Winamp Community Update Project 1.99.55

Winamp is the music player that defined the MP3 era, and it still has millions of loyal users.

The official player has not been updated since 2023, so most people now run WACUP, a free community update that keeps the same look and plug-ins on a modern PC.

Download WACUP 1.99.55 - free, 32-bit and 64-bit, for Windows 10 and 11.

Where Winamp stands in 2026

The last official desktop release is Winamp 5.9.2, build 10042, from April 2023. In July 2026 Winamp's own website started calling it the "Legacy Player", which is about as clear as a company gets.

The brand passed from AOL to Radionomy and then to today's owner, Winamp Group. Its business is now mostly services for musicians, such as fan memberships and artist websites.

In 2024 the company published the player's source code, then deleted it less than a month later after complaints about the licence and the third-party code inside.

There is news, though. On 29 July 2026 Winamp announced a new Winamp Player, built with the streaming service Deezer and due in the first half of 2027, with a Winamp-branded music subscription built in.

Winamp says the classic player is still used by more than 40 million people and will get that subscription too. Until the new player ships, nothing about the old one changes.

What WACUP is, and why most people should install it

WACUP, the Winamp Community Update Project, is built by Darren Owen, a former Winamp developer. It keeps the classic skins, the playlist editor, the media library and support for Winamp plug-ins, and fixes what aged badly.

You get 32-bit and 64-bit builds, better behaviour on Windows 11 and high-resolution screens, faster startup, and many rewritten components that work better than the originals.

It is free, funded by donations, and not open source. New preview builds arrive roughly every week or two, and 1.99.55 is the current one.

If you remember Winamp and want that feel on a modern PC, WACUP is what to install. The original Winamp 5.9.2 is also on the download page, for anyone who needs that exact build for an old plug-in.

What it plays

Out of the box it handles MP3, AAC and M4A, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, WMA, MIDI and tracker formats such as MOD. Plug-ins add a long list of game music formats on top.

If you are building a lossless library, the FLAC encoder and the Opus Audio Codec cover high quality and small files respectively.

Ripping CDs? Exact Audio Copy makes accurate rips, and the LAME MP3 Encoder is behind almost every good MP3 you own.

To clean up tags and album art before the library scans your files, Mp3tag is the standard tool.

Plug-ins, skins and internet radio

Plug-ins are why Winamp outlived nearly every rival from its era. WACUP keeps them working: input plug-ins for unusual formats, output plug-ins for external DACs, Milkdrop and other visualizations, and DSP effects.

Classic skins still load, and modern skins look sharper on high-resolution screens.

Winamp also gave the world SHOUTcast internet radio, which is still running. Browse thousands of stations with X Radio Stream Finder, or use our Stream Extractor to pull a stream address out of any radio website.

Paste that address into WACUP with Ctrl+L. Our free music and radio playlist guide shows how to save your favourites as one playlist.

How to install

1. Download the installer. Pick the 64-bit build unless you rely on an old 32-bit plug-in.
2. Install into its own folder. The developer recommends keeping WACUP separate from any existing Winamp installation.
3. Choose your file types. The main question during setup is which audio formats should open in WACUP.
4. Bring your skins and plug-ins. Copy your favourites across and check they load before you remove the old player.

Alternatives worth considering

If you are not attached to the Winamp look, these players are fully maintained and cover the same ground.

foobar2000 is the audiophile's choice, endlessly customizable, with bit-perfect output and serious tagging. Add the foobar2000 Free Encoder Pack for batch conversion.

AIMP feels the most like old Winamp, skinnable with a familiar layout. MusicBee is the pick for managing a big library.

If you want one app for music and video, MPC-BE and VLC Media Player play nearly everything without extra codecs.

There is more in our Media Players and Audio Codecs sections.

Not sure what a file needs? The Codec Finder identifies it in your browser.

Quick questions

Download WACUP 1.99.55 and bring back the classic player, or tell us how it went if you are already running it.