Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GLSL Sandbox VS ShaderWorkshop

Compare GLSL Sandbox VS ShaderWorkshop and see what are their differences

GLSL Sandbox logo GLSL Sandbox

An online GSGL Shader Gallery and live development tool.

ShaderWorkshop logo ShaderWorkshop

Qt based, interactive GLSL fragment shader editor
  • GLSL Sandbox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-25
  • ShaderWorkshop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-27

GLSL Sandbox features and specs

  • Interactive Learning
    GLSL Sandbox offers a real-time environment where users can instantly see the effects of their GLSL code, which is excellent for learning and experimenting.
  • Community-Sharing
    Users can share their shaders with the community, allowing for collaborative learning and inspiration from the works of others.
  • No Setup Required
    As a web-based tool, GLSL Sandbox eliminates the need for complex setups or installations, making it accessible from any browser.
  • Quick Prototyping
    The platform allows for rapid prototyping of shader ideas, letting users test and iterate their designs efficiently.
  • Simple Interface
    GLSL Sandbox features a straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it easy for people new to GLSL to start creating.

Possible disadvantages of GLSL Sandbox

  • Limited Features
    Compared to more sophisticated IDEs, GLSL Sandbox lacks advanced tools and features such as debugging support, version control, and project management.
  • Performance Constraints
    Being browser-based, it may not handle complex shaders or provide the performance needed for more demanding graphics work.
  • No Offline Access
    GLSL Sandbox requires an internet connection, which can be a limitation for users who need to work offline.
  • Less Control Over Environment
    Users cannot customize the development environment as much as standalone applications, potentially limiting specific workflow preferences.
  • Shader Compatibility
    Since it runs in a web environment, compatibility issues may arise depending on the browser being used and its support for WebGL.

ShaderWorkshop features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    ShaderWorkshop offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of shader creation for users of all levels, reducing the learning curve for beginners.
  • Extensive Documentation
    The project provides comprehensive documentation, making it easy for users to understand the features and how to effectively use the tool.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source allows users to contribute to the development or customize the tool to fit their specific needs, promoting innovation and collaboration within the community.
  • Real-time Preview
    It offers a real-time preview feature that enables users to instantly see the effect of their code changes, enhancing workflow efficiency and creativity.

Possible disadvantages of ShaderWorkshop

  • Limited Platform Support
    ShaderWorkshop may not support all operating systems or platforms, which could limit accessibility for some users.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users might experience performance issues, especially when working on complex shaders, potentially affecting workflow speed.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic functionality is easy to grasp, mastering advanced features may require significant time and effort, especially for users without prior shader programming experience.
  • Dependency Management
    Being reliant on certain dependencies might require additional setup or pose challenges in environments with strict dependency management policies.

GLSL Sandbox videos

fractal GLSL sandbox review metroid like

More videos:

  • Review - Importing GLSL sandbox shaders and rendering under macOS Metal.

ShaderWorkshop videos

No ShaderWorkshop videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GLSL Sandbox and ShaderWorkshop)
3D
65 65%
35% 35
Interactive Exhibits
65 65%
35% 35
VJ
65 65%
35% 35
Prototyping Tools
50 50%
50% 50

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GLSL Sandbox seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GLSL Sandbox mentions (7)

  • Show HN: Psychedelic animation generator; (p)art of your next trip
    Https://iquilezles.org/ is a legend, see the articles and video tutorials. Aside from shadertoy I use https://glslsandbox.com/ (for some reason it has https errors now). It's the same concept and it has a lot of submissions that are more basic than shardertoy where you can easily change lines and see what happens. My intuition for these kind of shaders: They are just pure functions mapping an x,y coordinate to a... - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • WebGL minigame on my new portfolio website
    I also found this website just recently: https://webgl2fundamentals.org/ and it's something I'm definitely gonna read through fully. You may also check https://thebookofshaders.com/ for shaders tutorials (they also have a pretty good editor), https://www.shadertoy.com/ and https://glslsandbox.com/ for some shader ideas. https://iquilezles.org/ and especially his SDF tutorials on YouTube.... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Why does it do those "chunks"
    I was messing around with this when I noticed those weird chunks. Source: over 2 years ago
  • pygame_shaders - a module to easily integrate shaders with Pygame
    (The example shader below wasn't written by me, it can be found here https://glslsandbox.com/). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Website created to host, share, run and display GLSL shader code - shadergrounds.com
    For folks looking for something considerably more casual than shadertoy, there's also https://glslsandbox.com/ , which makes it stupid easy to grab an existing shader there, tweak 2 lines and publish the result. You probably won't gain fame or glory there, but it's a rather convenient practice ground. Source: over 2 years ago
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ShaderWorkshop mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ShaderWorkshop yet. Tracking of ShaderWorkshop recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GLSL Sandbox and ShaderWorkshop, you can also consider the following products

Shadertoy - Build shaders, share them, and learn from the best community.

SHADERed - Lightweight, full-featured desktop tool for creating and testing HLSL and GLSL shaders

The Book of Shaders - Extensive guide through fragment shaders with live coding examples

Shader Editor - Android app to create GLSL shaders and use them as live wallpaper

KodeLife - Real-time GPU shader editor, live-code performance tool and graphics prototyping sketchpad.

Shdr - Shdr is an online ESSL (GLSL) shader editor, viewer and validator powered by WebGL.