Entertainment · alternatives
Alternatives to Infuse
20 entertainment tools sit alongside Infuse in this directory. Below is what separates each from Infuse on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 11
- Cheaper to start
- 1
- Infuse starts at
- Free, then $1.99/month
Why people look past Infuse
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. Infuse has a free tier, and starts at $1.99/month against a category median of $12.99/month. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Free open source Mac video player built on mpv, with a native macOS interface
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Per user per month.
- 1 tier to Infuse's 3.
Free open source command line video player with no graphical interface, built for scripting and precision
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Per user per month.
- 1 tier to Infuse's 3.
Free open source BitTorrent client with true thin-client architecture for remote daemon control
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Per user per month.
- 1 tier to Infuse's 3.
Ticket resale marketplace charging both buyers and sellers, with combined fees often a large share of face value
- Sold on a Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers model rather than Per user per month.
- 2 tiers to Infuse's 3.
Free ad-supported streaming from Roku, with an optional paid live TV add-on layer
- Sold on a Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons model rather than Per user per month.
- 2 tiers to Infuse's 3.
Podcast app with episode inbox
- Starts $23 a year dearer, at $24.99/year.
- 2 tiers to Infuse's 3.
Every Infuse alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infuse (this page) | Free, then $1.99/month | Per user per month | 3 | |
| IINAIf you only need Mac playback and want a free, open source option with no Apple TV app | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Infuse |
| mpvIf you want a minimal command line player with no GUI and no cost at all | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Infuse |
| DelugeIf your need is downloading media rather than playing it back | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Infuse |
| StubHub | Free | Free to browse, two sided transaction fees on buyers and sellers | 2 | vs Infuse |
| The Roku Channel | Free | Free, ad-supported; individual paid channel add-ons | 2 | vs Infuse |
| Castro | Free, then $24.99/year | - | 2 | vs Infuse |
| Castbox | Free | - | 2 | vs Infuse |
| Emby | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Infuse |
| Apple TV+ | Free, then $12.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Infuse |
| Crunchyroll | Free, then $7.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Infuse |
| Dailymotion | Free | Free | 1 | vs Infuse |
| Philo | $33/month | Per household per month, single plan | 1 | vs Infuse |
| fuboTV | $73.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs Infuse |
| DirecTV Stream | $89.99/month | Per household per month, tiered plans | 3 | vs Infuse |
| Disney+ | $7.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Infuse |
| ESPN+ | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Infuse |
| Discovery+ | $4.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Infuse |
| Final Cut Pro | $12.99/month | - | 3 | vs Infuse |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | $22.99/month | - | 4 | vs Infuse |
| Apple Music | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Infuse |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Infuse badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Cheaper than Infuse (1)
Entry price under Infuse's $1.99/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Dailymotion , Free
What you would be giving up
Infuse is most often brought in for someone with a nas full of ripped or downloaded video who wants it browsable on apple tv like a streaming service, a household that wants one media library accessible from the living room television, phones and a mac, a user who wants automatic artwork and metadata for a personal library rather than plain file names, someone already invested in the apple tv ecosystem who wants better playback than the built in apple tv app supports. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Infuse is broadly right and the question is cost, the Infuse pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Entertainment category lists everything the directory holds, and best entertainment tools ranks them.
Infuse runs on mac, ios, tvos. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Infuse alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Infuse?
- 20 other entertainment tools are listed in this directory, led by IINA, mpv, Deluge, StubHub. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Infuse?
- 11 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: IINA, mpv, Deluge, StubHub, The Roku Channel.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Infuse?
- Yes. 1 of the alternatives below start under Infuse's $1.99/month: Dailymotion at Free.
- Is there a reason to switch away from Infuse?
- Nothing in the data flags one. Infuse has a free tier, and starts at $1.99/month against a category median of $12.99/month. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from Infuse?
- Infuse is most often brought in for someone with a nas full of ripped or downloaded video who wants it browsable on apple tv like a streaming service, a household that wants one media library accessible from the living room television, phones and a mac, a user who wants automatic artwork and metadata for a personal library rather than plain file names, someone already invested in the apple tv ecosystem who wants better playback than the built in apple tv app supports. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Infuse?
- None of the entertainment tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Infuse alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Entertainment, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Infuse against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Infuse covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every entertainment tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Entertainment category, 20 tools beside Infuse. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.