Free Video Players. What’s your Favorite ? [Poll]

Free-Video-Players It’s time for another poll. Last time we asked you about music players. Today we are doing the same for video players.

What video player do you use to play movies and other video files? If you’re a regular MUO user, there is a good chance you have a nice video player on your system. Something that is capable of playing pretty much any movie. So like we did in the past, we are asking you to tell us about it. Help us find the best video player out there.

I did my best not to miss any popular free movie player for Windows, Mac or Linux. Most of the below mentioned players are capable of playing pretty much any popular video format. Though I am sure there are some good video players that are missing. Probably more from the Linux side than Windows. If you’re aware of any good one that should have been listed then please tell us about it in the comments. If you’re looking for a free video player that supports lots of video formats proceed to the download links below.

Update: VLC Player was added to the poll. A small clarification though. IT’S a GREAT Player and I DIDN’T FORGET ABOUT IT. I thought it was included in the poll until I saw the comments. This was abt 2 hours after the poll was published. My bad.

Please vote ! (you can select up to 2 options)

Video Player Download Links. All Free!

Please share your thoughts in comments.

Tagged: • • •

Aibek Esengulov

The guy behind MakeUseOf.com. Follow him and MakeUseOf on Twitter @MakeUseOf. For more details check out MakeUseOf about page.

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  • Adi

    I think you forgot the VLC Player, which is my fav

    • roi

      you forgot zoom player, by far the best player ever!

  • rhololkeolke

    VLC is better than all of these

  • Sean

    Umm, you can’t even have this poll without VLC.

  • http://www.uploadsblog.com Luca

    It seems like you forgot mentioning VLC…

  • http://garysmusicbox.blogspot.com gary

    you forgot the best player VLC you cant make a poll without it
    it plays everthing you throw at without extra codecs needed and has a tiny footprint
    u dont deserve to have a tech blog if you overlook VLC on video playback

  • surfmadpig

    I agree with all the above. shame on you.

  • http://jouluserver.com/~krisu krisu

    I choose GOM Player, it was many options and custom file supports

  • Jeff

    Yeah, what those guys said…

  • http://www.thepinkc.net Ellie

    Yeah VLC is the best evar! :lol:

  • Adam

    what about iTunes? you’ve got Quicktime on the list, but iTunes is what really makes the Apple formats easy to use

  • Enzo

    On OSX, Quicktime with the free plug-in Perian installed is by far the best video player I’ve ever used. Plays just about any video format and plays very well with just about all subtitle files. VLC a close 2nd.

  • http://www.betterthantherapy.net Mark O’Neill

    Yeah sorry guys, I told Aibek to include the VLC player but it looks like he forgot! I love it myself! :-)

  • matthew

    other, VLC.

  • http://vkvraju.blogspot.com Kasi viswanath

    I use VLC the most and I beleive it is the superior of all,

  • PJ

    VLC

  • joe

    Uh… VLC much?

  • http://www.thetutorialblog.com Wez Pyke

    VLC for me.

  • Alvin Finn

    These poll writer need to MakeUseOf a clue. They do a video player poll withou VLC and an audio player poll without Foobar2000. That = clueless.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Check the update in the article.

  • Me

    Hey where is the greatest player (maybe not in ease of use, but the greatest in functionality)?
    VLC player!!!

  • http://beerpla.net Artem Russakovskii

    MPC, then VLC.

  • Famf

    VLC is nothing compared to Media Player Classic (with the Combined Community Codec Pack.)

    I also think mplayer is better than VLC.

    But ya, third place goes to VLC.

    I would like to note that VLC is probably the best at streaming video, though. Which I hardly ever do.

  • karan

    VLC, so long as the file isn’t real or quicktime in format. Then I use media player classic with the relevant plugins.

  • joseywales

    Seriously…you’re excluding VLC? How can you conduct a poll of this type w/o offering VLC and one of of the options? Very fishy…..

  • http://www.betterthantherapy.net Mark O’Neill

    Everyone – as I’ve already told you, excluding VLC Player was NOT deliberate. It was an accidental oversight. We meant to include it but it was accidently omitted.

    You’re free to show your support for VLC Player by voting for “other” and then saying “VLC Player” here in the comments.

    I personally use VLC Player all the time and I like it very much. So I am well aware that it exists and so does Aibek, the owner of Make Use Of.

  • Blaze

    VLC All The Way!

  • Rob

    VLC is truly the best.

  • Morgan

    Looks like the VLC’s have it.

  • Kedar

    You didn’t include VLC ? That’s the best without doubt.

  • libertao

    VLC is nice with the included codecs and low footprint, but does have some issues:
    no full screen controls with the mouse, couldn’t handle HD content on my 1-year old laptop without skipping problems and there’s bug with going in and out of full screen when ‘always on top’ is selected.

    I can only play HD content with media player classic + coreavc codec.

  • Dave T

    I’m not understanding all the VLC love here. I’ve tried it on several occasions and have had problems with the interface, although never a problem with it playing any particular format. Even skins didn’t solve the problem. Media Player Classic, on the other hand, has a very familiar interface and the small packaging, non-installation, and great features have made it a winner in my book. Looking forward to seeing the port of VLC to iPhone for playing of all types of media though.

  • Gregor

    BS player was, in the starting era of DivX and XviD movies, top notch. really, one of the best media players available. it had many many options other players didn’t have one of them was really subtitles support.

    Then, they’ve released new version, full of bloatware which kinda suggested itself, to move to other client. Well,… gomplayer is my favorite, it’s just,.. lately they don’t have any updates at all.

    that makes me kinda move again to VLC and find a good theme for it or something ://

  • http://nxqd3051990.blogspot.com Nxqd3051990

    MPC + ffdshow plugins = play all files :)

  • http://ubuntulinuxtipstricks.blogspot.com Mackenzie

    I generally just use Totem. No reason to go around installing other players. MythTV’s fairly nice for DVDs too, but I uninstalled it.

  • http://vivanewyork.blogspot.com NYC

    Crystal Player. I love the way it handles playlists with subtitles. If GOM Player had this kind of features (nice and easy subtitle handling) I would switch inmediately to it.

  • http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com ADD

    VLC Media Player, the one the grownups use.

  • Marko

    The KMPlayer !!!!!!!!

  • Womble

    KMPlayer Rules!

  • nv

    KMPlayer

  • http://techmalaya.com Syahid A.

    GOM has better interface than VLC with the same capability so it is my fav.

  • Rajat

    i use KM player… its better than VLC player in terms of the keyboard shortcuts… and plays movies in ALL formats

  • david

    Cyberlink dvd player – it came with my laptop and it does great for sound quality.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Cyberlink DVD Player is pretty good, it’s not free though.

  • Nero

    Rajat hit the nail on the head. VLC is a very good player, nothing should be taken away from it but at this point KM Player is by a few leaps the superior application.

  • Rod

    Miro is pretty nice.
    http://www.getmiro.com/

  • James

    Yeah KMPlayer… It even play FLV files, and it handles subtitles even better than VLC..

  • Michael

    kmplayer, its like GOM/VLC but better

  • Travis

    Amarok is great if you use Linux.

  • Suman Namburi

    SMplayer beats every thing i have tried ,even VLC.

  • Joshua

    Meh, VLC. Never liked it. *yawn* ;)
    Media Player Classic for the win! I use Media Player Classic and sometimes GOM Player. Both are far superior than VLC, in my opinion.

  • chris

    SMPlayer rulez!!

  • softapo777

    The KM Player- fantastic can-do media player with a brilliant array of audio and video tweaks

  • 919263

    OK… After looking at all the replys…
    KMPlayer is the best… although everyone had said their mind but no one has stated why… Here is why KMPlayer is the Best:
    NO Installation required: You can extract the files into a folder/thumb drive and play the player from there.

    Screen Control: you can control the screen aspect ratio, the clip/media ratio and have options to see the media at 1/2, normal, 1.5 , double and window size… there are custom sizes as well

    Player: This is one player that will play anything you throw at it…3gp,AVI, WMA, WMV, DAT, MPEG, MPG, FLV, REAL, QT, DIVX, DVD, VCD… the list goes on…

    COntrol: You have a lot of control on the way the media plays, right arrow skips the clip 5 secs, Ctrl + Right Arrow skips it 1 min, you can decrease the speed… anything you want to do… (NOT in VLC)

    Tools: Apart from saturation, contrast, brightness at both the SW and the HW level, you can rotate the clip, flip it.. any which way you want…

    Sound: It has a built in equilizer, has plugins to clean the sound track, add effects and all….

    IN ALL… the BEST Media Player I have seen and I have tried all of the one’s that have been mentioned in this thread…
    Link: http://kmplayer.en.softonic.com/

    My 2 Cents worth….
    919263

    • http://www.bootcd.uni.cc Ravi Shankar

      Ya you’re right..

      KMPlayer is the best!!

      Shortcuts:
      up – vol increase
      down – vol decrease
      Right – 5 secs forward
      Left – 5 secs backward
      ctrl+right – 30 secs forward
      ctrl+left – 30 secs backward
      Alt+right – 1 min forward
      Alt+left – 1 min backward
      ctrl+alt+right – 10 mins forward
      ctrl+alt+left – 10 mins backward
      Numpad del(.) – change playback video size without changing the size of the player
      Numpad * – change the aspect ratio, widescreen, etc.
      Numpad + – zoom in
      Numpad – - zoom out
      shift+(numpad+) – increase playback speed
      shift+(numpad -) – decrease playback speed
      spacebar – pause/play toggle
      esc – God!! It is the most useful. It minimizes to the systray! It’s good when dad’s around!!

  • amit

    VLC & Media Player Classic

  • Sah War

    VLC + The KMPlayer = favorite best combo! :)

  • http://www.thewordpile.com Z.N. Singer

    I don’t get why people like VLC either. The whole reason I’m here looking through this is because I want a player that will not only play my videos, and play it to full advantage, but do so via a nice, pleasing interface. Which VLC does not have. I just can’t bring myself to use the thing. Same for Media Player Classic. Ugly-as-sin. KM sounds like it just might make my day though. I’ve downloaded it. Also GOMplayer.

    P.S. If it’s a matter of compatibility, that’s really not that hard at all. Just get the right codec pack.