What is mpv used for?

mpv is a free, command-line media player that handles a wide range of audio and video formats, codecs and subtitle types. It is a good fit for lightweight local video and audio playback, and scripted or keyboard-driven media workflows.

Yes. mpv is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mpv-player/mpv and is written mainly in C.

Yes. mpv is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Yes. mpv can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to mpv?

Similar open-source tools in the Media & Streaming category include IINA, VLC and Ampache. SaaS products in the same category include iQIYI, Viki and AMC+.

Is mpv actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to mpv was on 29 September 2026, and the latest release is v0.41.0, published on 21 December 2025. The project has 37k stars on GitHub.

mpv: open-source media & streaming

About mpv

mpv is a free media player controlled from the command line. It handles numerous container formats, audio and video codecs and subtitle types, and builds on the FFmpeg libraries. The project is written in C, descends from the MPlayer family, and has been developed since 2012, with a regular release cycle and a changelog on GitHub.

The player runs on recent Linux distributions, Windows 10 version 1607 or later, and macOS 10.15 or later. Its main video output renders and scales video with shaders, so a reasonably capable GPU is expected, and hardware decoding must be switched on explicitly with the hwdec option. A fast profile is available for low-power GPUs. Extensibility comes through user scripts, and the project maintains a wiki, a FAQ and a manual, while semi-official builds and third-party packages are listed on its installation page.

Key features

Plays many audio, video and subtitle formats
Command-line control with extensive options
Shader-based video rendering and scaling
Optional hardware decoding via hwdec
User scripts for custom behavior
Runs on Linux, Windows and macOS

Good fit for

→Lightweight local video and audio playback
→Scripted or keyboard-driven media workflows

Built with: C
Tags: media-player; video; audio; command-line; ffmpeg; subtitles; multimedia; mplayer

mpv: questions and answers

What is mpv used for?: mpv is a free, command-line media player that handles a wide range of audio and video formats, codecs and subtitle types. It is a good fit for lightweight local video and audio playback, and scripted or keyboard-driven media workflows.
Is mpv open source?: Yes. mpv is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mpv-player/mpv and is written mainly in C.
Is mpv free?: Yes. mpv is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host mpv?: Yes. mpv can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to mpv?: Similar open-source tools in the Media & Streaming category include IINA, VLC and Ampache. SaaS products in the same category include iQIYI, Viki and AMC+.
Is mpv actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to mpv was on 29 September 2026, and the latest release is v0.41.0, published on 21 December 2025. The project has 37k stars on GitHub.