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OpenRazer VS Polychromatic

Compare OpenRazer VS Polychromatic and see what are their differences

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OpenRazer logo OpenRazer

An entirely open source driver and user-space daemon that allows you to manage your Razer peripherals on GNU/Linux.

Polychromatic logo Polychromatic

Graphical front end and tray applet for configuring Razer peripherals on GNU/Linux.
  • OpenRazer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-20
  • Polychromatic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14

OpenRazer features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenRazer is open-source software, allowing users to view, modify, and contribute to the code, fostering community collaboration and transparency.
  • Wide Device Support
    It supports a broad range of Razer devices, providing unified and comprehensive control over various hardware components.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    OpenRazer works on Linux distributions, offering customization options for Razer hardware to Linux users who otherwise have limited options.
  • Community-Driven
    Supported and improved by a community of enthusiasts, it often has quick updates and new feature implementations based on user feedback.
  • Customizable
    Allows for extensive customization of device settings, from lighting effects to key bindings, enhancing the user experience uniquely.

Possible disadvantages of OpenRazer

  • Limited Official Support
    Being community-driven means there's no official support channel, which can lead to longer resolution times for issues.
  • Complex Setup
    Installation and configuration can be complex, especially for users not familiar with Linux command-line operations.
  • Potential Stability Issues
    As with many open-source projects, there may be occasional bugs or stability problems, impacting usability until patches are released.
  • Inconsistent Updates
    Update frequency can vary, largely depending on community activity and contributions, possibly leading to delays in supporting new devices.
  • Not Fully Comprehensive
    While it covers a wide range of Razer devices, not every feature available in official Razer software for other platforms may be present.

Polychromatic features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

OpenRazer videos

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Polychromatic videos

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Polychromatic Review | Show and Tell | Polychromatic Gameplay

More videos:

  • Review - Polychromatic Review
  • Review - Polychromatic Xbox One Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenRazer and Polychromatic)

OpenRazer

Polychromatic

Note Taking
72 72%
Note Taking
28% 28
Gaming
69 69%
Gaming
31% 31
Automation
67 67%
Automation
33% 33
OS & Utilities
100 100%
OS & Utilities
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, OpenRazer should be more popular than Polychromatic. It has been mentiond 27 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.

OpenRazer mentions (27)

  • Why the hell do Gaming Hardware brands make drivers for Mac, but not for Linux?
    So if a very skilled developer reverse engineer a driver for some brands (OpenRazer as an example), I feel better about it especially if it's open source. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Razor setup.exe GUI - steam deck
    Why are you trying to run a setup.exe? For linux there's Open Razer. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Razer mouse does not charge (on dock) when computer is locked but powered on and not suspended.
    What a interesting device. As I searching I found mousepad has different device id than mouse itself. This driver may solve your problems. If problem continues could you please share system info with upload-system-info from terminal and sudo lspci -v. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Dead by Daylight's Steam Deck Support is Official. Confirmed to Us by Behaviour Interactive.
    Yeah I would take piper over any of that bloated peripheral software anyway, gets the job done. There's also other community projects like OpenRazer. For a keyboard I grabbed a System76 Launch, it's a bit pricey but it's super nice and fully customizable via an appimage. Source: about 2 years ago
  • razer mouse not working...
    Try installing OpenRazer, it depends on your distro how exactly, Arch has it in the AUR. Follow the installation path (adding user to plugdev group etc). Using it myself along with Polychromatic on a Viper V2 Pro. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Polychromatic mentions (4)

  • Hardware Brand
    I've tried multiple different brands of keyboards and mice and all of them worked well with Linux, often even if Linux wasn't advertised on the box (I wouldn't bet on that though). More well known brands have better support e.g. Razer has OpenRazer and Polychromatic. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Razer blackwidow keyboard backlights
    I re-installed open-razer on Ubuntu and also installed Polychromatic. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Work towards a standard appindicator protocol has started (with support from GNOME and KDE)
    Some apps are still using appindicator like Polychromatic (https://github.com/polychromatic/polychromatic) and it's a buggy mess. I hope this time they make something good and not something totally crap that is going to be a problem for the next few years that a new crew will have to fix. Source: over 3 years ago
  • DeathAdder Essential mouse: how to program buttons on Linux?
    I installed OpenRazer driver and Polychromatic. Also I see this maybe related issue. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenRazer and Polychromatic, you can also consider the following products

OpenRGB - OpenRGB is an all-in-one network-based software development kit that allows you to use third-party software to control all of your RGB.

Razer Synapse - Razer Synapse is unified configuration software that allows users to rebind controls or assign...

Project Aurora - Gaming Software

Key Mapper - A tool to change and program the mapping of your input device buttons.

Artemis RGB - An overview of the guides that'll teach you how to use Artemis

Logitech G Hub - Logitech G HUB is new software to help you get the most out of your gear. Quickly personalize your gear per game.

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