Compare
Owlbear Rodeo vs Eldritch OS
Last checked: . Owlbear Rodeo facts come from Owlbear's own pricing page, docs, extension directory, and blog, linked in every row. If something has changed, tell us and we will fix it.
If you are happy with Owlbear Rodeo and only want a map, tokens, and fog, stay: it is free, fast, mature, and it does those things very well. Switch — or rather, try the Eldritch OS alpha playtest alongside it — if the thing you keep leaving the VTT for is a character sheet, a rulebook, or an assistant, because those are built into Eldritch OS and are not built into Owlbear.
Eldritch OS is an alpha. Several rows below go to Owlbear, and we say so.
The table
Side by side
| Feature | Owlbear Rodeo | Eldritch OS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier with 200MB storage and 2 rooms; paid tiers at $3.99 and $7.99/month add storage, rooms, and larger images. Every tier gets every tool, extensions, and export. (pricing) | No public pricing yet. Access is by invitation to the alpha playtest. |
| Runs in | The browser, hosted by Owlbear. Players can join without an account. (docs) | The browser, hosted by us. Nothing to install. |
| Character sheets | Not part of the core app; Owlbear treats characters as tokens. Community extensions add sheets, e.g. Chronicle! and Game Master's Grimoire. (docs) | Built in: a guided character builder and full interactive sheets. |
| Rules content | None ships with it. Community extensions can pull in SRD data — Clash! reads SRD 5e monster stat blocks. | D&D 5e grounded in SRD 5.2, SW5E as a second ruleset, and a compendium you can add homebrew to. |
| Fog of war | Built in: draw fog, cut and uncut shapes to reveal rooms. (docs) On the top tier, "Forecast" detects rooms automatically (beta). (2.4 notes) | Built in: fog shapes the GM hides and reveals. No automatic detection. |
| Dynamic lighting | Yes, on every tier, through Owlbear's own free Dynamic Fog extension: walls, doors, and lights. | Not yet. |
| Measurement | Built in: ruler and movement modes in grid units (docs), plus the first-party Ranges extension. | Built in: grid-snapped ruler with waypoints. |
| Initiative | Through Owlbear's own free Initiative Tracker extension ("a basic initiative tracker"), or richer community trackers such as Clash!. | Built in, reading from the character sheet, with per-token conditions and hit points. |
| D&D Beyond | No import of character data. Community extensions relay rolls from D&D Beyond into the room (Owl20 via Beyond20) or open the D&D Beyond sheet in a popover (Sheet from Beyond). | Built in: paste a public D&D Beyond character URL and the sheet is built from it. One-time copy, no sync back. How to import. |
| AI | None, deliberately. Owlbear has written about why. No AI extensions are listed in the directory. | Rules and reference assistance inside a session, generated portraits, and generated NPC voices. The GM decides what reaches the table. |
| Extensions | A core strength: nine first-party extensions and a community directory, installed per room, with an SDK on every tier. | None. |
| Getting your data out | Scenes and images export as .ob2 files on every tier. (launch notes) | Not yet. Campaign and character export is on the roadmap. A REST API with Swagger docs exists. |
| Phone and tablet | Designed to run on mobile. (homepage) | A phone companion app is in progress, not shipped. |
| 3D dice | First-party Dice extension, physics-simulated and synced. | Built in, physics-based. |
Their side
Where Owlbear Rodeo is the better choice
- You want to play tonight for free. Owlbear's free tier is a complete VTT, not a trial: every tool, extensions, dynamic lighting, and export are in it. Only storage, room count, and image size are paid. (pricing)
- You need dynamic lighting. Owlbear's Dynamic Fog extension does walls, doors, and lights on every tier. Eldritch OS has no lighting yet.
- You run more than D&D 5e or SW5E. Owlbear is system-agnostic by design, and the community sheets cover games we do not.
- You like picking your own tools. Owlbear's extension ecosystem lets a table assemble exactly the tracker, dice, and sheet it wants. Eldritch OS is opinionated and has no extensions.
- You prefer no AI at the table. Owlbear has said plainly it is not going that way. If that matters to you, it is a real difference, not a missing feature.
- You want your maps back out. Owlbear exports scenes on every tier. We do not export yet.
- You play from a phone. Owlbear is built for it; our companion app is not out.
- You want something that has been stable for years. Owlbear is on its 2.4 release (release notes); we are in an alpha.
Our side
Where Eldritch OS adds
Everything here is working today and listed on what ships and what does not.
- Character sheets are the product, not an add-on. A guided builder and full sheets, and the token on the map reads hit points and armor class from the live sheet.
- The rules are in the room. D&D 5e grounded in SRD 5.2, SW5E as a second ruleset, and a compendium you can add homebrew to — no extension to install, nothing to paste in.
- Bring your D&D Beyond character. Paste the public URL; the sheet is built from it.
- Initiative and conditions come from the sheet. Roll initiative for the whole board, and track conditions and hit points per token, with no tracker extension in between.
- An assistant that knows your table. Rules and reference questions answered in-session, generated portraits, generated NPC voices — all GM-mediated.
- Campaigns, not just rooms. Campaigns with sessions, prepared scenes you switch mid-session, and campaign-scoped roles for GMs and players.
- A documented API. A REST API with Swagger docs.
In fairness
Alpha caveats
- No dynamic lighting, no export, no extensions, no phone app. The table above is honest about each. Export and the phone app are on the roadmap; lighting and extensions are not yet scheduled.
- Invitation only, and there is no price. We are inviting tables in waves. We have not set pricing and will not guess at it here.
- D&D Beyond import is one-way. A copy at import time; no sync afterwards.
- Things will break. It is an alpha with real tables on it; that is the point of the playtest.
Early access
Join the alpha playtest
If you want your table to help shape this, join the alpha playtest and tell us a little about your game. We invite tables in waves.