Shadertoy vs ShaderLab

Struggling to choose between Shadertoy and ShaderLab? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Shadertoy is a Games solution with tags like graphics, shaders, glsl, web-editor, online-community.

It boasts features such as Online GLSL shader editor, Built-in shader library and examples, Ability to share and browse thousands of shaders created by the community, Render shaders in real-time in the browser, Supports WebGL 2.0 and OpenGL ES 3.0 shaders, Integrated with VR headsets for immersive shader experiences, Social features like comments, hearts, profiles, Powerful compute shaders supported, Mobile app available and pros including Easy to get started with shaders without installing anything, Huge library of shaders to learn from, Active community of shader creators, Completely free with no limits, Runs shaders efficiently in the browser, Works across desktop and mobile.

On the other hand, ShaderLab is a Development product tagged with shader, unity, graphics, rendering.

Its standout features include Node-based shader graph editor, Supports surface, vertex, fragment and compute shaders, Built-in nodes for common shader tasks, Allows mixing shader code with nodes, Real-time shader previews and debugging, Supports a wide range of render pipelines, and it shines with pros like Visual shader creation makes shaders more accessible, Faster iteration than writing code from scratch, Large library of built-in nodes speeds up development, Easy to customize and extend with code, Integrated with Unity so no context switching.

Feature	Shadertoy	ShaderLab
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Games	Development

Product Overview

Shadertoy

Description: Shadertoy is a website that allows users to create and share GLSL shaders. It has an online editor and gallery for experimenting with shader programming in an easy-to-use web interface.

ShaderLab

Description: ShaderLab is a shader development tool used in Unity game development. It allows developers to create shaders using a shader language that gets compiled into GPU code. Shaders control the visuals and graphics in Unity games.

Key Features Comparison

Shadertoy Features

• Online GLSL shader editor
• Built-in shader library and examples
• Ability to share and browse thousands of shaders created by the community
• Render shaders in real-time in the browser
• Supports WebGL 2.0 and OpenGL ES 3.0 shaders
• Integrated with VR headsets for immersive shader experiences
• Social features like comments, hearts, profiles
• Powerful compute shaders supported
• Mobile app available

ShaderLab Features

• Node-based shader graph editor
• Supports surface, vertex, fragment and compute shaders
• Built-in nodes for common shader tasks
• Allows mixing shader code with nodes
• Real-time shader previews and debugging
• Supports a wide range of render pipelines

Pros & Cons Analysis

Shadertoy

Pros

• Easy to get started with shaders without installing anything
• Huge library of shaders to learn from
• Active community of shader creators
• Completely free with no limits
• Runs shaders efficiently in the browser
• Works across desktop and mobile

Cons

• Limited to GLSL shaders only
• No ability to save shader source offline
• Some more advanced shader features not supported
• Occasional bugs or performance issues
• No offline tooling integration
• Mobile app lags behind website

ShaderLab

Pros

• Visual shader creation makes shaders more accessible
• Faster iteration than writing code from scratch
• Large library of built-in nodes speeds up development
• Easy to customize and extend with code
• Integrated with Unity so no context switching

Cons

• Less control than writing raw shader code
• Can be harder to optimize shader performance
• Limited to features built into nodes
• Node-based shaders can be messy for complex effects

Pricing Comparison

Shadertoy

• Free

ShaderLab

• Free
• Open Source