# VLC media player

VLC media player - plays everything, runs anywhere. Code here: https://code.videolan.org/videolan/vlc

Repository: https://github.com/videolan/vlc
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vlc-media-player
Homepage: http://www.videolan.org/vlc
Language: C
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: c, vlc, multimedia, framework, open-source, gplv2, lgpl
Last push: 2026-08-26T18:14:22+00:00
Link (homepage): http://www.videolan.org/vlc
Link (site_page): http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html
Link (site_page): https://addons.videolan.org/browse/cat/323/ord/latest
Link (site_page): http://www.videolan.org/support/faq.html

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5330, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 19443, forks 6170 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:28.642970+00:00)

## What it is
VLC is a free, open-source, cross-platform media player and multimedia engine that plays virtually every audio/video format, discs, streams, and devices without needing codec packs. Its embeddable engine, libVLC (LGPL), lets third-party applications integrate playback, conversion, and streaming capabilities.

## Use cases
- play any video or audio file without installing codecs
- play DVDs, Blu-rays, and network streams
- convert and transcode media between formats
- stream video over a network
- embed media playback in my own app with libVLC
- record screen or capture from webcam
- add subtitles and sync audio/video

## When to choose
- you need a universal media player that handles nearly every codec out of the box
- you want to embed playback in a third-party application via libVLC
- you need cross-platform support including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS
- you need transcoding or streaming capabilities for free with no ads or tracking

## When to avoid
- you need a lightweight minimal player with a modern UI
- you require DRM-protected commercial streaming service playback
- you need professional video editing rather than playback

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: video-processing, audio-processing, gui, cli, streaming, sdk, plugin-system
- domain: media, cross-platform, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cli
- tags: media-player, libvlc, multimedia-engine, codecs, streaming, transcoding, gplv2, videolan, video, audio, macos, linux, android, ios, desktop, mobile

## Member repositories
- videolan/vlc (main) score 77
- videolan/libvlcsharp (sdk) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:28.642970+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:00:06.758441+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/videolan/vlc (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:28.642970+00:00, sha 8ee3cd9f8028)
  - homepage: http://www.videolan.org/vlc (fetched 2026-08-29T07:58:30.021357+00:00, sha 13439ef2e266)
  - site_page: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html (fetched 2026-08-29T07:58:30.031598+00:00, sha 85bb28acc66a)
  - site_page: https://addons.videolan.org/browse/cat/323/ord/latest (fetched 2026-08-29T07:58:30.040538+00:00, sha 4f634e046d21)
  - site_page: http://www.videolan.org/support/faq.html (fetched 2026-08-29T07:58:30.042586+00:00, sha fffb320e0fee)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.