Visibox
vs VDMX
How Visibox and VDMX compare for live visuals: who runs the show, Mac or Windows, audio-reactive clips, layers, backing tracks, and price.
VDMX has been the Mac VJ’s modular toolbox since the late nineties. Its makers created the ISF shader format, and the app lets you build any rig you can imagine out of plugins, data sources, and layers. Visibox comes at live visuals from the performer’s side: load your clips, map a controller, and run the show from the stage, with audio-reactive visualizers, effects, and your backing tracks in the same app.
Two things decide this one before anything else. VDMX only runs on a Mac. And VDMX expects somebody at the computer, mixing. Here is where each one wins.
| Visibox | VDMX | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Live-visuals app built around fast, hands-free triggering | Modular VJ environment you assemble from plugins |
| Best for | Bands, DJs, worship, events | Dedicated VJs and AV artists building a custom rig |
| Who runs it | The performer from the stage, or front of house from a phone or tablet | An operator at the computer, mixing live |
| Platforms | macOS 13+ and Windows 10+ | macOS 13 or later only |
| Learning curve | Performing the same day | Hours to days; templates help, but you assemble the layout |
| Audio-reactive | ISF shaders and MilkDrop presets, built in | Deep: audio analysis can drive any parameter; ISF visualizers |
| Layers and mixing | Poly Mode plays several clips at once in six layouts; no free-form layer stack | Unlimited layers, blend modes, live compositing |
| Backing tracks | Multichannel backing tracks with stem merging and click outputs, organized into Setlists | Plays a movie’s audio; not a backing-track player |
| Effects | Stackable effects with a live editor | Large library, plus Vuo and TouchDesigner in VDMX6 Plus |
| MIDI / footswitch / Stream Deck | Native MIDI with easy mapping, OSC, Real-Time Control, and an Elgato Stream Deck plugin | MIDI and OSC mapping; Stream Deck through a bridge |
| Lighting console control | sACN and Art-Net in; patch Visibox as a fixture with its GDTF profile | DMX in, mapped to any parameter |
| Network video (NDI, Syphon, Spout) | Out: NDI, Syphon (Mac), Spout (Windows), and SDI, all Beta. In: NDI cameras (Beta); no Syphon input | NDI and Syphon in and out, Blackmagic output |
| AI assistant / API | Native MCP server (describe a look and your AI assistant writes the visualizer), HTTP + WebSocket API, CLI | No AI assistant; OSC and MIDI control |
| Price | Free Plan; Pro $18.99/mo (Subscribe-to-Own), $83.88/yr, or $299 once | VDMX6 $199.99 once; VDMX6 Plus $349 once |
- Visibox
- Live-visuals app built around fast, hands-free triggering
- VDMX
- Modular VJ environment you assemble from plugins
- Visibox
- Bands, DJs, worship, events
- VDMX
- Dedicated VJs and AV artists building a custom rig
- Visibox
- The performer from the stage, or front of house from a phone or tablet
- VDMX
- An operator at the computer, mixing live
- Visibox
- macOS 13+ and Windows 10+
- VDMX
- macOS 13 or later only
- Visibox
- Performing the same day
- VDMX
- Hours to days; templates help, but you assemble the layout
- Visibox
- ISF shaders and MilkDrop presets, built in
- VDMX
- Deep: audio analysis can drive any parameter; ISF visualizers
- Visibox
- Poly Mode plays several clips at once in six layouts; no free-form layer stack
- VDMX
- Unlimited layers, blend modes, live compositing
- Visibox
- Multichannel backing tracks with stem merging and click outputs, organized into Setlists
- VDMX
- Plays a movie’s audio; not a backing-track player
- Visibox
- Stackable effects with a live editor
- VDMX
- Large library, plus Vuo and TouchDesigner in VDMX6 Plus
- Visibox
- Native MIDI with easy mapping, OSC, Real-Time Control, and an Elgato Stream Deck plugin
- VDMX
- MIDI and OSC mapping; Stream Deck through a bridge
- Visibox
- sACN and Art-Net in; patch Visibox as a fixture with its GDTF profile
- VDMX
- DMX in, mapped to any parameter
- Visibox
- Out: NDI, Syphon (Mac), Spout (Windows), and SDI, all Beta. In: NDI cameras (Beta); no Syphon input
- VDMX
- NDI and Syphon in and out, Blackmagic output
- Visibox
- Native MCP server (describe a look and your AI assistant writes the visualizer), HTTP + WebSocket API, CLI
- VDMX
- No AI assistant; OSC and MIDI control
- Visibox
- Free Plan; Pro $18.99/mo (Subscribe-to-Own), $83.88/yr, or $299 once
- VDMX
- VDMX6 $199.99 once; VDMX6 Plus $349 once
Pricing verified against vidvox.net in October 2026. VDMX6 is a one-time purchase at $199.99, or $349 for VDMX6 Plus, which adds Vuo and TouchDesigner support. Feature updates within the 6.x line have been free so far, and the demo runs every feature except saving, for as long as you like. Every Visibox plan activates two computers, and every new activation starts with a 14-day Pro trial, no credit card required. A Visibox subscription always runs the latest version, and the $299 perpetual license includes two years of updates.
Pick Visibox when
- You are on Windows, or your band is split across Mac and Windows. VDMX has never had a Windows build.
- You are the one on stage. Trigger visuals hands-free from a footswitch, MIDI pad, or Stream Deck while you play, with nobody stuck running the computer.
- Your sound engineer can run the visuals too. Visibox Remote turns a phone or tablet into a control surface for the show, so they can pick songs and fire clips from the mix position or anywhere on the venue Wi-Fi.
- You want to be performing tonight. Visibox opens with the grid already built, so there is no rig to assemble first.
- You run backing tracks. Visibox plays your multichannel stems with click outputs and fires the visuals from the same song.
- Your show runs on a setlist. Setlists hold your running orders, Song Timelines (Beta) fire clips and send MIDI on the song's own clock, and a stage screen can scroll chord and lyric sheets for the band (Beta).
- You want audio-reactive visuals without patching: drop a MilkDrop preset or ISF shader onto the grid and it reacts to your audio.
- You want to edit your project by talking to an AI assistant, or describe a look and have it write the visualizer, or drive the show from a script or another device.
Pick VDMX when
- You are a dedicated VJ. You layer, blend, and mix visuals live, and you want to build the exact rig you have in your head.
- You want audio analysis, LFOs, and step sequencers driving any parameter on screen. That modulation layer is VDMX’s real depth. Visibox’s Real-Time Control maps named controls to clip and effect parameters, but it has no LFOs or step sequencers.
- You need timecode (MTC or LTC), DMX mapped to any parameter you choose, or Syphon as an input in the same app.
- You work in Vuo or TouchDesigner and want those compositions inside your VJ software (VDMX6 Plus).
- You want to try the full app for as long as you like. The VDMX demo runs with every feature except saving.
The real difference
VDMX is a construction kit. You decide what goes on screen, which audio band drives which parameter, how many layers you stack, and what every knob does. In the hands of a working VJ that freedom is the whole point, and nothing in Visibox replaces it.
Visibox assumes you are busy playing. The grid is already built: songs hold clips, clips fire from a footswitch, pad, or Stream Deck, and visualizers sit on the same grid as your videos and cameras, with effects stacked on any clip. Poly Mode plays several clips at once, and Real-Time Control puts clip and effect parameters on a knob or fader. Your backing tracks play from the same song, with stems merged and a click on its own output, and Setlists keep the running order. One person can run the whole show from the stage, on a Mac or a Windows laptop, and learn it in an afternoon.
Common questions
Is Visibox a VDMX alternative?
For a musician or band who wants hands-free visuals, audio-reactive clips, effects, and backing tracks in one app, yes, and on Windows it is the only one of the two that runs at all. For a VJ who layers and modulates visuals live, VDMX is the stronger tool.
Does VDMX run on Windows?
No. VDMX is macOS only. Visibox runs on macOS 13+ and Windows 10+, and one plan activates two computers.
Can Visibox do audio-reactive visuals like VDMX?
Yes. Visibox runs ISF shaders and imports MilkDrop presets as visualizer clips that react to your show’s audio, another app, or a microphone. VDMX goes further: its audio analysis can drive any parameter of any layer, which is what a VJ wants and a band rarely needs.
Does Visibox do layers like VDMX?
Partly. Poly Mode lets a song play several clips at once, in six layouts: Blend, Mosaic, Stack, Horizontal Stripes, Vertical Stripes, and Spots. It is not a layer compositor: there is no layer stack with blend modes to mix by hand. VDMX composites unlimited layers with blend modes. If your show is built on live mixing, VDMX is the right choice.
Is Visibox cheaper than VDMX?
It depends on how you buy. VDMX6 is $199.99 once, and its 6.x feature updates have been free so far. Visibox has a Free Plan, Pro is $18.99 a month (Subscribe-to-Own) or $83.88 a year, and a perpetual license is $299 once with two years of updates. Every Visibox plan activates two computers.
Try it on your own show
The visuals behind an arena tour come down to the right clip fired at the right moment. Visibox puts that in your hands, on Mac or Windows, whatever your budget. The fastest way to feel the difference is to run your own clips through it.
with no credit card. No commitment, no auto-charge.