Video tools / VLC

VLC

VLC: Official site - Free multimedia solutions for all OS!

Visit www.videolan.org

Free optionSignup unclearFile handling unclearWebsite health 3.7 / 5

Where it stands

3.4 / 5

Signals score

Not a hands-on test

Based on 1 of 3 signals

Website health3.7 / 5 · weight 50%
Measured from the tool's public website

Built only from what we can measure or quote without using the tool. How ranking works

Rank by signals

2 of 5 · Convert video 11 of 14 · Screen recorder 33 of 40 · Video tools

We have not run our own hands-on test on VLC yet. Facts checked 2026-11-04. How tests work

Disclosure: agathox makes some of the tools listed here. They are labelled and scored by the same method as every other tool.

Should you use VLC?

A quick read built only from what the tool's own pages state and from our tests, not from opinion. Facts checked 2026-11-04.

A good fit if…

You want a free option. It states: “VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player. The page says: “VLC is a free and open source cross-platform…”

Check first

Its pages do not state: pricing, signup, watermark, where your files go. Check on the tool's site before you rely on it.

Does: Convert video, Screen recorder

Measured signals

3.7 / 5 · measured 2026-11-08

Read automatically from VLC's public website: how reliable, secure, private and open the site is. This is not a test of how well the tool does its job. How this is measured

Reliability5 / 5The page answered and finished downloading in 166 ms.
Security2.8 / 51 of 5 protective headers set (strict-transport-security).
Privacy5 / 5No third-party tracking services found on the page.
Transparency1 / 5No privacy policy linked; no pricing page linked.

Community feedback

Not enough discussion yet: 4 classified comments from 4 threads. We need at least 12 from 2 threads.

Positive
“How was VideoLAN started. I remember "Media Player Classic" and "K-Lite Codec Pack" were popular back then and when I installed VideoLAN and it blew my mind. Extremely fast, no buffering and very lightweight. I am 26 but…”
Read in the thread
Positive
“I always knew it would run in VideoLan. VideoLan you are my codec saver and many hours saved and enjoyed. Happy Birthday!”
Read in the thread
Critical
“>If VideoLAN were a startup, it'd be a unicorn. Isn't VLC useful precisely because the interests of the devs and users are aligned”
Read in the thread

Threads: VLC contributor living in Aleppo writing about the Paris attacks (2015, 705 comments) · VideoLAN is 20 years old today (2021, 316 comments) · VLC 3.0 release (2018, 294 comments) · VLC for iOS Pulled from the App Store (2011, 226 comments)

Free tier: VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player. The page says: “VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.”
Paid plan: Not stated.
Signup: Not stated.
Watermark: Not stated.
Where files go: Not stated.

From the tool's own pages, checked 2026-11-04. Sources: Home. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them.

Read automatically by a program, not by a person. Each fact quotes the sentence it came from, and a fact is shown only if that sentence is on the page. Where a page did not say, it reads “Not stated.”

Get an email if VLC changes

We check its official pages every week. If they change, we tell you, so you can see if the price or limits moved. No other email, and one click stops it.

Are you the maker of VLC? Link to this page

Copy this into your site. The link goes to this page, and it does not change any score.

<a href="https://agathox.com/tools/vlc">VLC on agathox: compared and tested</a>

Tasks and scores

Convert videoNot tested yet
Screen recorderNot tested yet

VLC