Top 11 Best Video Players for Mac

Top choice

Elmedia 4.9 Rank based on 378+ users, Reviews(367)

Get free website version

Olga Weis 2019-07-11

As we see it the best media player for Mac should be able to play any movies or videos with crisp and clear image and should be easy to understand and operate. Internet is full of options, some are free, some are not, and it is so hard to pick out the right one. Look at those that offer more formats and less ads, high definition support, etc. Here you can find the list of top 10 Mac video player apps.

Elmedia Multiformat Video Player for macOS

Elmedia Player

Requirements: OS X 10.9+. 55.24MB free space. Version 7.4(1816). (30th Jun, 2019). 4.9 Rank based on 378+ users, Reviews(367)
Category: MultimediaApplication

Check free website version

Elmedia Player is a media player for Mac with an extended list of supported formats: AVI, FLV, MP4, MP3, MOV, DAT, etc. The player offers its users a native web browser for browsing and watching online videos directly in the app. Another handy feature is Open URL that lets you open online videos without noisy ads that you'd have to watch in a regular web browser.

Elmedia has all tools to enhance your viewing experience: video aspect ratio adjustment to fit image to screen, 10-band equalizer, video tuner, customizable playback speed, A-B loop to put any part of video on constant repeat. You can make a screenshot of any moment of the movie or convert the whole video into the series of images.

Key features of Elmedia Multiformat Video Player:

• Customizable playback speed.
• Hardware accelerated playback.
• Manage subtitles.
• Supports multiple audio tracks, external included
• AirPlay enabled.
• Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra let you cast the videos on TV.
• Stream videos from Mac device to your Smart TV (Philips, Sony, Samsung, etc.).

JustPlay

JustPlay is the video player that proves you don’t need to be huge to inspire power. This all-in-one Mac video player can easily handle MP4, MOV, AVI, SWF, MKV, DAT, M4V, FLV, FLAC or MP3, to name a few. All that versatility is obtained with minimum resources as JustPlay will barely make a mark in terms of system requirements.

Besides the variety of formats it can handle, JustPlay makes HD, 4K and even 8K playback a breeze through its Mac hardware-accelerated decoding function. You also get complete control over playback in terms of speed, audio or subtitles sync when needed. JustPlay can even take care of those annoying horizontal stripes that appear on fast moving objects in some videos. Thanks to its deinterlacing feature, the overall video quality is improved. Features like the Touch Bar support for compatible Mac models and the ability to enable and disable the Flash Local Security come to secure JustPlay’s spot as a top video players.

VLC

VLC Media Player is an easy to use open source cross-platform media player for Mac. It can also play DVD, CD, VCD, and numerous streaming protocols. VLC Player doesn't require codec packs and is absolutely free.

Features of VLC Media Player in brief:

• Wide support for different operating systems: Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, etc.
• Integration with web channel streaming services.
• Support for Blu-ray. VLC plays DVD, CD, and VCD including Blu-ray DVDs.

Cisdem Video Player for Mac

Cisdem VideoPlayer is also a great choice. Many consider Cisdem VideoPlayer as a runner up for VLC and 5KPlayer. It often offers smoother playback when other media players show choppy video. Cisdem VideoPlayer has a decent interface, saves more resources, fully supports all popular SD & HD video formats (e.g. MOV, WMV, AVI, MP4, M4V, FLV, MKV, RMVB, MPEG, as well as 5K and Full HD 1080P videos), and audio files (MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV, M4A, etc.).

Features of Cisdem VideoPlayer in brief:

• More than 50 formats supported with no codec packs needed;
• 4K/5K/1080p HD videos supported. No bufferings or ads;
• Possibility to load subtitles automatically and easy adding of subtitle files.

5KPlayer

5KPlayer is a basic video player for Mac OS X. It’s a bit of a mixture of free (MKV) HD video player, music player, AirPlay media streamer. It can also download online videos. It supports all 4K, 5K, HD videos including MKV, MTS, AVCHD.

Features of 5KPlayer in brief:

• Play homemade and commercial DVD. CSS-encrypted or region code enhanced DVD are supported;
• Great 3D experience in this best video player for Mac;
• Play and save Netflix 3D movies at 1080p, 720p in MKV, MP4, etc.
• Play ultra HD videos on iMac, MacBook Pro, etc.

MPlayerX

MPlayerX is very lightweight on resources and easy to use and can play almost any file format. Just like 5KPlayer, this one has been designed specifically with Mac users in mind. It supports Apple Remotes, has a full screen mode, lets you change the subtitle size and can pick up from the moment you stopped the video. Many Mac users take MPlayerX as a standard part of their toolbox because of how well it works and has all most popular codecs.

Features of MPlayerX in brief:

• Will play almost any video or audio;
• Easy to understand and use;
• Offers subtitles support.

Kodi

Kodi originates as a homebrewed media player for Xbox consoles. It was developed to be an all-in-one platform for viewing pictures, watching videos, and playing music. Kodi supports all common file formats of today, both for music (MP3, FLAC, WAV, etc.) and video (MP4, MKV, AVI, etc.). It can also In play physical media such as
Blu-rays and DVDs.

Features in brief:

• Works on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux;
• Supports add-ons. Users can download custom-made skins, fonts, and sounds.

Plex

Plex supports all common file formats that the previous players can. A minimalistic, easily navigated interface, a perfect convenient place for all your media.

Plex aims to bring all of your services and devices together under a single platform. One can add folders and files to their Plex library and stream them to any device with Plex. For example, if you have a movie on a hard drive you can watch it through Plex’s browser app or stream to the Plex app on a tablet.

Features in brief:

• Works on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux;
• No more single-screen viewing. With Plex Companion, you can fling content from your phone to TV;
• Sync content from your Plex Media Server to supported cloud storage.

DivX Player

DivX’s is a universal media player with great features and user-friendly controls. It produces excellent audio and video playback and has an overwhelming tool set. This player lets you burn media to discs and offers easy selection of the viewing size. There are additional options for streaming videos, photos, and music to DLNA-compatible home devices.

DivX is set up with a basic set of hotkeys for navigating the interface and fast playback actions.

DivX features in brief:

• High quality video playback of file formats including AVI, DIVX, MKV, MP4, etc.;
• Works on Windows and Mac OS X;
• High-quality online videos up to 4K are supported.

RealPlayer

RealPlayer is a universal media player that can play all formats of videos and can automatically recognize the video or audio format you want to play. The most popular audio and video file formats are supported including .avi, .mp4, .mp3, .wma, .wav, .flv, MPEG, etc. Note that Realplayer requires a fairly powerful machine for some of its features and in order to launch it properly several applications need to be installed in advance.

Realplayer's features in brief:

• This player offers RealCloud for your peace of mind to back up your videos there;
• Send photos, videos, and montages to a friend or a group of friends;
• RealTimes app can be used on your Xbox One, Kindle Fire TV or Roku.

QuickTime

QuickTime player is Apple's flagship player. It is easy to use and is capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity.

QuickTime features at a glance:

• Advanced video compression technology for brilliant HD videos that use less bandwidth and storage;
• Native support for AIFF, WAV, DV-DIF, MP3, and MPEG program stream. With additional QuickTime Components - ASF, DivX Media Format, Flash Video, Matroska, Ogg, etc.;
• Easy slider to set playback from 1/2x to 3x the normal speed.

What do we mean by saying the best video players for Mac

When we mean the best video player, we want to get some special features like complying with all known video formats, support of high-quality resolutionsincluding 1080p, 4K and 8K. You won’t have to pay money for downloading the player, it should weight a little and go with no distracting elements.

If you have a Mac, you probably know QuickTime for playing videos. It’s good for watching videos and it’s quite popular. This page is for those Mac users who want to go beyond a standard player and get a third-party application for viewing popular formats that you can find online, download to your device or find in your collection.

6 things to consider when choosing the best video player for Mac:

If you see no ads or any malware, it’s a Good video player for Mac.
It should have a Mac style with an attractive user interface.
It should run all known video and audio formats: WMV, AVI, MOV, MP4, MP3, DAT, FLAC, FLV, SWF, MP3, M4V, MPG, and MKV.
It should be compatible with macOS Mojave and support videos of the highest quality (4K and 8K).
It should have a feature to create and manage playlists and user-friendly controls for a convenient movie watching.
It should have regular updates to remain compatible with every new version of macOS

Want to play online video?

If you’re looking for the ways to make watching online videos fun and easy, we can show you the best app for this.
We think it’s good to try using Elmedia for playing online videos. Find Open online video feature and see any clip or movie on YouTube, Vimeo or Dailymotion. You will not see any ads. That’s just great! To start viewing the video, go to File - Open online video and enter the URL of the movie and enjoy viewing it. There’s a great option out there - you can activate Always on top feature (View - Always on Top) or Play a video in a little hovering window while using other apps for work or leisure.

Have MacBook Pro/Air? This lightweight player will run as smooth as possible

Once you ask yourself what video player is the best for your MacBook Pro/Air, consider the key factor to be the CPU load and how smooth it may work on the device. We recommend using Elmedia among all the above-mentioned ones or a native QuickTime Player. You can find all the other factors and criteria for choosing the best app above in the article.

What is video player?

A media player is a software application for playing various media files such as videos and music. Different players all have media controls in common: play (►), pause (⏸), fast-forward (⏩), rewind (⏪), and
stop (◼) buttons.

The bottom line

If you want to view a high-quality picture on your screen and have super great audio when watching a movie, you will definitely need the best media player for Mac. If you still doubt which app to pick up for a better experience, we will advise trying Elmedia. It’s gaining more and more positive reviews with each month, so it has all the chances to become one of the most popular players. It had 1 million users in 2019 and this is impressive.

Elmedia Player

Requirements: OS X 10.9+ , 55.24MB free space
Version 7.4(1816) (30th Jun, 2019) Release notes
Category: MultimediaApplication

Free website version

4.9 Rank
based on
378 + users Reviews (367)