
Pure Data
Vital
Surge XT
SunVox
SuperCollider
DISTRHO Cardinal
Sonic Pi
A cross-platform modular synthesizer.

Substack
Formo.so
Advanced analytics for Substack writers. Runs 100% locally, no cloud, no subscription. Discover your superfans, churn risk, and cohort retention.

Which is more popular?
Based on our record, VCV Rack seems to be a lot more popular than StackStats.app. While we know about 117 links to VCV Rack, we've tracked only 1 mention of StackStats.app.
Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.
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| Website | vcvrack.com | stackstats.app |
| Pricing | ||
| Company | — | Startup from the United Arab Emirates · 1 - 9 employees · 2026 |
| Listed in |
In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.


No description of VCV Rack yet.
StackStats is a local desktop app for serious Substack writers. Import your CSV exports and get analytics Substack doesn't show you: bot-filtered open rates, cohort retention, dead subscriber detection, superfan ID, content-to-growth correlation, and an optional AI layer (supports Ollama,...
What each product offers, as listed by its team.


Possible disadvantages
An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.


Overall verdict
Why this product is good
Recommended for
Overall verdict
Why this product is good
Recommended for
Walkthroughs and reviews on video.
VCV Rack vs Hardware: is there a difference? Testing Mutable Instruments Clouds, Rings and Elements
More videos
No StackStats.app videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.
How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.


As answered by people managing VCV Rack and StackStats.app.
StackStats.app's answer:
I built StackStats because Substack's native analytics weren't cutting it. I wanted cohort data, real open rates (not bot-inflated), and a way to identify which posts were actually driving subscriber growth — but every tool I found was either cloud-based or required migrating off Substack entirely. So I built a local app that works with Substack's own CSV exports. No migration, no cloud, no subscription.
StackStats.app's answer:
StackStats runs 100% locally on your machine — your subscriber data never touches a server. It also goes far beyond what Substack shows natively: bot-filtered open rates, cohort retention, superfan identification, dead subscriber detection, and content-to-growth correlation. No subscription, no account, no cloud. Pay once, own it forever.
StackStats.app's answer:
Most newsletter analytics tools are cloud-based SaaS with monthly subscriptions. StackStats is a one-time purchase that runs entirely on your device. For Substack writers who care about privacy — especially those with paid subscribers — that's a meaningful difference. You also get analytics features that don't exist anywhere else, like bot-filtered open rates and cohort retention, without having to migrate away from Substack.
StackStats.app's answer:
Serious Substack writers who are frustrated by Substack's shallow native analytics and want real data to drive growth — without moving their subscriber data to the cloud.
StackStats.app's answer:
Electron (macOS + Windows), HTML/CSS/JavaScript, Chart.js, PapaParse. Optional AI layer supports Ollama, Claude, GPT-4, Gemini, Groq, and OpenRouter. Licensing via Cloudflare Workers + D1. Payments via Gumroad.
Share your experience with using VCV Rack and StackStats.app. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.


Zynthian: https://zynthian.org/ Monome: https://monome.org/ Two simply AMAZING synth platforms of the 21st century which push things even further than the mainstream hardware vendors are willing to allow. DIY your thing? The... - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
Https://vcvrack.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/c/omricohen-music. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
If you want to understand (Subtractive) synthesis. The best way is to get copy of VCV rack and follow a few tutorials. If you patch one subtractive mono synth voice once, you understand 80% of all subtractive synth architecture moving... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
I'm working on 3 products now: 1. FormBeep(https://formbeep.com) at $38 MRR now - A form to Whatsapp tool. Stack is mainly CF workers with Clerk Auth. 2. SlashLink(https://slashlink.app) $0 - A simple pay as you go amazon link localizer.... - Source: Hacker News / 4 days ago
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Pd (aka Pure Data) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical...
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With Substack, anyone can start a publication that combines a personal website, blog, and email newsletter or podcast. It's quick and simple.
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Vital is a spectral warping wavetable synthesizer with drag'n'drop modulation workflow and animated preview of the synth's inner workings where needed. Comes with many modulation sources (including audio-rate), MPE support and FX chain.
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Open-source subtractive-hybrid synthesizer formerly sold commercially as Vember Audio Surge.
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SunVox is a small, fast and powerful modular synthesizer with pattern based sequencer (tracker).
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