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SPECIFICTION
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Tracy Profiler

github.com

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Spec score 8.1 #10 of 25 in Game Profiling Software

What it is

Tracy Profiler is a remote profiler for games and other applications, built to capture telemetry in real time at nanosecond resolution. It combines CPU profiling with frame and sampling analysis, and supports C, C++, Lua, Python and Fortran integrations. GPU profiling covers OpenGL, Vulkan, Direct3D 11/12, Metal, OpenCL, CUDA and WebGPU. Tracy can also capture memory allocations, locks and context switches, and associate screenshots with recorded frames. A capture daemon can find Tracy clients over UDP and save each capture to a separate file; a separate tool merges multi-process traces. Merging preserves zones, messages and plots, but drops GPU zones, memory events and call stacks. Sampling can heuristically reconstruct zone call stacks. An optional assistant analyzes captured data with llama.cpp models and requires local setup. Tracy is free under the 3-clause BSD license. Platforms include Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS and other listed environments; releases include PDF documentation and compiled Windows x64 binaries.

Spec sheet

Purpose
Tracy is a real-time, nanosecond-resolution remote telemetry, hybrid frame and sampling profiler for games and other applications.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Intended users
The project describes Tracy as a profiler for games and other applications.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Security
The 0.14.1 release notes say string-length encoding in the protocol was hardened.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
License
Tracy is licensed under the 3-clause BSD license.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
AI assistant
The release notes describe an assistant integration that can run locally and analyze captured data; they state local setup is required and that running it locally keeps activity private.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
Assistant integration
The 0.14 release notes describe an LLM assistant integration using llama.cpp models and captured Tracy data for analysis.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Automated capture
The 0.14 release added a capture daemon that discovers Tracy clients over UDP and captures each to its own file.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
CPU profiling
It directly supports CPU profiling integrations for C, C++, Lua, Python and Fortran.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Distribution
GitHub releases include the user documentation as tracy.pdf and compiled Windows x64 binaries.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
Downloads
The repository's releases provide the Tracy PDF documentation and compiled Windows x64 binaries as assets.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
GPU profiling
It supports GPU profiling through OpenGL, Vulkan, Direct3D 11/12, Metal, OpenCL, CUDA and WebGPU.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Local privacy
The 0.13 release notes say the assistant runs locally on the user's system and that its activity stays private.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Maintainer
The license names Bartosz Taudul as the copyright holder for 2017–2026.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
Merge limitation
The release notes say trace merging preserves zones, messages and plots, while GPU zones, memory events and call stacks are lost.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
Other captured data
It can profile memory allocations, locks and context switches, and attribute screenshots to captured frames.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
Other telemetry
It can profile memory allocations, locks and context switches, and attribute screenshots to captured frames.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Remote capture
The project describes Tracy as a remote telemetry profiler.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Sampling
The 0.14 release notes describe heuristic reconstruction of zone call stacks when sampling is enabled.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com
Third-party bindings
The project points to third-party bindings for Rust, Zig, C#, OCaml and Odin, among other languages.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
Trace automation
The 0.14 release added a capture daemon that discovers Tracy clients over UDP and captures each to a separate file, plus a tool to merge multi-process traces.Read 29 Sep 2026 · github.com
Trace merging
The 0.14 release added a tool to combine multi-process traces; the release notes say the implementation preserves zones, messages and plots, while GPU zones, memory events and call stacks are lost.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Tracy Profiler Free 3-clause BSD license Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Every Tracy Profiler plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free under the 3-clause BSD license
  • CPU integrations for five listed languages
  • Supports seven listed GPU APIs
  • Captures memory, locks and context switches
  • Can capture separate client traces over UDP

Limits

  • Merged traces lose GPU zones, memory events and call stacks
  • Local setup is required for assistant analysis
  • Prebuilt binaries are listed for Windows, macOS and Linux

Who it suits

Tracy suits developers profiling games and other applications, especially those working across its supported CPU and GPU interfaces. Its capture daemon and multi-process trace tooling may suit teams investigating telemetry from multiple clients.

Verdict

Tracy brings detailed CPU, GPU and other telemetry capture together with remote and automated trace workflows. Check the merge omissions and platform-specific binary availability against your profiling needs.

Where Specifiction places it

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