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VLC media player vs timg: catalog facts
VLC media player	timg
Free Free software from a non-profit; there is no paid tier and no advertising in the player.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-2.0 license.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	macOS, Linux, Command line
Plays an unusually wide list of codecs and containers out of the box, including MPEG-1/2, H.264, H.265, VP8/VP9… No spyware, no advertising and no user tracking, stated on the project feature page	Displays images and videos inside a terminal Supports Sixel, Kitty and iTerm2 graphics
The stable desktop line is still 3.0.23; the 4.0 interface rewrite has not shipped The interface is functional rather than modern, and advanced options are buried in preference dialogs	Full-resolution display requires a compatible terminal
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 20, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 8, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.