Software Alternatives & Reviews

VCV Rack VS p5.js

Compare VCV Rack VS p5.js and see what are their differences

VCV Rack logo VCV Rack

A cross-platform modular synthesizer.

p5.js logo p5.js

JS library for creating graphic and interactive experiences
  • VCV Rack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-06
  • p5.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22

VCV Rack videos

VCV Rack vs Hardware: is there a difference? Testing Mutable Instruments Clouds, Rings and Elements

More videos:

  • Review - 10 awesome FREE modules in VCV Rack (Review with techno patches)

p5.js videos

Processing or p5.js? My opinions

More videos:

  • Review - Q&A #1: Side-Scroller in p5.js
  • Tutorial - 17.11: Sound Visualization: Frequency Analysis with FFT - p5.js Sound Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VCV Rack and p5.js)
3D
49 49%
51% 51
Javascript UI Libraries
0 0%
100% 100
Music Generation
100 100%
0% 0
Charting Libraries
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare VCV Rack and p5.js

VCV Rack Reviews

We have no reviews of VCV Rack yet.
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p5.js Reviews

20+ JavaScript libraries to draw your own diagrams (2022 edition)
A JS client-side library for creating graphics and interactive experiences, based on the core principles of Processing to make coding accessible to artists, designers and educators. Beyond drawing, this project provides offers web audio functionality, collision detection and even generation of graphical user interfaces from p5.js sketches.
8 Best Free and Open-Source Drawing Libraries in JavaScript
The p5.js library is a great option for people who are looking for a library that doesn't have a steep learning curve, but which can create very complicated systems if necessary. The get started with P5.js page on the official website has a functional example that draws circles wherever you move your mouse in only a few lines of code.

Social recommendations and mentions

p5.js might be a bit more popular than VCV Rack. We know about 133 links to it since March 2021 and only 112 links to VCV Rack. 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.

VCV Rack mentions (112)

  • Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment
    > It’s haven’t bought any Modular’s yet but I’m really looking forward to getting into other on the new year. http://cardinal.kx.studio https://vcvrack.com/ The former is libre and gratis, runs as a standalone or plugin and in the browser!! and is based on the latter. Ther former has a libre and gratis standalone version, the plugin version is non-gratis. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?
    A music synthesizer. It's a pathway to learning electronics, music, and the nature of sound. There are cheap kits, cheap synths, lots of kinds of synths, and there are much more complicated and expensive systems you can grow into. You can get software synths also, VCV Rack is a free though complex one: https://vcvrack.com/ However I'd recommend an inexpensive hardware one with real knobs you can turn, like one... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • I love synthesizers, but I suck at synthesis and sound design?
    What really opened my eyes was the Nord Micromodular; it taught me what I just described. It showed me how limited other synths were - but that limitation was a trade-off because it's much faster to make something on a fixed-structure synth than on a modular, in most cases. Nowadays, you can use https://vcvrack.com/ instead of a small limited box that needs Windows 98 to run the editor on. Source: 10 months ago
  • Long time Cubase user who is leaving a more traditional electronic workflow to modular hardware... Bitwig seems to be the DAW more for this style possibly? Any opinions first hand?
    Also I would suggest the paid version of VCV rack which works as a VST too ( the free version is just stand alone ) Expecially when experimenting with modular ( believe me, it can save you a fortune whilst you learn what different modules do ) I would also recommend Omri Cohens Youtube channel for learning this too. Source: 11 months ago
  • Recreate boutique pedals in DAW?
    Would be way easier with VCV rack than a DAW as there's already almost 3k modules including a lot of granular and other complex ones that blow away a lot of pedals: https://vcvrack.com/. Source: 11 months ago
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p5.js mentions (133)

  • Turbo Pascal Turns 40
    Processing (P5) had this: you can select any string of text in its IDE anl search for it in the docs, and if it's one of the built-in functions or constants it will open the associated static html page that came installed with the software, so no internet nor server required. And despite being offline you can still navigate the docs too. This feels a lost basic skill in static site generation these days. It was... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • My Google Play Developer account has been terminated
    I thought it could be funny to use the javascript version of it https://p5js.org/ in a web page and then wrap it in a Unity app, since Unity was and is the environment I use for making apps. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Repetition can make you loopy!: Intro to JavaScript Loops
    In this last section, I'll be creating some visual examples to show how helpful loops can be. I'll be using p5js, a JavaScript library with functionality for creative coding. That being said, I'll try to give a condensed version of the functions being utilized in the following examples. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Ask HN: How to teach a kid of 15 Linux and programming
    > how do I get him learning programming in a fun way? Processing / P5.js can be pretty fun to learn. You use a real programming language to create art and animations. With little code you can get a circle on the screen, then making it move, then following your mouse, then adding other shapes, then changing colour depending on some event… It’s conductive to experimentation and a way to gradually introduce concepts.... - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • [OC] I created a simple, free waveform and genre visualizer for your top ten Spotify songs, a few samples below and link to the tool in the comments!
    Then I used p5js to create the 'art' itself, really user friendly coding framework with lots of resources online! If you want to get into coding, that is a really great entry point with Daniel Schiffman's coding train videos on YT! Source: 11 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing VCV Rack and p5.js, you can also consider the following products

Pure Data - Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical...

Pixi.js - Fast lightweight 2D library that works across all devices

SuperCollider - A real time audio synthesis engine, and an object-oriented programming language specialised for...

Three.js - A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

SynthEdit - Visual programming software to build your own synthesizer.

Processing - C++ and Java programming at the speed of thought.