Comparison

VLC Streamer Pro vs Swiftfin

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

Head to head
About

VLC Streamer Pro

Stream movies and TV shows from your computer to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad without conversion. Enjoy your entire movie collection wirelessly within your home network. Supports various formats and resolutions for a seamless viewing experience.

Highlights
  • Stream movies from computer
  • No conversion needed
  • Supports multiple resolutions
  • Customizable gesture controls
  • Airplay and TV Out support
  • Browse local drives and network shares
Features
Read full description

Sit anywhere in your house and watch movies or TV shows on your iPhone, iPod or iPad. VLC Streamer streams movies from your computer to your iDevice. Winner *Best Entertainment App* Chip.de. You can watch anything from your movie collection. No need for complex conversion processes. No need to manually transfer programs to your device. “Can these guys do no wrong? Seriously, if only other app devs knew how to make apps as well as these guys, the world would be a better place. Or at least my device would be less buggy. I was just watching a Full HD copy of Avatar Extended Edition being streamed from my PC on my iPod Touch 2nd Generation and it looked and played amazingly.” - UK Reviewer “…it's as good as having the original VLC player on your iOS device…” - CallingAllGeeks.org “…Setup is a snap and literally takes 2 seconds. You can browse through all your movies from your device and click any one to start playing. It even works if you have the movies stored on a USB drive connected to the host computer.” -The Times of India “Took me seconds to setup to stream from a secondary drive in my home office. Going straight out to get a cable for my TV.” - USA Reviewer “….This sucker can stream off the pc and plays virtually anything you throw at it. Download it now!” - TaxiDriver at Blippy.com There are a huge number of movie formats, and VLC can convert most of them - but it can't convert everything. If you have any doubts, then please try the free version of this application first. • Features include • - Free helper app gets you streaming quickly and allows you to browse local drives, and Windows network shares - Stream over wifi directly from your computer - Support for multiple resolutions and streaming quality levels - Customisable gesture controls - Live streaming of video after a few seconds of processing (assumes a reasonably powered computer) - Airplay support - TV Out support for iPad and iPhone4 - Easy to copy movies directly to your device for watching on the plane or out of the house. - Supports Windows, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 - Supports Mac OS 10.5 and above • System Requirements • - VLC Streamer will not play DRM protected videos. Videos from the iTunes store do include DRM. - VLC Streamer is designed to work on your local network, and the free helper app has to run on your Mac or PC. - Supports Windows, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10. - Supports Mac OS 10.7 Intel and above. • Response to feedback • -If you do have any problems streaming movies, then please just check the help instructions in the app. Feel free to drop me an email (my personal mail is in the app) if you need help. Enjoy!

About

Swiftfin

This native video player connects to your Jellyfin media server, allowing you to stream your personal video collection and watch Live TV. Enjoy a fast and responsive interface for managing and viewing your content on iOS devices.

Highlights
  • Connects to Jellyfin media server
  • Stream personal video collection
  • Watch Live TV and recorded shows
  • Fast and efficient playback
  • Secure user profiles
  • Seamless multi-user switching
Features
Read full description

Swiftfin is a fast, native video player that works with Jellyfin, the open source free software media server. To use the app, you must have a Jellyfin server set up and running. Find out more at https://jellyfin.org With a Jellyfin server, you can: - Watch Live TV and recorded shows from your Jellyfin server (additional hardware/services required) - Stream your video to your iOS/iPadOS device - View your collection in an easy to use interface This is an official Jellyfin companion app. Thank you for using Jellyfin!

Screenshots

VLC Streamer Pro4 screens
Swiftfin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Swiftfin at Free against VLC Streamer Pro's $7.99. VLC Streamer Pro's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (75% vs 53%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Swiftfin is free to download; VLC Streamer Pro costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

VLC Streamer Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 743 and 278 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of VLC Streamer Pro's written reviews are positive against 53% of Swiftfin's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
VLC Streamer Pro versus Swiftfin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVLC Streamer ProSwiftfin
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (743 ratings) — better3.8 (278 ratings)
Positive reviews75.4% of reviews — better53.0% of reviews
Number of ratings743 — better278
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple TV
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB133 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHobbyist Software LimitedAnthony Lavado

Customer experience

VLC Streamer Pro

All ratings743 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews1,204 reviews
Positive75.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative18.9%

Swiftfin

All ratings278 ratings
Positive64.7%
Neutral11.2%
Negative24.1%
Written reviews366 reviews
Positive53.0%
Neutral14.8%
Negative32.2%

User reviews

VLC Streamer Pro

From 743 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Seamless streaming
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Fast conversion
  • 👍 Supports many file formats
  • 👍 Convenient remote access

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and connection issues
  • 🐛 Audio sync problems
  • 🐛 Conversion quality issues
  • 🔋 High CPU/battery usage during conversion
  • 🐛 Buggy after updates

Swiftfin

From 278 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Smooth and responsive UI
  • 🚀 Fast and efficient media playback
  • 🔒 Secure user profiles and pin protection
  • 💡 Seamless switching between multiple user accounts
  • 👍 Clean and modern app design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 🔋 Inconsistent battery performance
  • 🔒 Difficulty changing server IP/domain
  • 🐛 Issues with subtitle and audio track selection
  • 🐛 Unreliable live TV and DVR functionality

Bugs and requests

VLC Streamer Pro

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when selecting PC to connect
  • Keyboard doesn't disappear during search
  • Playback stops unexpectedly
  • Conversion process takes too long

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add playlist support
  • Improve subtitle handling
  • Allow direct streaming without conversion
  • Provide better organization/browsing of media library
  • Implement Chromecast support

Swiftfin

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Unable to connect to Jellyfin server after recent updates
  • Sorting and filtering not working as expected
  • Playback issues with certain video codecs and formats
  • Home bar not disappearing during video playback
  • Sync issues between iOS and tvOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add offline media download capability
  • Implement Picture-in-Picture mode
  • Introduce a shuffle option for episodes
  • Integrate e-book and audiobook support
  • Allow customization of media library views

In-app purchases

None

VLC Streamer Pro

No in-app purchases

None

Swiftfin

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VLC Streamer Pro free?
VLC Streamer Pro costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Swiftfin free?
Swiftfin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, VLC Streamer Pro or Swiftfin?
VLC Streamer Pro is rated higher. VLC Streamer Pro averages 4.7 out of 5 from 743 ratings, while Swiftfin averages 3.8 from 278 ratings.
Do VLC Streamer Pro or Swiftfin have ads?
Neither VLC Streamer Pro nor Swiftfin shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VLC Streamer Pro or Swiftfin?
VLC Streamer Pro ships an update every 3 months, and Swiftfin every 3 months. Most recently, VLC Streamer Pro was updated on November 10, 2026 and Swiftfin on November 12, 2026.

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