VLC Streamer vs Fast Player
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!
Fast Player
This app plays nearly all audio and video formats, including M3U8 playlists and streaming videos. It offers advanced playback controls, custom subtitle support, and multiple file transfer methods. Secure your media with password protection and enjoy casting to your TV.
- Plays all audio/video formats
- M3U8 playlist and IPTV support
- Custom subtitle downloads
- Multiple file transfer options
- Cloud drive integration
- Casting to TV (Chromecast, AirPlay)
- Archive file support
- Password protection for privacy
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Fast player, Supports decoding and playback of almost all audio and video formats. Supports parsing and playing M3U8 playlists, and supports playing streaming videos under IPv6 networks. [Supported Formats] Video Formats: mp4,avi,mkv,rmvb,flv,wmv,wav,3gp,mov,swf,mpeg,mpg,vob,m4v,rm,m2ts,asf,webm,asf,mpg,dat,ts,asx,mp3,f4v,ogv,divx,dv,gxf,m2p,mpeg1,mpeg2,mpeg4,mts,mxf,ogm,qt,wm...almost all movie file formats. Video decoder:H.264(AVC),H.265(HEVC),MPEG-2,MPEG-4,VP8,VP9,THEORA,XVID,DIVX, FLV, WMV1, WMV2... Audio Formats: mp3, wma, wav, dts, aac, amr, flac, ape, cue, amr, m4a, aiff, caff, ape, ogg vorbis,, lossless music...almost all audio file formats. [Key features] - Long press to play at double speed, swipe left to go backward, swipe right to go forward, double-click to pause/play - Custom subtitles: Support downloading subtitles and displaying custom subtitle files. - Parse and open m3u and m3u8 files, support playing IPTV playlists. - Multiple transfer methods: 1. USB transfer (iTunes file sharing) 2. Wi-Fi transfer 3. File servers: SMB/FTP/NFS/SFTP ... - Transfer files via cloud drives: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud. - Supports casting to TV: UPnP/DLNA, AirPlay, Chromecast, screen mirroring. - Support opening archive files: zip, rar, 7z... - File management: support document sorting, Support searching files. - Privacy protection: Password lock, encrypt and protect your videos, safe and secure. [In-App Purchase] Professional version for Lifetime: -One-time purchase, valid forever, can be resumed at any time. Professional version for one year: - Annual auto-renewable subscription, automatic renewal upon expiration. - After the purchase of the subscription item is confirmed, the subscription fee will be credited to your iTunes account. The subscription will automatically renew unless the automatic renewal feature is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current time period. The account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before 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. Privacy Policy:https://huamei-d3650.web.app/privacypolicy.html Terms of Use:https://huamei-d3650.web.app/terms.html contact us: xihuamei_contact@163.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Fast Player at free with in-app purchases against VLC Streamer's subscription. Fast Player also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (68% vs 46%). VLC Streamer's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, 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 Fast Player sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for VLC Streamer against 4.5 for Fast Player. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fast Player has 5K ratings behind it against 415, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 46% of VLC Streamer's written reviews are positive against 68% of Fast Player's.
VLC Streamer ships an update every 3 months, Fast Player fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 12, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VLC Streamer | Fast Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (415 ratings) | 4.5 (5K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 45.7% of reviews | 67.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 415 | 5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 161 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Hobbyist Software Limited | 章健 杨 |
Customer experience
VLC Streamer
Fast Player
User reviews
VLC Streamer
From 415 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
Fast Player
From 5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and user-friendly
- 👍 Versatile and plays various file formats
- 💡 Useful for transferring and managing media files
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional freezing and crashing issues
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 📢 Intrusive ads in free version
- 🔒 Concerns about data privacy and sharing
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
Fast Player
Reported bugs
4 issues- Videos not playing correctly or only showing audio
- App failing to remember playback position
- Issues with file format compatibility
- Unexpected app crashes and freezes
Requested features
4 requests- Add shuffle and repeat options
- Implement picture-in-picture mode
- Improve playlist management and file ordering
- Provide better Bluetooth/AirPlay support
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
Fast Player
- Annual professional version$3.991 Year
- Compress / unzip the file$0.99
- Remove Ads$0.99
- Passcode Lock$0.99
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- Professional Version$5.99








