7 best free video players for macOS

1. IINA

Modern video player for Mac with rich feature set and elegant design. When looking at IINA, it appears that the app is made by Apple itself. The player is actively developing and supports proprietary technologies such as Force Touch, touchbar and picture-in-picture. It implements convenient gesture control, has the ability to play streaming videos, as well as automatic loading of subtitles and support for plugins.

2. VLC

One of the most famous open source players with a huge community. VLC supports hardware decoding, is able to play videos in any format and from any media, including network broadcasts. An incredible number of settings are available, as well as plug-ins that further expand the possibilities.

3. Mpv

A powerful cross-platform open source player that, despite its seeming simplicity, is not inferior to the competition. Mpv easily handles any media files and uses hardware acceleration for playback using a video card. The player can also recognize audio tracks and subtitles, allowing you to quickly switch between them. In addition to this, Mpv supports scripts that open up advanced features like filters, DLNA content streaming or torrent streaming.

4. QuickTime Player

Free Video Players for Mac: QuickTime Player

Built-in macOS video player that's minimalist. QuickTime doesn't boast a lot of settings or support for specific formats, but it easily reproduces the most popular ones. However, in the arsenal of the player there are a couple of chips. For example, fast video cropping without re-encoding or screen capture, including from iOS devices connected via cable.

5. Elmedia Player

A convenient video player with a pleasant interface and a wide range of functions. In addition to being omnivorous in terms of supported formats, Elmedia Player is able to surprise with customizable playback speed, up to frame-by-frame, bookmarks for highlights, streaming via AirPlay and DLNA, as well as a large number of options for subtitles and audio tracks.

In addition to the regular, free version of the program, there is also a Pro version with advanced features such as online video downloads, screenshots and manual equalizer settings.

6.5KPlayer

A simple player with a clean design that offers a ton of options for watching videos and has a few extra features. 5KPlayer supports almost any format, allowing you to play files up to 4K resolution, as well as 360-degree videos and streaming videos. At the same time, the application is able to download content from YouTube and broadcast videos to other devices via AirPlay and DLNA without loss of quality.

7. Plex

Not a player, but a full-fledged media server for organizing digital content and broadcasting it to any device, which nevertheless can easily cope with the playback of any video files. With a simple setup, Plex will automatically track and add videos from the specified folder to your library. You will be able to watch content directly in the browser and will be able to switch audio tracks and subtitles. As a bonus, you can do the same from mobile devices over the network.