apitrace vs MicroProfile

apitrace records OpenGL, Direct3D and DirectDraw API calls in trace files for replay and examination. Recorded calls can be replayed on another machine; OpenGL traces can also be replayed across operating systems. Its tools let users inspect graphics state and call data, view framebuffers and textures, edit trace files and profile performance. Coverage varies across APIs and operations: the feature matrix spans OpenGL 1.0–4.5, OpenGL ES 1.0–3.0, Direct3D 7–11.x and DirectDraw. Command-line profiling can capture frame, GPU, CPU and pixels-drawn data, with shader-profile formatting available through a script. The operating-system matrix lists Linux, OS X and Windows for tracing, replay, command-line and GUI use. Windows and Linux binaries are available for x86_64 and Arm64, with Windows x86 binaries also provided. The open-source project is licensed under MIT. One stated limitation is that programmatic Direct3D capture interfaces are unsupported. The maintainer says patches, issues and requests are handled as time permits, and the project links to a manual, bug-reporting guide, source-hacking guide, wiki and mailing list.

MicroProfile is a free, embeddable C++ profiler supplied in a few files for adding profiling to a project. Developers mark code with timer macros and include microprofile.cpp. Its live view is opened in Chrome by visiting the profiler host on port 1338, and it can capture the last 30 frames by default. Captures are self-contained webpages that can be saved and shared; profile data can also be written to HTML or CSV. GPU timers support OpenGL, D3D11, D3D12, and Vulkan. Counters appear in live and capture views, and timeline markers cover longer-running unique timers. A detailed view can compare two captures, but not captures made with earlier versions. Experimental dynamic instrumentation supports Intel x86-64 on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with MICROPROFILE_DYNAMIC_INSTRUMENT_ENABLE and distorm required; Linux builds also need -rdynamic. Default per-thread profiling buffers allocate 2 MB, and GPU buffers default to 128 KB each. The project is MIT-licensed and lists Windows, macOS, Linux, and unspecified console support.