11 Best Media Players for Windows (Also Free)
Microsoft baked a fairly good media player into its Windows operating system, hoping you would use this default software to watch movies and videos. But, if you’re truly passionate about watching movies and TV shows, you’re going to need a powerful media player that can handle anything and provides easy access to lots of settings and customization options.
The point I’m trying to make is that you don’t have to stick with the default Windows media player. There are plenty of powerful and feature-rich media players out there that you can get for free. Here are your best choices.
Before we dig in, I want to point something out. The media players presented below come with all the goodies you would expect from a properly good media player: support for lots of formats, user friendly interface, lots of settings to play with, and so on. Each of these players has a FindMySoft review that clearly presents their main features. That's why I am going to focus on the features that make these players stand out, on the features that I like most about these media players.
Wondershare Player – Fast startup, less memory usage
It’s annoying to have to wait for movies to load. It’s doubly annoying to have to deal with jerky cuts while you’re watching a movie. Wondershare Player promises to deal with these annoyances and offer an enjoyable watching experience. You see, compared to other media players Wondershare Player takes less time to start up. And once it starts, it employs Wondershare's innovative Extreme X technology, meaning it needs less memory to play movies.
Wondershare Player is available for Windows, Mac, and Android. Learn more about it here.
Kolor Eyes – A player for 360-degree videos
This free and multi-platform media player is all about 360-degree videos. It lets you play and interact with 360-degree videos, it lets you play 4K videos, and it is compatible with the Oculus Rift.
Kolor Eyes is available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Chrome. Learn more about it here.
5K Player – Built-in AirPlay streaming
DearMob’s 5K player can handle 4K, 5K, HD videos, DVDs, music, and online radio. But the thing that makes it stand out is that it provides support for Apple’s AirPlay. With its built-in AirPlay receiver, it's great for streaming media from your iPhone to your PC or Mac. And with its built-in AirPlay sender, it’s great for streaming media from your PC or Mac to your Apple TV or AirPlay speakers.
5K Player is available for Windows and Mac. Learn more about it here.
KMPlayer – Built-in search function
KMPlayer comes with a built-in search function that lets you perform searches on YouTube, Google, and Yahoo. The video above is for an older KMPlayer version that put the search box right on the interface. For the current KMPlayer version, you have to go to Options -> Web Search to access the Search Box.
KMPlayer is available for Windows, Android, and iOS. Learn more about it here.
BS.player – Automatically finds subtitles
The main reason why I keep using BS.player is that it can automatically find and quickly download subtitles. Sure, it has plenty of other cool and interesting features to offer. But in my book, this is the best thing about BS.player.
BS.player is available as a Free and as a Pro version. It is available for Windows and Android. Learn more about it here.
ALLPlayer – Supports torrent streaming
Just like the abovementioned BS.player, ALLPlayer can download matching subtitles for a variety of languages. On top of that, ALLPlayer provides support for torrent streaming. This means it can play torrents of movies and TV series with matching subtitles.
ALLPlayer is available for Windows and Android. Learn more about it here.
GOM Media Player – Built-in codecs and codec finder
GOM Media Player comes with a long list of built-in codecs, meaning it will be able to play a large variety of formats. If you give it an uncommon video that it can’t play, GOM Media Player's Codec Finder service will search for the required codec and tell you where you can download it. Once you get the missing codec, you’ll have no problems playing the video.
GOM Media Player is available for Windows only. Learn more about it here.
MPC-HC – Remarkably lightweight player
MPC stands for Media Player Classic and HC stands for Home Cinema. MPC-Home Cinema is one of two active forks of Media Player Classic, the second being MPC-Black Edition. The great thing about MPC-HC, besides the fact that it can handle tons of formats, is that it is a remarkably lightweight player. It doesn’t need lots of resources to run and it will be up and running faster than other media players.
MPC-HC is an open source project. Learn more about it here.
SMPlayer – Puts an interface on MPlayer
SMPlayer uses the award-winning MPlayer as a playback engine. MPlayer, as I’m sure you already know, is one of the best media players in the world. The main drawback is that it doesn’t have an interface. SMPlayer gives you that missing interface. It puts a user friendly interface on top of MPlayer.
SMPlayer is available for Windows and Linux. Learn more about it here.
Pot Player – A wealth of settings and controls
If you’re the kind of person who likes to tinker with the settings, if you like to customize every aspect of your movie watching experience, then you’re sure to love Pot Player. This free media player lets you access a wealth of settings and customization options. You can tweak just about everything!
Pot Player is available for Windows only. Learn more about it here.
VLC – Plays anything, right out of the box
Many media players boast about the fact that they can play lots and lots of media formats. VLC has been doing that for a long, long time. This free, open source and multi-platform media player can handle anything you through at it. And the best thing is that it does it right out of the box. I doubt there’s a media file that VLC can’t play.
If you’re a novice and you want a hassle-free, play-anything media player, you’ve very well advised to get VLC. If you’re an advanced user and you want a powerful media player, you too are very well advised to get VLC. It has tons of advanced features to offer and there are lots of settings to play with. This player truly has something for everyone.
VLC is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Learn more about it here.
Honorable mention – Episode Player
Episode Player isn’t a media player. It won’t play videos itself, it will open them with whatever media player you tell it to use. Episode Player is great if you’re a fan of TV series. It’s best feature is that it remembers the exact episode you watched last.
Episode Player is available for Windows only. Learn more about it here.
Are there any other great media players we should know about? Tell us in a comment below.
The point I’m trying to make is that you don’t have to stick with the default Windows media player. There are plenty of powerful and feature-rich media players out there that you can get for free. Here are your best choices.
Before we dig in, I want to point something out. The media players presented below come with all the goodies you would expect from a properly good media player: support for lots of formats, user friendly interface, lots of settings to play with, and so on. Each of these players has a FindMySoft review that clearly presents their main features. That's why I am going to focus on the features that make these players stand out, on the features that I like most about these media players.
Wondershare Player – Fast startup, less memory usage
It’s annoying to have to wait for movies to load. It’s doubly annoying to have to deal with jerky cuts while you’re watching a movie. Wondershare Player promises to deal with these annoyances and offer an enjoyable watching experience. You see, compared to other media players Wondershare Player takes less time to start up. And once it starts, it employs Wondershare's innovative Extreme X technology, meaning it needs less memory to play movies.
Wondershare Player is available for Windows, Mac, and Android. Learn more about it here.
Kolor Eyes – A player for 360-degree videos
This free and multi-platform media player is all about 360-degree videos. It lets you play and interact with 360-degree videos, it lets you play 4K videos, and it is compatible with the Oculus Rift.
Kolor Eyes is available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Chrome. Learn more about it here.
5K Player – Built-in AirPlay streaming
DearMob’s 5K player can handle 4K, 5K, HD videos, DVDs, music, and online radio. But the thing that makes it stand out is that it provides support for Apple’s AirPlay. With its built-in AirPlay receiver, it's great for streaming media from your iPhone to your PC or Mac. And with its built-in AirPlay sender, it’s great for streaming media from your PC or Mac to your Apple TV or AirPlay speakers.
5K Player is available for Windows and Mac. Learn more about it here.
KMPlayer – Built-in search function
KMPlayer comes with a built-in search function that lets you perform searches on YouTube, Google, and Yahoo. The video above is for an older KMPlayer version that put the search box right on the interface. For the current KMPlayer version, you have to go to Options -> Web Search to access the Search Box.
KMPlayer is available for Windows, Android, and iOS. Learn more about it here.
BS.player – Automatically finds subtitles
The main reason why I keep using BS.player is that it can automatically find and quickly download subtitles. Sure, it has plenty of other cool and interesting features to offer. But in my book, this is the best thing about BS.player.
BS.player is available as a Free and as a Pro version. It is available for Windows and Android. Learn more about it here.
ALLPlayer – Supports torrent streaming
Just like the abovementioned BS.player, ALLPlayer can download matching subtitles for a variety of languages. On top of that, ALLPlayer provides support for torrent streaming. This means it can play torrents of movies and TV series with matching subtitles.
ALLPlayer is available for Windows and Android. Learn more about it here.
GOM Media Player – Built-in codecs and codec finder
GOM Media Player comes with a long list of built-in codecs, meaning it will be able to play a large variety of formats. If you give it an uncommon video that it can’t play, GOM Media Player's Codec Finder service will search for the required codec and tell you where you can download it. Once you get the missing codec, you’ll have no problems playing the video.
GOM Media Player is available for Windows only. Learn more about it here.
MPC-HC – Remarkably lightweight player
MPC stands for Media Player Classic and HC stands for Home Cinema. MPC-Home Cinema is one of two active forks of Media Player Classic, the second being MPC-Black Edition. The great thing about MPC-HC, besides the fact that it can handle tons of formats, is that it is a remarkably lightweight player. It doesn’t need lots of resources to run and it will be up and running faster than other media players.
MPC-HC is an open source project. Learn more about it here.
SMPlayer – Puts an interface on MPlayer
SMPlayer uses the award-winning MPlayer as a playback engine. MPlayer, as I’m sure you already know, is one of the best media players in the world. The main drawback is that it doesn’t have an interface. SMPlayer gives you that missing interface. It puts a user friendly interface on top of MPlayer.
SMPlayer is available for Windows and Linux. Learn more about it here.
Pot Player – A wealth of settings and controls
If you’re the kind of person who likes to tinker with the settings, if you like to customize every aspect of your movie watching experience, then you’re sure to love Pot Player. This free media player lets you access a wealth of settings and customization options. You can tweak just about everything!
Pot Player is available for Windows only. Learn more about it here.
VLC – Plays anything, right out of the box
Many media players boast about the fact that they can play lots and lots of media formats. VLC has been doing that for a long, long time. This free, open source and multi-platform media player can handle anything you through at it. And the best thing is that it does it right out of the box. I doubt there’s a media file that VLC can’t play.
If you’re a novice and you want a hassle-free, play-anything media player, you’ve very well advised to get VLC. If you’re an advanced user and you want a powerful media player, you too are very well advised to get VLC. It has tons of advanced features to offer and there are lots of settings to play with. This player truly has something for everyone.
VLC is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Learn more about it here.
Honorable mention – Episode Player
Episode Player isn’t a media player. It won’t play videos itself, it will open them with whatever media player you tell it to use. Episode Player is great if you’re a fan of TV series. It’s best feature is that it remembers the exact episode you watched last.
Episode Player is available for Windows only. Learn more about it here.
Are there any other great media players we should know about? Tell us in a comment below.
