Looking for a QLC+ alternative on Mac?

Who is QLC+ right for?

QLC+ is right for hobbyists and technical users willing to learn a console-shaped interface. It is genuinely free, genuinely capable, and it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux — so it costs nothing to try and it does not care which laptop you own. If you are comfortable learning a console-shaped interface, QLC+ may be all you ever need, and plenty of working rigs run on nothing else.

QLC+ is also open source, which is a durable advantage rather than a talking point. The source code is public, an open-source licence does not expire, and no vendor can decide to stop selling it to you. For a school, a community theatre or a rehearsal room that needs the same rig to still work in five years, that outlasts any individual feature.

The project publishes its own downloads, documentation and forum at qlcplus.org. Read theirs alongside this page. This one is written by the people who make HitLight, and you should weigh it accordingly.

What does QLC+ do that HitLight does not?

QLC+ runs on operating systems HitLight does not support at all. QLC+ is available for Windows, macOS and Linux, while HitLight's DMX output runs only in the macOS app and requires macOS 14 or later. QLC+ is also an established project with years of released versions and an active community behind it. HitLight is public beta software.

The macOS version floor is the constraint people hit first. HitLight needs macOS 14+ to drive lights, which rules out an older Mac that is otherwise perfectly good at running a lighting rig. QLC+ publishes its own system requirements, and they are not ours to summarise — check them on the project's site before assuming either tool will run on the machine you already have.

QLC+ also does not require an internet connection for its core features. HitLight requires internet access for account sync, collaboration and AI features; offline recovery is being tested during the beta and is not yet promised. If you work in a basement venue with no usable network, that single difference decides the question.

There is one more thing QLC+ has that no new product can buy: years of forum threads written by people who already hit your problem. On a bad night that is worth more than a feature list.

What does HitLight do differently?

HitLight programs lighting from a description rather than from channel numbers, and it can run a rig live with no scenes programmed in advance. Turn on Auto Show and HitLight listens to the room through the Mac's system-default microphone, follows the beat and the structure of what is playing, and drives colour, intensity and eligible movement while you do something else.

There is no track pre-analysis and no DJ-software integration, which is a limitation in some rooms and the entire point in others: a microphone does not care whether the music is recorded, unreleased or being played live in front of it.

• Plain-English scene programming. The assistant works from the profile you actually patched and the values actually on the wire. It does not invent your fixture's channels.
• Fixture profiles drafted from a PDF or a photo. Point HitLight at the manual that came with the light, or a photograph of the DMX chart on the back of it, and it drafts a working profile in seconds. Generated profiles stay marked as drafts until you test the channels on the real fixture.
• ENTTEC, Art-Net and sACN with no per-universe charge. HitLight supports ENTTEC Open DMX USB, the ENTTEC DMX USB Pro, and any Art-Net or sACN node. It does not sell a dongle and never charges per universe. The full matrix is on supported hardware.
• A two-second watchdog. A native watchdog running outside the interface latches DMX output to an all-zero frame within two seconds if the app stops responding, and output stays down until an operator restores it.
• Hazardous channels removed in code. Auto Show will not drive lasers, flashing strobes, blinders, UV, smoke, haze, fans, flame or pyro, nor fixture macros and unverified effect channels. Those channel types are stripped from every automatic path in code, not by convention, and the assistant cannot arm them either. The full list is on lighting safety.

If the console-shaped way of working is what you like about QLC+, HitLight has that too: a matrix scene editor, cue lists with GO and BACK, a multi-track timeline, a virtual console you arrange yourself, MIDI learn including a footswitch, and palettes that update every scene using them. The assistant is a way to start a scene, not a requirement.

Should you pick QLC+ or HitLight?

Pick QLC+ if you need a platform HitLight does not run on, software that works offline, or a finished product with a community around it. Pick HitLight if you are on a recent Mac and would rather describe a look than build it channel by channel. These lists are written to be used, not to be won.

Pick QLC+ if

• You use Windows or Linux, or you share a rig with someone who does. HitLight cannot help you at all here, and no amount of feature comparison changes that.
• Your Mac cannot run macOS 14 or later, and replacing it is not on the table.
• You need lighting control that works with no internet connection. HitLight requires it for sync, collaboration and AI.
• You want software that is free permanently and verifiably. HitLight is free during the public beta, but launch pricing has not been announced, and "free now" is not the same promise.
• You want a mature tool rather than beta software. HitLight's formats, quotas and availability may still change.
• You enjoy programming a console by hand and do not want an assistant anywhere near your rig.

Pick HitLight if

• You are on a Mac running macOS 14 or later and want lighting that follows live music without programming it first.
• You would rather describe a look — "warm sunset", "colorful and punchy" — than set channel values for every fixture.
• Your fixtures are not in any library and you have the manual PDF, or a photo of the DMX chart, and no appetite for building a profile by hand.
• You want Art-Net or sACN output with no per-universe charge and no proprietary dongle.
• You want to hand the laptop to whoever is on shift, using a virtual console you laid out yourself.
• You want to patch and rehearse a whole rig on a 3D stage before deciding which DMX interface to buy.

If neither list is obviously yours, install both. QLC+ costs nothing, HitLight is free during the public beta, and an evening with each will settle it faster than any comparison page written by a vendor.

Last verified 1 August 2026.