VLC Streamer vs Outplayer
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!
Outplayer
A video player designed for iOS that prioritizes speed and simplicity. Enjoy seamless playback of various video formats with advanced features like 4K HDR and spatial audio. Easily manage your media with intuitive controls and file integration.
- 4K HDR playback with instant seeking
- Spatial audio with head tracking
- Picture in Picture support
- Customizable subtitle styling
- Play any video format (MKV, MP4, etc.)
- Integration with Files app for external drives
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A video player for iOS built around speed, simplicity, and getting out of your way. Outplayer is carefully designed to feel seamless, so you can just focus on what you’re watching. And it's backed by strong, reliable performance to play anything well. • 4K HDR playback with instant, real-time seeking • Spatial audio with head tracking and immersive surround sound • Picture in Picture, seamless for all videos • Fluid gestures and responsive controls • Customizable subtitle styling and dual language support • Quick and easy navigation for chapters and playlists • Integration with Files app to support SMB and external hard drives • Play any video format, worry-free (including MKV, MP4, and more) For free users, Outplayer has no playback restrictions and no ads. A one-time purchase, Outplayer Advanced, is available for a range of additional configuration options.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Outplayer at free with in-app purchases against VLC Streamer's subscription. Outplayer also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 53%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). VLC Streamer's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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 Outplayer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 4.6 for Outplayer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 415 and 502 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 53% of VLC Streamer's written reviews are positive against 86% of Outplayer's.
VLC Streamer ships an update every 3 months, Outplayer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VLC Streamer | Outplayer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (415 ratings) | 4.6 (502 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 53.0% of reviews | 86.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 415 | 502 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| 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 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hobbyist Software Limited | Stephen Salerno |
Customer experience
VLC Streamer
Outplayer
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
Outplayer
From 502 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth playback
- 👍 Intuitive and clean UI
- 🚀 Supports wide range of video formats
- 🚀 Excellent codec support
- 🚀 Hardware decoding
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio glitches
- 🐛 Brightness/contrast issues
- 🐛 Restore purchases bug
- 🔋 Causes device heating
- 👎 Lacks external subtitle support
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
Outplayer
Reported bugs
5 issues- Restore purchases bug
- Audio glitches
- Brightness/contrast issues
- Causes device heating
- Incompatibility with older devices
Requested features
15 requests- Add next/previous episode buttons
- Implement Trakt integration
- Add WebDAV support
- Implement variable speed playback
- Add video/folder sorting options
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- Implement Dolby Vision HDR support
- Implement Atmos audio support
- Add AirPlay/casting support
- Add subtitle delay sync option
- Implement in-app subtitle downloader
- Add video metadata scraping
- Implement folder icons
- Add double-tap to skip gestures
- Implement shuffle playback
- Add in-app URL browser
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
Outplayer
- Outplayer Advanced$7.99









