Comparison

8player vs zFuse

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

8player

This versatile media player allows you to stream, download, and enjoy videos, music, and photos from various sources. It offers a clean interface, offline playback, and supports a wide range of file formats across iOS and Apple TV devices.

Highlights
  • Stream from cloud and network services
  • Download for offline playback
  • Supports DLNA/UPnP, SMB, FTP
  • Wide range of video, audio, and image format support
  • Create and manage music playlists
  • Cast to DLNA and Chromecast devices
Features
Read full description

Enjoy your media, your way. 8player is an all-in-one video, music and photo player for iPhone and iPad. Stream, download and enjoy your favorite media anytime, anywhere. Available on the App Store since 2010, 8player combines powerful playback, flexible connectivity and a clean, intuitive design. WHY 8PLAYER? • Beautiful and intuitive interface • Smooth streaming from cloud storage, NAS devices and network servers • Available on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV • Your media stays private. 8player does not collect your data PLAY FROM ALL YOUR SOURCES • DLNA/UPnP media servers • SMB network shares • FTP and SFTP servers • Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive • Local files on your device PACKED WITH FEATURES • Download files for offline playback • Play on TVs and other devices using DLNA, Chromecast and AirPlay • Create and manage music playlists • Use subtitles and switch between multiple audio tracks • Adjust playback speed • Continue watching with Picture in Picture • Use intuitive gesture controls • Access compatible DLNA/UPnP servers remotely over mobile networks or through a VPN Remote access setup guide: https://08software.com/8player-remote-access SUPPORTED FORMATS • Video: mp4, mkv, avi, mov, ts, webm and more • Audio: mp3, flac, aac, alac, wav and more • Images: heic, jpeg, png, gif, tiff and more Your media. Your device. Your control. Standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

zFuse

Play any video format without conversion, with advanced subtitle effects and direct media streaming from your PC or NAS. Enjoy gesture controls, folder encryption for privacy, and extensive file management features. Supports TV casting and popular media servers.

Highlights
  • Plays all video formats without conversion
  • Supports ASS/SSA/SUP effect subtitles
  • Streams media directly from PC/NAS
  • Gesture controls for playback and settings
  • Folder encryption for privacy
  • File download and management
  • TV casting and media server support
Features
Read full description

- zFuse can play all video formats and encodings, allowing you to play video files on your mobile device without the need to convert to MP4. - zFuse supports ASS/SSA/SUP effect subtitles, enabling you to experience full subtitle effects just like on your PC/Mac. - zFuse features powerful networking technologies that allow you to play media from your PC or NAS directly, without occupying any space on your limited device storage and without needing to download anything. - zFuse also allows you to easily download files or directories directly from your PC or NAS, making it the perfect companion for your trips. - zFuse supports a variety of gestures - simply move your fingers to adjust playback position, font size, volume, and brightness. - zFuse carefully protects your privacy with folder encryption, so you no longer need to worry about privacy issues. - zFuse's detailed features include: * SMB/CIFS playback and discovery (easily play media files from your PC). * Download media files or directories from SAMBA/DLNA/WebDAV/FTP directly. * UPnP/DLNA playback and discovery. * Emby and Jellyfin media server support. * AirPlay playback. * Picture-in-Picture mode support. * iPad split-screen multitasking support. * Hardware acceleration. * HDR Tone Mapping support on non-HDR displays. * Subtitle effects support. * 0.5x-3.0x playback speed control. * 0.5x-5.0x screen zoom. * Media preview while seeking. * Built-in audio enhancement. * Multi-soundtrack selection. * Embedded/external subtitle track selection. * Subtitle synchronization. * Audio synchronization. * External subtitle font selection support. * Playlist file preview before playback. * Blu-ray directory playback. * Real-time playlist management and editing. * Screen mirroring. * File Management: - Delete, move, rename, create folders. - Wi-Fi file transfer support without USB cable connection. - Streaming media playlist creation support. - File decompression support: 7z, zip, rar, tar, bz, bz2, etc. * Gesture Controls: - Horizontal drag: adjust playback position. - Vertical drag on left side: adjust volume. - Vertical drag on right side: adjust brightness. - Pinch to zoom: adjust screen size. - Double-tap: play/pause. - Two-finger double-tap: change video aspect ratio. * External Keyboard Support: - Space: pause/play. - Left Arrow: backward seek. - Right Arrow: forward seek. - Esc: exit playback. - S: change playback speed. - B: play previous. - N: play next. - Z: change screen scale. * Supported Video Formats: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, RMVB, ASF, OGV, Blu-ray ISO and more. * Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, APE and more. * Supported Subtitle Formats: SRT, SSA, ASS, SUP, VTT. * Supported Image Formats: JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, HEIC and more. * Supported eBook Formats: EPUB, TXT, PDF. * Code Editor Supported Languages: JSON, HTML, XML, C/C++, Lua, Java, Objective-C, Swift, Python, JavaScript. * Supported Document Formats: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Numbers, Keynote, Pages, RTF, CSV.

Screenshots

8player4 screens
zFuse4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: 8player at Free against zFuse's $4.99. zFuse's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 2.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

8player is free to download; zFuse costs $4.99 up front. 8player sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per year. zFuse asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

zFuse holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 174 and 228 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of 8player's written reviews are positive against 78% of zFuse's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

8player ships an update fortnightly, zFuse every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
8player versus zFuse: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter8playerzFuse
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating2.8 (174 ratings)4.4 (228 ratings) — better
Positive reviews43.3% of reviews77.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings174228 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, Apple TV
Requires iOS16.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB152 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer8soft Ltds-joys Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

8player

All ratings173 ratings
Positive42.8%
Neutral5.2%
Negative52.0%
Written reviews945 reviews
Positive43.3%
Neutral9.9%
Negative46.8%

zFuse

All ratings220 ratings
Positive85.0%
Neutral6.4%
Negative8.6%
Written reviews242 reviews
Positive77.7%
Neutral6.2%
Negative16.1%

User reviews

8player

From 174 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 💡 Supports wide range of file formats
  • 🎨 Elegant and visually appealing interface
  • 🔌 Seamless DLNA/UPnP connectivity

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
  • 🚫 Lack of support for certain video codecs
  • 🔍 Limited search and browsing functionality
  • 🔇 Unreliable Bluetooth speaker connectivity
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly during use

zFuse

From 228 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast video playback and loading speeds
  • 👍 Excellent format support (various codecs and containers)
  • 🎬 Strong HDR video handling
  • 📁 Reliable network file access (SMB, NAS)
  • 🎯 Clean and simple user interface

Room to improve

  • 🎨 Outdated UI design (looks from 2010)
  • 🐛 Frequent bugs introduced with updates
  • 💔 Lack of customer support responsiveness
  • 🔌 No Chromecast/casting support
  • ⚠️ Inconsistent feature availability across platforms

Bugs and requests

8player

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • SMB connectivity issues after recent updates
  • Subtitles not displaying correctly for some video files
  • Playback freezes or stops when minimizing the app
  • Inconsistent behavior when playing next/previous tracks

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add gapless playback for music
  • Implement a more robust file sorting/browsing system
  • Integrate Chromecast support
  • Introduce an equalizer for audio customization
  • Add password/security protection options

zFuse

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • Playback speed switching causes audio stuttering and crackling
  • Video snapshots getting lost (long-standing bug)
  • Green pixel artifacts on iPad Pro M4
  • Pop-out video player discoloration after updates
  • Back and forward seeking stopped working
Show 14 more
  • SMB crashes with large file counts
  • DLNA/UPnP not detecting NAS devices
  • SAMBA unable to read external USB drives
  • Movie channel unresponsive/not clickable
  • Device selection option disappeared after update
  • Subtitle menu difficult to access on Apple TV
  • Long filename display issues
  • Slow response time on video selection
  • Password error handling missing feedback
  • Screen orientation settings not working
  • Progress bar control difficult with remote touchpad
  • Excessive volume sensitivity
  • Unable to cache files from certain network sources
  • App crashes on tvOS 14.5

Requested features

18 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Segment/A-B repeat functionality
  • Persistent zoom and aspect ratio settings on loop
  • System time display during playback
  • Subtitle display in picture-in-picture mode
Show 13 more
  • Seamless playback speed switching without pausing
  • Batch file selection and management
  • Persistent subtitle brightness settings
  • Poster wall/cover art display
  • WebDAV support
  • Plugin support
  • Ability to rename favorites
  • History disable option
  • Original quality streaming options for cloud services
  • HDR support on Apple TV
  • Automatic photo/video playback from same folder
  • Custom passcode for Security Space
  • Live stream source subscription support

In-app purchases

1 purchases

8player

Subscriptions1
  • Pro Annual7 Days trial$9.991 Year
None

zFuse

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 8player free?
8player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is zFuse free?
zFuse costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, 8player or zFuse?
zFuse is rated higher. 8player averages 2.8 out of 5 from 174 ratings, while zFuse averages 4.4 from 228 ratings.
Do 8player or zFuse have ads?
Neither 8player nor zFuse shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 8player or zFuse?
8player ships an update fortnightly, and zFuse every 3 weeks. Most recently, 8player was updated on November 1, 2026 and zFuse on November 1, 2026.

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