Comparison

CastFlow vs CMSPlayer

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

Head to head
About

CastFlow

Stream media from various platforms to your device using DLNA protocol. Supports a wide range of media formats for seamless playback.

Highlights
  • DLNA streaming
  • Cross-device casting
  • Wide media format support
  • Seamless playback
Features
Read full description

CastFlow is a family-friendly home media hub that spans iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Cast from your phone, stream IPTV, browse Jellyfin, or open files on your NAS — all on your own network, no account needed. Cast anything to the living room Turn CastFlow into a DLNA / UPnP receiver. Push a video, a song, or a photo from any phone, tablet, PC or NAS with one tap and it lands on the big screen. IPTV that feels like TV Import M3U playlists or Xtream Codes accounts. Browse categories, follow the EPG, and enjoy time‑shifted playback in a clean, native player. Jellyfin & Emby, feel‑native Sign in once and get Continue Watching, Recently Added, seasons, episodes, and multi‑audio / multi‑subtitle tracks. It behaves like a first‑party client, not a browser wrapper. SMB & WebDAV Connect directly to your NAS, home server, or WebDAV drive. Browse folders, preview posters, and play files without preloading or transcoding. Danmaku overlay Turn on scrolling live‑comment overlays for supported casting sources — perfect for anime nights and shared watch parties. MPV‑powered playback Hardware decoding for H.264, HEVC and AV1. Full support for SRT, ASS/SSA and PGS subtitles, external audio tracks, per‑track speed and pitch control. Continue Watching, everywhere Resume points sync across sources and devices, so you can jump from the couch to the bedroom without losing your spot. Local‑first, private by default No account. No cloud database. No tracking. CastFlow does not upload your library metadata anywhere. Your media stays on your local network. One app across the family iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV — add a source once and it's ready on every device. CastFlow adapts to each screen: a receiver on the TV, a browser on your Mac, a remote in your pocket. Made for – NAS owners who want their library on every screen – IPTV fans who want a clean native player instead of a browser tab – Cord‑cutters running Jellyfin or Emby at home – Anyone who wants phone, computer and NAS content to just appear on the Apple TV Add a source, hit play, and let the media flow. Support: https://tinuv.me/castflow/ Privacy: https://tinuv.me/castflow/privacy.html

About

CMSPlayer

This app provides a seamless playback experience for VOD sources, offering features like playback speed adjustment, AirPlay, and Picture in Picture. It allows users to manage multiple sources, search for content, and track watch history. Optimized for Apple devices, it integrates with iCloud for cross-platform syncing.

Highlights
  • Seamless playback experience
  • Playback speed adjustment
  • AirPlay and Picture in Picture support
  • Manage multiple VOD sources
  • Aggregate search with history
  • iCloud sync across platforms
Features
Read full description

Cross-platform player for VOD sources. # Show and Episodes - Seamless play experience - Native app UI/UX, optimized for iPhone and iPad - Display shows in grid or list - Browse show details including actors and descriptions - Quickly navigate to an episode with segment or season selection - Sort episodes alphabetically or in reverse order # Play experience - Playback speed adjustment - AirPlay, Picture in Picture, SharePlay - Auto-play next episode - Pan horizontally to adjust playback progress - Pan vertically to adjust brightness and volume - Skip intro and outro with manual configuration - Auto-playback from last seen timestamp - tvOS/visionOS: Next episode button in info view # Search - Aggregate search - Search history - Option to enable exact match # Manage my stuff - Favorite - Watch history - Navigate to show from history # Source management - Manage multiple sources - Edit, delete or sort sources - Hide certain sources - Import sources from JSON - Export sources to JSON - Manually add source # Apple feature integration - iCloud sync across all platforms (can be disabled) - tvOS TopShelf Icon Attribution: Television icons created by Freepik - Flaticon https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/television Disclaimer: This app doesn't provide, contain or distribute any VOD or video sources. All sources are provided and entered by the users. Users must provide copyright-free contents or ensure they have acquired the copyrights to play videos in CMSPlayer.

Screenshots

CastFlow4 screens
CMSPlayer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CMSPlayer at 4.8 against CastFlow's 3.0. CMSPlayer also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 26 months) and ratings volume (156 vs 8). CastFlow's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $2.99). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CastFlow costs $0.99 and CMSPlayer $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CMSPlayer holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CMSPlayer has 156 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of CastFlow's written reviews are positive against 80% of CMSPlayer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CastFlow ships an update every 26 months, CMSPlayer every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
CastFlow versus CMSPlayer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCastFlowCMSPlayer
Price$0.99 — better$2.99
Rating3.0 (8 ratings)4.8 (156 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings8156 — better
Update frequencyEvery 26 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TViPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Vision Pro
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB5 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer辉 邓Yuzhou Zhuang

Customer experience

CastFlow

All ratings8 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

CMSPlayer

All ratings156 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral0.6%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

None

CastFlow

No in-app purchases

None

CMSPlayer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CastFlow free?
CastFlow costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is CMSPlayer free?
CMSPlayer costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CastFlow or CMSPlayer?
CMSPlayer is rated higher. CastFlow averages 3.0 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while CMSPlayer averages 4.8 from 156 ratings.
Do CastFlow or CMSPlayer have ads?
Neither CastFlow nor CMSPlayer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CastFlow or CMSPlayer?
CastFlow ships an update every 26 months, and CMSPlayer every 9 days. Most recently, CastFlow was updated on September 7, 2026 and CMSPlayer on September 22, 2026.

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