browser vj software, and when to buy resolume instead.

buy one of these instead.

The reasons kott is the wrong purchase, in the order they usually end the conversation. None of them is a matter of taste.

Your rig routes video between applications — NDI, Syphon or a virtual camera

Buy Resolume Avenue, EUR 299.

kott has none of the three. Nothing in it sends video to another application, so it cannot sit in the middle of that chain at any price. This is the single most common reason not to use it, which is why it is first.

You mix clips live, on Windows

Buy Resolume Avenue, EUR 299, or Arena at EUR 799.

kott is one instrument with one look, not a clip grid, and its offline build is macOS only — on Windows it is the browser or nothing, and the browser has no NDI either.

You want the Mac-native standard and you have the budget

Buy VDMX6, $199, or VDMX Plus at $349.

One-time, Mac only, and it has been the Mac VJ workhorse far longer than kott has existed.

You would rather build the instrument than play one

Get TouchDesigner: free for non-commercial use, ~$600 commercial, ~$2,200 pro.

If the interesting part is the patch, kott is the wrong shape — it has parameters, not a node graph.

You want a MIDI-mappable visualiser and nothing more

Synesthesia is $199 ($399 Pro, optional $60/yr for updates); Magic Music Visuals is about $69.95.

Both are perpetual and both take MIDI. Neither asks you to like one particular visual language, which kott very much does.

You want a mature desktop app with its own effect set, and a name that has been around

Mosh-Pro is $49 once, or $24 a year.

Web and desktop, MIDI and audio-reactive — the closest thing to kott on this list, and the more established product. Price is no longer the argument in either direction: kott is $39 once for both surfaces, so this comes down to which instrument you want. kott's case is the clock lock, a live camera processed in the browser, one coherent visual language, and audio routed onto any parameter — onset, downbeat, build/drop and up to eight of your own EQ bands, each assignable to a knob. If none of that is what you are buying, Mosh-Pro is the safer pick.

You want free, and you would rather type than turn knobs

Use Hydra. Free, open source, runs in a browser.

Live-coded visuals, no licence, no install. A different craft from moving a fader, and it costs nothing to find out which one you are.

what kott does not do.

Written down so nobody discovers it after paying.

• —No NDI, no Syphon, no virtual camera output. For a rig built around any of those, it does not slot in.
• —It is not a mixer and not a media server. There is no clip grid, no cue list and no timeline; it plays one look, live.
• —The offline native build is macOS only. Windows and Linux run the web studio in a browser, which needs the machine to have a browser open and does not add NDI.
• —The look is narrow on purpose. Dither, halftone, print, ASCII, engraving, glitch and CRT — if you want 3D, generative geometry or procedural systems, this is the wrong instrument.
• —Every effect previews free, but only a free set exports without paying. The rest need the one-time licence.

questions.

Is there VJ software that runs in a browser?

Yes. kott is a browser-based visual instrument: GPU effects in one dither, halftone, print and glitch language, live camera in, hardware MIDI over WebMIDI and MIDI clock sync. Mosh-Pro runs in the browser and on the desktop for $49 once or $24 a year. Hydra is free and open source and runs in the browser for live-coded visuals. Resolume, VDMX, TouchDesigner, Synesthesia and Magic Music Visuals are all desktop installs.

What is the cheapest Resolume alternative?

Of the tools here, Hydra is free, kott is $39 once, Mosh-Pro is $49 once and Magic Music Visuals is about $69.95 — against Resolume Avenue at EUR 299 and Arena at EUR 799. But cheap is only relevant if the cheaper tool does the job: none of those four is a media server, and if you need what Resolume does, the cheapest way to have it is Resolume Avenue.

Can kott replace Resolume?

No. Resolume is a media server and a mixer; kott is one instrument with one visual language. kott has no NDI, no Syphon and no virtual camera output, so it cannot route video to another application, and it has no clip grid or timeline. If either of those is in your set, buy Resolume.

Does kott support NDI or Syphon?

No. There is no NDI, no Syphon and no virtual camera output. What it does have is a second-window mirror for a projector and fullscreen output, plus REC, which writes the canvas to MP4 with the audio in sync.

Can it sync to a DJ's clock?

Yes. It reads MIDI realtime bytes straight off the port — 0xF8 clock at 24 PPQN, plus start, continue and stop — and turns them into a BPM and a quarter-note phase, so the movement comes from the clock rather than from a beat detector guessing. If there is no clock, it can run autocorrelation off the incoming audio instead, or a BPM you set by hand.

Is kott a subscription?

No. kott is $39 once until 13 September 2026 and $59 once after that, and one licence covers both the web studio and the macOS app, which runs fully offline. There is no monthly plan. The free tier previews every effect, exports a free set clean at 1080p, and is not a trial.

What is the best cheap VJ software for a Mac?

On the Mac specifically: VDMX6 at $199 one-time is the long-standing Mac-native choice, Magic Music Visuals is about $69.95, and kott is $39 once for the browser studio plus a native macOS app that runs offline. TouchDesigner is free if your use is non-commercial. Resolume and VDMX both do things kott does not, starting with routing video to other applications.

Do I have to install anything to try it?

No. The web studio opens in any browser with WebGL2 and starts running before you touch a knob; there is nothing to download and no account needed to look. Camera and microphone are processed on the device and nothing uploads.

Something not answered here? Ask before you pay, not after.