FFplay vs mpv
FFplay
ffmpeg.orgmpv
mpv.ioSide by side
| Figure | FFplay | mpv |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Video Player Software | 7.6 (#27) | 8.5 (#6) |
| Hardware acceleration | FFplay documents hardware accelerated decoding through -hwaccel, which also enables the Vulkan renderer automatically. | Yes |
| Integrations | FFplay uses FFmpeg libraries, which the project says can also be used by applications. | Applications and scripts can control mpv through JSON IPC, the libmpv C API, or user scripts. |
| Platforms | The FFmpeg project says it compiles, runs, and passes its testing infrastructure across Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, BSDs, and Solaris. | Official installation guidance lists Windows, macOS, Linux packages, Android, and several BSD and Haiku packages. |
| Security | The project says security is a high priority, code review considers security, and it provides updates to stable releases when new security issues are found. | Only the most recent stable release receives security updates, and mpv is not designed to be exposed to untrusted environments. |
| Security reporting | The project asks vulnerability reporters to submit human verified, reproducible security issues to its security email address. | Vulnerabilities should be reported privately through GitHub's vulnerability reporting feature rather than public issues. |
| Support | The project accepts bug reports and contributions, and directs normal bugs to its Forgejo repository rather than its security email address. | The project directs users to IRC, GitHub Discussions, the issue tracker, and its wiki for questions, bugs, and scripts. |
Plans
In their own words
mpv
mpv is a free, open-source command-line media player for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. It plays a wide range of media formats, audio and video codecs, and subtitle types, including Matroska (MKV) and MP4, with network playback and 4K playback support. Its interface is deliberately limited: there is no full graphical interface, only a small on-screen controller for basic playback. Video output is based on OpenGL, Vulkan, and D3D11, with scaling, color management, frame timing, interpolation, and HDR features. mpv can use hardware decoding APIs on its supported platforms, and decoding can be switched on while the player is running. Scripts and user-created scripts can extend its behavior; developers can also use its C API to embed it in other applications. The project is actively developed. The default license is GPLv2 or later, with LGPLv2.1 or later available for builds configured with -Dgpl=false. Only the latest stable release receives security updates.