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Best Media Player Software: 8 Most Popular Picks of the Year

Here’s our top picks based on popularity and performance

8 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Media software can be either media centers ormedia playersthat support a wide variety of multimedia file formats.

Both are among the most essential software as they play audio and video files on hard drives and Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and CD. Thus, most Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms usually include at least one multimedia program.

What is the best media player to use?

What is the best media player to use?

PowerDVD is one of the hottest media players primarily designed for movie playback, but you can also utilize it for music and even showcasing.

Supporting all the latest video technologies, PowerDVD allows you to play virtually anything from Ultra HD Blu-ray for 4K to DVDs, BD-Live, 3D DVDs, and even ISO files.

PowerDVD users can embrace virtual reality with their Rift and Vive headsets for360-degree videos. Media casting is another great addition to this media player that enables you to stream media to the TV viaChromecast, Apple TV, and Roku.

With its lossless audio format music playback, high-resolution photo slideshows, and media libraries, PowerDVD is more of a media center.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

GOM Player– High-Rated media player

The GOM player is simply one of the best media players available out there, plus you get to enjoy its amazing features absolutely free of charge.

Of course, if you want to take your viewing experience up a notch, there is also a premium version available that keeps annoying ads at bay and provides a comfortable high-resolution 4K playback without buffering.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

GOM Player

VLC– Over 3.5 billion downloads worldwide

VLC is one of the best-established media players that was first developed in the ’90s.

Despite its relatively plain UI design, VLC remains one of the best media players with a vast array of options and tools for video and music playback.

This is open-source software that runs on most Windows platforms, and it’s also compatible with Android, Mac OS X, iOS, and Linux.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

⇒Download VLC free here

What was originally the XBMC (Xbox Media Center) has now become the biggest media center for Windows and other platforms.

Kodi is a media center that pretty much does it all, and you can run it on most platforms. Windows, macOS, Android, Linux, iOS, and Raspberry PI are all platforms compatible with Kodi.

It’s not an exaggeration that Kodi does it all as the software supports a multitude of video, audio, image, optical drive, network protocol client and server and container formats.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

⇒Download Kodi free here

Plex– Compatible with almost every mainstream platform in the world

Plexis a media center with client and server apps that shares the same XBMC roots as Kodi.

However, Plex is now completely different software and is the best media center for streaming multimedia content across alternative devices.

Plex’s client and server apps are compatible with almost every mainstream platform under the sun. You can utilize its server apps on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Netgear, and FreeBSD platforms.

Although the server apps are freely available, you’ll need a monthly Plex Pass subscription to fully utilize all the media center’s features.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

⇒Download Plex here

KMPlayer– Supports 3D video content

KMPlayer is a freeware and highly versatile media player with tons of configuration options for audio and video playback that’s compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS platforms.

The software now supports 3D video content so that you can play 3D movies, and with its 3D Movies Plus app, you can watch programs from Discovery 3D World.

KMPlayer users can also watch 4K and UHD videos, and with the KMPlayer VR app for Android, you can watch 360-videos with VR headsets.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

⇒Download KMPlayer free here

MediaPortal– Can play all Windows media files

MediaPortal is one of the best open-source media center alternatives to Kodi. The software has a stunning UI, loads of skins and plug-ins, and a full suite of multimedia tools.

MediaPortal pretty much matches, and in some ways eclipses, Kodi’s feature set. The software has its own TV-server with which to watch and record more than 10,000 live channels.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

⇒Download MediaPortal free here

5KPlayer– TrueTheater technology

Compatible with both Windows and Mac platforms, 5KPlayer is a media player that’s had some rave reviews.

This is a 4K 5K media player with which you can play videos with 4K UHD 3,840 x 2,160 resolution.

Let’s quickly look at itskey features:

⇒Download 5KPlayer here

Media Center vs. Media Player

The main distinction between these two is that you can open and organize all your multimedia files with media centers.

Generally speaking, media centers support a wider range of multimedia formats than players. Aside from music and video playback, media centers also enable you to organize and browse multimedia files within metadata databases and showcase your favorite photographs with slideshows.

Another notable difference is that media centers are alsoDVR software(digital video recorder) with which you can both watch and record live TV with an additional tuner card. You can also add extra plug-ins to some media centers for weather forecasts, games, movie and TV streaming, etc.

On the other hand, media players are specifically designed for music and video playback. Some are dedicated video or music players (such as MusicBee), but most media players generally support both audio and video file formats.

Although there are a few exceptions, they generally don’t provide live TV and movie streaming.

However, media players can include more extensive options and features for audio and video playback than media centers. If you don’t need live TV,movie streaming, or any photo options, they can actually be a better alternative.

Whether you go for a media center or player, there are plenty to choose from. These are the best media software for Windows you will ever need.

These media software packages include extensive tools and options to get the most from your multimedia content.

As there is some disparity between media centers and players, it’s probably better to add one new media player and one media center to Windows. Then you can get the best of both worlds.

What software are you currently using? Share your experience with us via the comments section below.

More about the topics:Fix Video Streaming,media player,software for windows 10

Matthew Adams

Windows Hardware Expert

Matthew is a freelancer who has produced a variety of articles on various topics related to technology. His main focus is the Windows OS and all the things surrounding it.

He is passionate about the tech world, always staying up-to-date with the latest and greatest. With an analytical view, he likes problem-solving, focusing on errors and their causes.

In his free time, he likes to read and write about history and tries to always develop new skills.

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Matthew Adams

Windows Hardware Expert

He is passionate about everything surrounding Microsoft’s OS, focusing on troubleshooting guides & tips for everyday problems.