Airflow is a well-regarded paid app for casting video from a computer to a TV. If you’d rather not pay, or you want something open source, Driftcast does the same job on a Mac for free. It also covers what people look for in Beamer, Elmedia Player, JustStream and similar apps.

What Driftcast does

• Plays to Chromecast, Apple TV and AirPlay 2 TVs, and on the Mac itself
• Opens MKV, AVI, WMV, TS, VOB, MOV, MP4 and many more
• Passes through HEVC, HDR, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos where the device supports them
• Converts only what the device can’t play, on the GPU, while you watch
• Handles subtitles in any text encoding, reads Blu-ray and DVD picture subtitles into text, and finds more online
• Shows posters, plot, cast and ratings, and keeps playlists with resume and watched marks
• Costs nothing, with no trial, account, ads or tracking, and is open source under the GPL

Where a paid app may still suit you better

• You use Windows. Driftcast is Mac only.
• You rely on Chromecast and need something proven. Driftcast hasn’t been tried on a real Chromecast yet, while established apps have years of use behind them. AirPlay has been tested on a Samsung TV.
• You need a phone remote or spatial audio, which Driftcast doesn’t have yet.

Other free options

• VLC is free and can cast to Chromecast, though users have long reported trouble with subtitles.
• Chrome can cast a tab or an MP4, but it mirrors what’s on screen for most other files.
• Plex and Jellyfin are good if you want a full media server, which is more setup than playing one file.

Driftcast is not affiliated with Airflow or any other app named here. Their names belong to their owners.

Get Driftcast

Driftcast is free and open source, with no account, trial or ads. It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later, on an Apple silicon or Intel Mac.

Download Driftcast · Source code on GitHub · Everything it plays

More guides

• How to cast MKV files to Chromecast from a Mac
• How to play MKV files on Apple TV from a Mac
• How to send any video from a Mac to a Samsung or LG TV
• How to get subtitles on Chromecast from a Mac
• How to play DTS audio on Chromecast from a Mac
• How to cast 4K HDR video from a Mac
• A free Airflow alternative for Mac