Gom Player 2.3.122

GOM Player is a free Windows video player with the common codecs already built in, so MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV and WMV usually play the moment you open them.

It has been around for years, and the people who stay with it do so for the subtitle library and for the broken-file feature that opens a video still downloading or missing its index.

The catch is that the free build is ad-supported and steers you toward the paid edition, GOM Player+, so it helps to know where that line sits before installing.

What the Free Build Actually Gives You

It plays your video and music without sending you hunting for codecs first. When it does meet something it cannot read, its Codec Finder tries to point you at the missing piece rather than just failing.

Around the playback you get screen capture, A-B repeat for looping a section, playback speed control, subtitle sync, skins and a 360-degree VR mode. None of that is unusual on its own, but having it in one free player is why long-time users stay put.

The subtitle library is the real draw. It searches for and auto-matches subtitles to whatever you are watching, and recent builds add AI voice-recognition subtitles generated from the audio itself, with translation - though GOM meters its AI features through a credit system, so heavy use is not free.

If you want to see the interface before committing, there are three screenshots on this page.

Free Version or GOM Player+

This is the part that trips people up, so here it is side by side. The core player is the same in both.

What It Does Not Decode On Its Own

GOM's built-in codec list is broad but dated in one specific way. It covers H.264, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, XviD, MJPEG, VP6, VP8, VC-1, Theora and ProRes among others, and it does not include HEVC or AV1.

That matters because HEVC is what most 4K cameras and modern phones record, and AV1 is what an increasing share of downloads use. GOM leans on external system codecs for both, which is fine once you know to expect it.

The easiest fix covers every Windows app at once. K-Lite Codec Pack is the all-in-one option, and LAV Filters is the lighter decoder-only choice if you would rather install less.

For HEVC specifically, the official HEVC Video Extension adds system-level support, and our guide to playing H.265 video with LAV Filters walks through the alternative route.

What You Need to Run It

GOM lists Windows 10 or later, 64-bit only, with 2GB of RAM and 200MB of disk space. Updates for Windows XP and Vista ended some time ago, so older machines are out.

There is also a macOS build, currently a few releases behind the Windows one and requiring macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later. It sits with the rest of the Mac downloads section.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is your own tolerance for advertising. If a pop-up on closing a video player would annoy you every time, no feature list is going to fix that, and the free alternatives here have no ads at all.

VLC Media Player plays almost anything out of the box on Windows, Mac and Linux, and it is the safer bet for DVDs, which several reviewers here found patchy in GOM.

MPC-HC is the lightweight Windows option, and MPC-BE is its more actively developed sibling.

Our comparison of MPC-BE against MPC-HC settles which of the two suits you, and either one will use a fraction of the memory GOM does.

If it is GOM's feature density you like rather than GOM itself, PotPlayer is the closest match and KMPlayer is close behind.

At the other end of the scale, mpv player is for people who want something small and fast with no installer extras at all.

One complaint worth heading off: files bought from the iTunes Store carry Apple's DRM, and no third-party player will open them. That is not a GOM fault and switching players will not help.

Testing a File Before You Install Anything

If you are not sure the file itself is healthy, check it in the browser first. Our Online HEVC Player plays H.265 in Chrome or Edge and can convert to MP4 locally when the browser cannot decode it.

The Codec Finder identifies what a stubborn file actually contains, which usually ends the guessing. Both run on your own machine with nothing uploaded, which makes them useful on a work laptop where you cannot install anything.

For wider background, our roundup of the best players for HEVC files compares the desktop options, and AV1 against H.265 explains the codec you will meet more and more.

Quick questions

Still weighing it up? The media players category lists everything we cover, ad-free options included.

Download GOM Player 2.3.122 and see how it handles your files, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.