LaserOS Alternatives: Other Ways to Drive a LaserCube

LaserOS is the free app that comes with every Wicked Lasers LaserCube, and for most owners it is the right place to start. When you want a different workflow, six other programs say on their own pages that they drive a LaserCube directly: Modulaser, Liberation, LaserShowGen, MadMapper with MadLaser, CloudLase, and BeamTracer through its Bridge.

Hi, I'm Trina with BeamTracer.com. BeamTracer is one of the options below, so read this with that in mind: every fact about the other programs comes from that vendor's own current page, checked on September 23, 2026, and each one is here for what it does well. If something has changed since, the vendor's page wins.

General guidance, not legal or safety advice. Laser rules are specific to where and how you project. Verify current requirements with the FDA CDRH and your state laser agency before any public use, and read the laser show safety guide before the first beam leaves the lens.

What is LaserOS good for?

LaserOS is the fastest way to get a LaserCube doing something. Wicked Lasers describes it as "included for free with every LaserCube projector", it runs on iPhone and iPad, Android, Windows and macOS, and it opens onto a large library: more than 75 visualizers, 50 games, 80 effects, text, drawing, a webcam Cast mode, and an Oscope mode for oscilloscope music.

It is also the cube's home for setup. Firmware, projector settings and the cube's own modes all come from Wicked Lasers, and the LaserOS FAQ is the reference for them. Nothing below replaces that; the other programs are for when you want a particular way of working that LaserOS is not built around.

Which programs can drive a LaserCube instead of LaserOS?

Six, going by their own pages today. Every one of them talks to the cube over the network itself, so LaserOS does not need to be running, and each has a free way to try it. They differ most in where they run and what driving real hardware costs.

Prices in each vendor's own currency, before tax, as listed on September 23, 2026. Vendor pages: LaserOS, Modulaser and its pricing, Liberation, LaserShowGen, MadLaser and its FAQ, CloudLase.

The LaserOS compatible apps list names a few more. TouchDesigner is on it through Wicked Lasers' own plugin, whose page lists Windows 64-bit as the supported system; we left it out of the table because that page does not say which cube connections it covers. We left out anything whose own page does not say it drives the cube directly.

What is each LaserOS alternative best at?

Each one is built around a different job. Pick by the job, not by the feature count.

Modulaser 2 — patching and live control. Scenes are built by connecting nodes, clips run on a timeline or live, and MIDI, OSC, audio input and BPM sync can all drive them. It routes one or more LaserCubes through output groups, has a calibration wizard for the cube, and runs on Linux as well as Mac and Windows. Its LaserCube page is blunt about the network: "We strongly recommend using Ethernet."

Liberation — large productions. It is built for shows with many lasers, timecode and DMX, and lists productions at Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Albert Hall. Windows and Mac get identical features, and designing, simulating and saving shows is free; the license pays for arming lasers.

LaserShowGen — low cost, and ILDA files. The free edition draws frames and plays live; Pro adds a timeline synchronized to music for $29. Live mode takes Art-Net, sACN, MIDI or keyboard triggers, and shows export to ILDA files for other players. A separate web version makes ILDA files in the browser.

MadMapper with MadLaser — if you already map video. MadLaser treats lasers like video content inside MadMapper, with a projector safety zone and configurable output, and its page calls the cube "the best option for MadMapper". It needs a MadMapper license as well as MadLaser.

CloudLase — design anywhere, play from a phone. A browser designer for building shows, a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that drives the hardware, and an iOS app that finds network DACs, the LaserCube included, and runs looks live. The browser designer on its own does not control hardware.

BeamTracer — browser tools that make laser content. Images, SVG, text and video become laser frames in Chrome or Edge, and OSC-1 turns music from a browser tab into a live figure. Every laser tool has the same LASER OUTPUT panel with a free DAC Simulator, and the ILDA Viewer checks a file's point load before it reaches a projector. Frames go to a LaserCube through the BeamTracer Bridge on a Mac.

How does BeamTracer drive a LaserCube?

Through the free BeamTracer Bridge, a small menu-bar app for macOS that reaches network lasers a browser cannot. With the cube in LAN client mode and LaserOS closed, the Bridge finds the cube, and any BeamTracer laser tool sends it frames from LASER OUTPUT.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Text to Laser in Chrome: type a word and pick a font, then download ILDA in CONVERT, or switch to LIVE and open LASER OUTPUT to send it to a laser.

Can I use LaserOS and another program on the same LaserCube?

Yes, one at a time. A cube that LaserOS is connected to is not available to anything else, so quit LaserOS on every device before you open another program, and close the other program before you go back. Modulaser's LaserCube page gives the same advice.

On our bench, a cube held by LaserOS reported its interlock as not satisfied until LaserOS quit. If another program says the interlock is open while the key is in, look for a LaserOS window on a phone or another computer.

Can a LaserCube work with Pangolin QuickShow or BEYOND?

Yes, through its ILDA input rather than over the network. The LaserCube FAQ says the Ultra Mk2 works with Pangolin QuickShow and BEYOND through an external FB3 controller. That route also fits any other software that drives its own ILDA controller: the cube takes the analog signal like any ILDA projector.

Which LaserOS alternative should I pick?

Start from what you are doing, not from the software.

• You want the cube to do something tonight, from a phone: LaserOS, or CloudLase's iOS app.
• You patch visuals and want live control over MIDI or OSC: Modulaser 2.
• You run shows with many lasers, timecode and DMX: Liberation.
• You want ILDA shows on a small budget: LaserShowGen.
• You already map video in MadMapper: MadLaser.
• You want to make laser content from images, text, video or music in a browser, and check it in a simulator first: BeamTracer.

Most of these have a free tier, a trial or free design, so the cheapest test is to try two of them on your own cube in the same afternoon. Keep the power low and the interlock in reach while you do.

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Next: LaserCube Setup with BeamTracer, LaserCube Audio-Reactive Without Loopback Software, LaserCube Point Rate: What the 35K Limit Means, the LaserCube reference page, Laser DAC Output, and the Laser Show Safety Guide before any show.

That's the field as it stands today. beamtracer.com — I'll see you in the next one.