If you have a video file, EaseUS Video editor will be able to play it for sure. Apart from that, you can edit videos to your needs and add effects to the videos. You can create cinematic videos to showcase your product or even a small movie. The editor offers almost all possible features one can ask from a video editor right from editing to conversion to uploading to social media.
How do I edit a video with special effects with EaseUS Video Editor?
Follow these three basic steps in video editing to add special effects. The editor offers a non-linear timeline for each of these effects so you can place them accordingly.
Step 1. Import videos
Launch the EaseUS Video editor and notice the Media Library section in the top-left section. It’s a placeholder that lists all media files. You can drag and drop files directly into this, or if you have multiple files available in the folder, you can use the import folder option. Once you have all the files in one place, spend some time arranging them, and finalizing how your video will look without any special effects.
Step 2. Add Cool Effects to videos
Once you are done with the basic video editing, its time to add the visual effects to the videos. Since there are different types, and they act differently when used, you will have to experiment a bit to figure out what works best for you. I will take an example of how to use filters.
- Select a filter, and click on the download arrow to save on the computer
- Then select it and click on the Play button. It will give you a preview of how the effect works
- To apply it to your current video, drag and drop on the timeline. It will arrange itself in the filter track automatically
- Move the playhead to the start of the filter and press the play icon.
- The video should now have the filter effect
- You can then increase, and decrease the length of the filter by hovering the mouse on the end of the filter, and then dragging it left or right.
The same applies to Overlay, Transitions, and Elements. While you can use all the effects together, it is up to you to decide if they look good or bad. You can add multiple effects in parallel or place them one after the other.
Step 3. Export
The last step in this process is to export the video. We recommend you play the video from the start till the end and check if everything is as expected. Once everything is complete, click on export, and select the video format in which you want to export the video. If you are sharing this on social media, you can switch to the video platform.
The export option also offers you to select the quality for both audio and video. Make sure you configure that as well.
2. DivX Software
DivX is a brand of video codec products and is a container that supports MPEG-4, H2.64 HEVC formats. It offers a player under the name of DivX Software. I am sure you must have at least faced DivX video format once, and the only way to play them is using a DivX Player. However, it can play formats such as AVI, MKV, and HEVC up to 4K. It also supports cloud streaming and DLNA support.
Cons:
- Video created using DivX is not supported on all platforms
- It cannot play DVDs
- No preview when you seek to track
3. BS Player
BS Player is a free video player that can play WebM and DVD Players both apart from its extensive support for almost all the media formats. It can detect media formats available on your computer, and download codecs right away. It also offers direct playback of YouTube videos using the URL along with subtitle support.
Cons:
- Download BS Player provides a terrible experience by trying to sell pro versions everywhere.
- The user interface is poor
- Too much nag for buying the pro version when the free version is just fine
4. Windows Media Player
Windows offers a default media player in the form of the Windows Media Player. You can play almost all the forms unless the video is encoded with a sophisticated codec. However, the player is now outdated, and the need for a modern player much needed for Windows.
- Limited support for codecs
- No DLNA and Mirroring support
- Outdated interface to play audio or burn and sync.
- No preview on seek bar
5. SM Player
It's a versatile media player that can playback DVD and Blu-Ray disks as well. It further integrates features like zoom, mirroring, flipping, and YouTube streaming. It also supports Karaoke files, which makes it possible to download subtitles for almost any video. Lastly, it supports delay adjustment, playlist, multiple speed playback, and more.
Cons:
- Outdated user interface
- It takes time to start playing videos
- Terrible Performance
6. iMovie
While iMovie is a video editor, you can use it to play videos by customizing it. That makes it a credible VLC alternative. It also helps when QuickTime doesn't support a format, and it does. You can simply convert, and watch it on your favorite player on macOS.
Cons:
- High levels of storage space
- MP4 support is not that great
- No ability to group Projects into folders
7. Quick Time Player
It's the default media player on macOS created by Apple. While it works fine but is limited in terms of codecs. On top of that, most of the features are paid for other platforms. That said, those on macOS can record and edit videos using QuickTime Player; however, editing is limited.
Cons:
- No support for SRT files
- Limited video format support
- Windows support is limited.
8. Kodi
It is one of the most flexible media players which can replace your media center. It has been designed for large monitors and is available on almost all platforms. The video player always runs in the full-screen mode and offers a large-size menu layout. There are a lot of add-ons available for Kodi which makes it worth it.
Cons:
- Odd or Unusual interface can result in increased learning time
- Awkward to control with keyboard and mouse
- Some content streaming may need a free VPN
9. MPlayerX
Another video player that some of the users will love because of the sleek interface. It uses FFmpeg and Mplayer as the primary engine making it possible to play almost any video format. Support of third-party plugins and codecs is the cherry on the top. Lastly, you can use it for streaming online videos, figure out the next videos in the series, and supports the home theater system.
Cons:
- Available for macOS Only.
- The free version has banner advertisements
- Lacks network streaming capability
10. Online Video Player
Online Video Player is useful when you want custom control on streaming videos from Vimeo or Dropbox. You can set up custom choice before streaming the video, which makes sure your network stream does not decide the quality of the video. You can set up quality, add a cover image, size adjustment, autoplay, repeat, the volume can change as well. And if you want to make it simple, you can choose to remove video controls. You can also create custom code and use it on any website or locally to let users watch videos with minimum distraction.
Cons:
- Only supports Dropbox, Google Drive, and Vimeo
- No option to search for any video streaming websites
- The download option is missing
Conclusion
There are many alternatives to VLC, and they all seem to offer their features and available on specific platforms. Since there are alternatives, you will need to select based on your requirement. If you need a player that works natively on macOS, then iMovie is the right choice. When you need an editor along with a video player for Windows, then EaseUS Video Editor is an excellent choice. Make sure to verify if it can play video based on the file format.
When you need to play a video on your Mac, what do you do? Which app do you open? If you’re new to macOS, you might just double-click on the media file and it’s likely that QuickTime Player will start up — good enough for the most common tasks.
Soon though you’re bound to feel QuickTime’s limitations. It might be that you’ve transferred a file from your camera that’s not supported, or you want to watch a foreign movie with external subtitles. All this is difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish with QuickTime Player. You need to upgrade.
More top-notch media players for you
Instead of having one VLC player alternative, get an entire collection. Setapp is a Mac apps subscription that gives you a large choice.
What Makes VLC Player For Mac Good
From the first moments of looking for a better media player, VLC for Mac is going to show up in search results again and again. The app is free, has good ratings, and seems to be universally loved. There’s even a version for your iPhone (and nearly every other operating system in existence). What’s not to like?
The official story of VLC player goes back to 1996, when a few students of École Centrale Paris in France developed the app as their academic project. Back then, they called it VideoLAN Client (VLC for short). As VLC player got more and more recognition and became popular worldwide, the original developers released the code under the open-source license, so that anyone could fix bugs and contribute new features.
By now, VLC player is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Apple TV, Linux, Android, Chrome OS, and Xbox One. The only question left is how to find a VLC for Mac download.
How to get a VLC download for Mac
Unfortunately, due to some licensing issues, VLC player for Mac isn’t available on the App Store (although the iOS version is). With a simple Google search you’ll find that lots of third-party websites offer you VLC for Mac downloads — but beware! Such download files are often infected with various kinds of malware looking to find an easy way into your computer.
The only option that’s 100% safe is to find a VLC download for Mac on its official website:
Go to videolan.org/vlc
Click Download VLC
Double-click the .dmg file in your Downloads folder
Move the VLC icon into Applications
With regards to technical requirements, VLC player is supported by any 64-bit Intel-based Mac that runs macOS 10.7.5 or later (the latest one is 10.15). This covers 99% of Macs in use nowadays. And even if you need to make VLC player work with ancient Macs, older VLC versions are available for download from the official website as well.
To play a video on VLC for Mac:
Open VLC
Either drag the video you like onto the app’s window or go to File ➙ Open File… ➙ select the video ➙ Open
One of the most beloved VLC media player features is adding and fine-tuning external subtitles. When you’ve downloaded the .srt subtitle file you want to use:
In the menu bar of the VLC player, click Subtitles
Add Subtitle File… ➙ select the file ➙ Open
In the same Subtitles menu you can change the text size, thickness, color as well as the background color
With so much to offer, why would anyone choose any other app for their videos than VLC player? True, while QuickTime Player struggles with nearly every video encounter, VLC for Mac handles all the basics pretty well. But there’s so much more to discover in the land of video-playing features: multiple subtitles, audio extractions, ad-free web playback, AirPlay streaming, etc. Let’s see which VLC alternative for Mac offers it all.
Stream anything anytime with Elmedia Player
If VLC media player for Mac is a shell you can open content in, Elmedia Player is a full-on entertainment center. Get any videos you want anytime, thanks to its streaming functionality. The app is able to download YouTube directly to your Mac or play videos instantly using its web-browser extension, which allows to bypass all the ads.
Moreover, any downloaded videos can then be easily played on your AirPlay-enabled devices — watch a movie on a big screen with Apple TV, for example, without the need for USB drives or awkward cables. And while VLC media player might get stuck playing HD videos on a big screen, Elmedia will sail through them seamlessly with the help of hardware-accelerated decoding.
Play, stream, and download video
Get Elmedia Player, a perfect replacement for VLC, which has a streaming feature and a browser extension for direct downloads.
Elmedia Player, simply put, has everything you’ll ever need not to get bored. Even when videos become too much, you can extract audio files and save them as MP3 for easy on-the-go listening.
Gain full video control with Movist Pro
As good as Elmedia Player is, the ultimate VLC alternative for Mac could be a mighty 4K movie player called Movist Pro.
Movist Pro not only effortlessly decodes any video you come across (with an option to select decoders manually if needed) but also lets you configure the perfect video-watching scenario, including the quality and the size of each file.
If you want to watch a high-dynamic-range (HDR) video, but your screen doesn’t support it, the colors will show up dull and faded. Movist Pro features a built-in HDR tone-mapping technology that automatically adjusts colors to what they are supposed to be.
While nearly every VLC alternative for Mac lacks powerful subtitle management that VLC is known for, Movist Pro takes it a step further with support for multiple subtitles at once — invaluable when you’re trying to learn a new language or watching a movie with a bunch of international friends.
Finally, using the Movist Pro Safari extension, you can watch any video right from your browser window, with any of the above personal settings already specified.
How to start with Movist Pro? One step only: simply drag and drop your video onto the app and enjoy.
The best VLC alternative for Mac
So while some might argue that VLC media player for Mac is still good, the truth is — lots has changed since 1996. New entrants like Elmedia Player with its built-in downloader and ad-free streaming, or Movist Pro with multiple-subtitle support and HDR improvement are winning the market. The one you choose should quite frankly depend on the features you’re going to use the most.
Best of all, you don’t need to go all in and buy Elmedia Player or Movist Pro to see how they work. Both apps are available to you on a free seven-day trial from Setapp — a platform with over 150 Mac apps, where each one is the best for a particular task, whether it’s budgeting, retouching, or just getting things done. What might you be watching tonight?
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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Vlc Replacement Mac
Vlc Media Player Alternative For Mac