VLC Streamer vs zFuse
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
VLC Streamer
Stream your entire movie collection from your PC to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad without conversion. Enjoy your favorite films anywhere in your house with easy setup and customizable controls.
- Stream movies from PC
- No conversion needed
- Browse local drives and network shares
- Customizable gesture controls
- Support for multiple resolutions
- Live video streaming
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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 - Customisable gesture controls - Support for multiple resolutions and streaming quality levels - Live streaming of video after a few seconds of processing (assumes a reasonably powered computer) • 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 and Window 8 - Supports Mac OS 10.7 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. • Subscription Information • VLC Streamer is supported through an auto-renewing subscription which you can choose to purchase within the app. • The subscription is called 'VLC Streamer Annual Subscription ' • It is an annual subscription. It gets rid of the adverts and unlocks all functions, including downloading movies to your device • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase • Terms of use are available at https://HobbyistSoftware.com/terms • Privacy policy is available at https://HobbyistSoftware.com/privacy Enjoy!
zFuse
Play any video format and encoding directly from your device or network storage without conversion. Enjoy advanced subtitle effects, gesture controls, and file management features. Supports media servers, TV casting, and privacy protection.
- Plays all video formats and encodings
- Supports ASS/SSA/SUP effect subtitles
- Network playback from PC/NAS
- Gesture controls for playback and settings
- Folder encryption for privacy
- File download and decompression
- TV casting and media server support
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- 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
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: zFuse at free with in-app purchases against VLC Streamer's subscription. zFuse also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 53%) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 3 months). VLC Streamer's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. VLC Streamer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and zFuse sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
zFuse holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 417 and 1.2K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of VLC Streamer's written reviews are positive against 80% of zFuse's.
VLC Streamer ships an update every 3 months, zFuse every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VLC Streamer | zFuse |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (417 ratings) | 4.7 (1.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 53.2% of reviews | 80.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 417 | 1.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 156 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hobbyist Software Limited | s-joys Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
VLC Streamer
zFuse
User reviews
VLC Streamer
From 417 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Smooth streaming
- 💡 Useful for accessing media library
- 👍 Great customer support
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🔋 High CPU usage on host computer
- 🔒 Security concerns with open access to computer
- 💸 Aggressive monetization with ads and subscription model
zFuse
From 1.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and smooth playback
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 🔒 No ads or in-app purchases
- 💡 Supports a wide range of video formats
- 🚀 Excellent video decoding and hardware acceleration
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
- 🔍 Lacking advanced video settings (color, contrast, etc.)
- 🔍 Limited subtitle support
- 🔍 Inconsistent network file sharing performance
- 🔍 Cluttered UI with too many ads in some versions
Bugs and requests
VLC Streamer
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inability to detect/connect to host computer
- Inconsistent video quality and buffering issues
- Conversion process causing overheating on host computer
Requested features
4 requests- Remote access from outside home network
- Improved codec support, especially for MKV files
- Resume playback from last position
- Ability to manage/delete files from mobile device
zFuse
Reported bugs
4 issues- Playback issues with certain video codecs
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between files
- Inability to remember last playback position
- Compatibility problems on older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add picture-in-picture mode
- Implement a more robust subtitle management system
- Provide more video customization options
- Improve network file sharing stability and speed
- Optimize UI for better user experience
In-app purchases
VLC Streamer
- VLC Streamer Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
- VLC Streamer Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- VLC Streamer Annual7 Days trial$2.991 Year
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- VLC Streamer Annual7 Days trial$5.991 Year
zFuse
- Remove ads$9.99









