Play MKV and other video formats QuickTime Player won't open.
Modern, Mac-native video player built on mpv
A free, open-source video player built on the mpv engine, with a native macOS interface, trackpad gestures, Picture in Picture, Live Text and a plugin system for things like subtitle sources.
Our take The best default for most people: it plays almost anything and feels like a proper Mac app. No tracking or telemetry.
FreeGPL-3.0 licence
The plays-everything player, including DVDs and streams
A free, open-source cross-platform player that handles most media files as well as DVDs, audio CDs, VCDs and various streaming protocols.
Our take Pick it when IINA chokes on an odd file or you need disc playback or network streams. Its interface looks dated on the Mac compared with IINA.
FreeGPL-2.0 licenceby VideoLAN
Polished player for your NAS, Plex, Jellyfin or Emby library
A video player that streams from a Mac, PC or NAS over SMB, NFS, FTP or WebDAV, or from Plex, Emby and Jellyfin servers, and fetches artwork and metadata automatically. It runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Vision Pro.
Our take Best if you keep a movie library on a server and want a good-looking library view across all your Apple devices. Dolby Vision, lossless audio and AirPlay need Pro.
Free; Infuse Pro $1.99/month, $16.99/year or $99.99 lifetime as of Oct 2026by Firecore
Player that streams to AirPlay, Chromecast, Roku and DLNA TVs
A media player for most video and audio formats that can stream to Apple TV, AirPlay and Google Cast devices, Roku and DLNA smart TVs. It also has subtitle support and a 10-band equalizer.
Our take Worth a look if you mainly want to send local files to a TV. The free edition covers playback, but streaming and picture adjustments need PRO.
Free basic version; PRO edition $19.99 on the Mac App Store as of Oct 2026by Electronic Team, Inc.
Minimal, scriptable command-line player for power users
A free, open-source command-line media player with wide format and subtitle support, high-quality GPU rendering, HDR support and Lua scripting.
Our take For people who prefer config files and keyboard control over menus. Most Mac users get the same engine with a friendlier interface in IINA.
FreeGPL-2.0-or-later licence
No app in this category matches that filter.
| App | Price | Model | Open source | App Store |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IINA |
Free | Free | GPL-3.0 | – |
| VLC media player |
Free | Free | GPL-2.0 | – |
| Infuse |
Free tier | Free tier | – | Yes |
| Elmedia Player |
Free tier | Free tier | – | Yes |
| mpv |
Free | Free | GPL-2.0-or-later | – |
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI assistant that can open links. It reads the list, asks about your Mac and budget, and suggests a short list.
Help me choose the right media player for my Mac. Read https://dockpicks.com/media-players/ and its plain-text version, https://dockpicks.com/media-players.md. Ask me which Mac I have, what I use it for and my budget, then recommend a short list from that page with the free and paid trade-offs, and say if the tool built into macOS is enough.