8K and 4K HDR playback
Native decoding up to 8K with HDR10 and HLG tone mapping, so highlights stay bright instead of turning grey.
1.7.22851build 260401 · Windows 10 / 11 · 64-bit
PotPlayerThe player that opens everything.
A desktop media player built for people who actually care about the picture. PotPlayer opens 8K HDR files, decodes them on your GPU, writes subtitles from any audio track in real time, and never asks you for a licence.
53 MB installerNo ads · no bundlesFree, permanently
8KMaximum resolution
53 MBInstaller size
$0Price, forever
We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars.
00:00 / 02:49:04
GPU decoding · 12% CPU
8K 60 fps
Real-time subtitles
MKV · MP4 · AVI · HEVC · AV1 · APV · WebM · FLV · TS · M2TS · MOV · WMV · FLAC · DTS-HD · TrueHD · ASS/SSA · PGS · HLS · DASH · M3U8MKV · MP4 · AVI · HEVC · AV1 · APV · WebM · FLV · TS · M2TS · MOV · WMV · FLAC · DTS-HD · TrueHD · ASS/SSA · PGS · HLS · DASH · M3U8
Core features
A player that behaves like studio software
Twelve things PotPlayer does that most players quietly skip. No plug-ins to hunt down, no settings buried in a config file.
Hardware decoding
DXVA2, D3D11 and CUDA paths push the load to your GPU. A 4K60 file plays at roughly 10–15% CPU on a modest laptop.
Opens everything
MKV, MP4, AVI, MOV, TS, M2TS, WebM, FLV and newer codecs including AV1, HEVC and APV — without external codec packs.
AI subtitles from any audio
The built-in Whisper engine transcribes speech to subtitles while the video plays, in dozens of languages.
Serious subtitle engine
ASS/SSA rendering through libass, SRT, SMI, PGS and dual subtitles, with timing offset and font control.
0.1× to 12× speed
Pitch-corrected playback keeps voices natural. Frame-by-frame stepping when you need the exact frame.
MadVR and LAV ready
Attach a reference renderer and splitter when you want the last few percent of image quality.
Live TV and IPTV
Open an m3u8 playlist and watch broadcast channels with the same controls, EPG and recording options.
3D and 360° video
Side-by-side, top-and-bottom and VR headset output, with mouse-drag navigation inside the frame.
Screenshots and GIF capture
Grab a single frame, a burst of frames, or record a clip — straight into the folder you choose.
Skins and shortcuts
Thousands of community skins, fully remappable hotkeys, and window layouts that survive restarts.
Playlists and resume
Queue a whole season, bookmark scenes, and continue exactly where you stopped last time.
Playback engine
The difference shows up in dark scenes
Most players get you a picture. PotPlayer gives you control over how that picture is produced — the decoder, the renderer, the subtitle layer and the audio path are all yours to tune.
01
Decode on the GPU, not the CPU
Hardware paths for H.264, HEVC, VP9 and AV1 keep fan noise down and battery life up.
02
HDR that stays HDR
Tone mapping types are selectable, so a 1000-nit master does not flatten into a washed-out image on an SDR panel.
03
Subtitles that look designed
libass renders ASS/SSA effects, karaoke timing and typesetting the way the fansub team intended.
04
Audio you can actually route
Pass through DTS-HD or TrueHD to a receiver, or downmix to stereo when you are on headphones.
8K60Decoded with GPU acceleration
10-bitHDR10 / HLG tone mapping
12×Maximum playback speed
40+Subtitle and audio formats
Use cases
Ten ways people actually use it
The same player, pointed at very different jobs. Tap a card to see the matching features.
Movie nights in 4K
Blu-ray remuxes with HDR and DTS-HD, bit-perfect to the receiver.
Anime with styled subs
ASS typesetting, karaoke timing and dual-language tracks.
Sports over IPTV
M3U8 playlists, channel switching and instant replay capture.
Online courses
1.5× speed with clean audio, plus frame grabs for notes.
Music and FLAC
Gapless album playback, visualisations and WASAPI output.
360° and VR clips
Drag to look around, or send the image to a headset.
Old laptops
Low-bitrate files play smoothly with minimal CPU load.
Reviewing footage
Frame-by-frame stepping to check an edit or a render.
Language learning
Two subtitle tracks at once, one in each language.
Home cinema builds
MadVR chains, custom skins and a remote-friendly layout.
Pricing
Free player. Optional extras.
The player itself costs nothing and never will. The bundles below are for people who want skins, codec packs or hands-on setup help.
Standard
No subscription, no account, no ads.
$0forever
- Full player, all features
- 8K HDR decoding
- AI subtitles engine
- Unlimited updates
Supporter
Skins, codec pack and priority support.
$9one-time
- Everything in Standard
- Skin and codec pack
- Priority email support
- Early build access
Studio
Five machines and a live setup session.
$24one-time
- Everything in Supporter
- Five PC licence
- 1:1 MadVR setup call
- Settings backup guide
FAQ
Ten questions before you install
Short answers, no marketing. Everything below applies to the current 1.7.22851 build.
Is PotPlayer really free?
Yes. The player is freeware for personal use — no account, no subscription, no in-player advertising. Paid bundles on this page are optional extras such as skins and setup support, and the player works fully without them.
Which Windows versions are supported?
Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7. Use the 64-bit build on any 64-bit system; keep the 32-bit build for older machines with 4 GB of RAM or less.
Does it play 8K and HDR video?
It decodes 8K HEVC and AV1 files and applies HDR10 or HLG tone mapping on output. On an SDR display the tone mapping curve can be switched, so dark scenes keep their detail instead of crushing to black.
How do the AI subtitles work?
The built-in Whisper engine listens to the audio track and writes subtitles as the video plays. Open the subtitle menu, choose real-time generation, pick the spoken language and the model size — the transcript appears in a few seconds.
Do I need codec packs?
No. MKV, MP4, AVI, TS, WebM and modern codecs such as HEVC, AV1 and APV are handled internally. Codec packs are only useful if you deliberately want an external decoder chain.
Can it play files while they download?
Yes, with the optional torrent module installed. Magnet links and .torrent files open inside the player and start playing the first available pieces.
How do I make it the default player?
Open Settings, go to Association, and tick the formats you want. The same panel can restore Windows defaults if another player keeps taking them back.
Why does 4K playback stutter?
In order: enable hardware decoding, switch the video renderer to D3D11, then check that the display cable is certified for the resolution and refresh rate. The player shows dropped frames in the statistics overlay.
Is there a Mac, iOS or Android version?
No. PotPlayer is a Windows desktop application. On macOS, use a player such as IINA or VLC; on phones, use VLC or Infuse. Files can be shared to those devices over the local network.
How often is it updated?
Roughly every four to eight weeks, with hotfixes in between. The current build is 1.7.22851 from April 2026, which added libass subtitle output and built-in HLS/DASH handling.
Reviews
What long-term users say
Collected from forum threads and support emails over the last twelve months.
“I run a 135-inch projector setup and PotPlayer is the only player that lets me chain MadVR without fighting it. Dark scenes in Interstellar finally look the way the disc does.”
MMarcus T.Home cinema, United States
“The libass output is the reason I switched. ASS typesetting, karaoke timing and font fallbacks render correctly, which is more than I can say for the big-name players.”
AAiko N.Subtitler, Japan
“Lecture recordings at 1.5× with the pitch kept natural, plus a hotkey that grabs a frame into my notes folder. It replaced three other programs for me.”
DDiego R.Student, Spain
“My provider hands out m3u8 playlists and PotPlayer opens them without a single plug-in. Channel switching is faster than the box my provider shipped.”
EElif K.IPTV user, Türkiye
Newsroom
Release notes and player updates
Every build we ship, documented with the numbers that changed.
Release1.7.22851 ships libass subtitles and internal HLS/DASH
The April build moves ASS rendering onto libass and handles HLS/DASH streams with an internal module, cutting subtitle start-up to 172 ms and stream switching by 34 percent.
All news
Performance8K playback benchmark: 12% CPU versus 78%
We ran the same 8K60 HEVC file through three decode paths in PotPlayer. Hardware decoding cut CPU load from 78 to 12 percent and dropped frames to three in nine thousand.
All news
CodecAPV decoding arrives in PotPlayer 1.7.22769
Build 260114 teaches PotPlayer to decode APV, the professional intra-frame codec, at up to 8K 4:2:2 10-bit with GPU assistance.
All news
Live TVLive TV in PotPlayer: playlists, zapping, recording
An m3u8 playlist turns PotPlayer into a television. We measured zapping at 1.28 seconds, recording overhead at 3 percent CPU, and a two-hour session that stayed at 312 MB.
All news
SubtitlesReal-time AI subtitles land in PotPlayer
Build 250909 turns any audio track into subtitles while the video plays. We measured 1.2 seconds of latency and 92.4 percent accuracy on clean English speech.
All news
HDRHDR tone mapping gets manual control
Build 250625 lets you choose the tone mapping curve instead of accepting the default, which is the difference between grey mush and a readable dark scene on an SDR panel.
All newsReady to stop fighting your player?
Download the current 1.7.22851 build, open the file that has been sitting in your downloads folder for a month, and see what it was supposed to look like.