Is Phosphor a free alternative to Resolume Arena?

Yes for most shows: a clip grid with banks and column triggers, beat and bar quantised launch, transitions and blend modes, autopilot, clip trigger modes, per-clip settings, layer groups, effects on clips, layers and the master, projection mapping and DMX. It imports Resolume compositions (.avc). It maps onto 3D models (OBJ) through a virtual projector.

Is Phosphor a free alternative to VDMX?

Yes: dockable panels and layouts, control surfaces you build, LFO, audio, step-sequencer and envelope modulation on any value, MIDI and OSC learn with feedback, OSC Query, ISF shaders, Syphon and NDI, plus a phone remote with no setup. It imports VDMX project media bins.

Is Phosphor a free alternative to MadMapper?

For projection mapping and LED mapping, yes: quads with perspective, mesh warp, polygon, circle and triangle masks with feather, soft-edge blending, per-output colour, many outputs and slices, editing on the projector, venue presets, and Art-Net and sACN pixel mapping. 3D model mapping and lasers are not planned.

Phosphor vs VDMX, Resolume Arena and MadMapper

Phosphor is a free, open-source VJ and projection-mapping app for the Mac (and the browser). It was built after a close look at what VJs reach for in VDMX, what clip jockeys love in Resolume Arena and what mappers need from MadMapper, so one app can carry a whole show. Here is where it stands, honestly, feature by feature.

Coming from one app in particular? Read the page for it: a free Resolume alternative, a free VDMX alternative, a free MadMapper alternative.

✅ in Phosphor today · ⬜ not yet · ➖ not planned. VDMX, Resolume and MadMapper are trademarks of their owners; Phosphor is independent of them.

Coming from Resolume Arena or Avenue: playback and clips

Feature	Who has it	Phosphor
Clip grid (layers × columns), column triggers, keyboard / MIDI / OSC triggers	Resolume, VDMX	✅
Decks / banks of columns	Resolume	✅ banks, as many columns as you like
Transitions: crossfade, blend modes (Add, Screen, Subtract…), any effect as a transition, cut or fade	Resolume	✅ per layer + launch bar
Quantised launch (beat / bar), BPM, tap, resync, MIDI clock, Ableton Link	all	✅
Movie sound (clip audio, layer and master volume, follows opacity)	Resolume, VDMX	✅
Speed, reverse, ping-pong, in/out points, beat loops, scrubbing, BPM sync	all	✅
Automatic beat detection from the music (tempo, beat and downbeat, no tapping)	Resolume (BPM from audio)	✅ mic, input, viewers' phones or the clips themselves
Match the beat: reads a clip's visual rhythm and locks it to the music's tempo	—	✅
Auto-match: every movie dropped into the grid is scanned and locked to the beat as it arrives	—	✅
Hap / Hap Q / Hap R on the GPU; hardware H.264, HEVC, ProRes	all	✅ (Hap Q Alpha on the CPU)
Autopilot / follow actions; trigger modes (normal, toggle, flash, piano)	Resolume	✅
Per-clip settings and effects stored on the clip	Resolume	✅
Layer groups, A/B crossfader, layer as mask / track matte	Resolume, VDMX	✅
Cue list with timecode (MIDI timecode, LTC)	Resolume Arena, MadMapper	✅
Import Resolume compositions (.avc)	—	✅
Audio-only file as a layer (sound + visualiser)	Resolume	⬜

Coming from VDMX: modular control

Feature	Who has it	Phosphor
Dockable panels, saved layouts, panels detached to their own windows	VDMX	✅
Control surfaces you build (buttons, toggles, faders, XY pads, colour, pages)	VDMX	✅
LFO, audio level and bands, beat, random, step sequencer, envelope → any value	VDMX	✅
MIDI and OSC learn, controller feedback, MIDI out, keyboard	all	✅
OSC Query, TouchOSC layout export	VDMX	✅
Layer source = another layer, a group or the program (feedback, re-routing)	VDMX	✅
ISF shaders (effects and generators, multi-pass, feedback buffers)	VDMX	✅ 341 of 406 in the ISF collection
Write shaders in the app with live preview	—	✅
Phone / tablet remote with no layout to build	—	✅
Audience play: a QR code lets the crowd take turns at your control surface	—	✅
Presets for looks, layers, effect chains and venues	all	✅
Import VDMX projects (media bin)	—	✅

Coming from MadMapper: projection and LED mapping

Feature	Who has it	Phosphor
Quads with perspective, mesh warp, masks (polygon, circle, triangle; feather; invert)	MadMapper, Resolume	✅
Many outputs, many slices per output, saved screens, auto-open on the projector	all	✅
Slice shows the whole composition, one layer or a group; slice from another output	Resolume, MadMapper	✅
Soft-edge blending with a blend curve, per-output and per-slice colour	all	✅
Edit on the projector output, alignment grid, identify	all	✅
Curved mask edges, ellipse and triangle slices	MadMapper, Resolume	✅
Venue presets (recall your setup per room)	—	✅
DMX / Art-Net / sACN pixel mapping (LED strips and matrices)	MadMapper, Resolume Arena	✅ (moving-head fixture profiles ⬜)
3D projection mapping onto models	MadMapper	✅ OBJ through a virtual projector, solved from pinned points
Lasers	MadMapper	➖

Inputs, outputs and the rest

Feature	Who has it	Phosphor
Syphon in and out, NDI in and out, cameras, capture cards, network streams	all	✅
Record the output (H.264, ProRes, Hap, Hap Alpha)	Resolume, VDMX	✅
Stream to Twitch or YouTube; viewers on the network, no OBS	—	✅
Undo, crash recovery, export a standalone show	—	✅
Spout (Windows)	Windows apps	➖ Mac first
Price	VDMX $349 · Resolume Arena €799 · MadMapper €399 (list prices at the time of writing)	Free, open source (GPL)

Try it

Download the Mac app from the latest release, or open Phosphor in Chrome. Bring a Resolume composition or a VDMX project along: File ▸ Import opens them.

First launch on the Mac: macOS says it can't verify Phosphor (it isn't notarized yet). Click Done, then System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ scroll down ▸ Open Anyway, once. It updates itself from then on.

Download for Mac Open in the browser