Fantasy Grounds vs MapTool

Fantasy Grounds is a virtual tabletop for creating and playing tabletop roleplaying-game campaigns online or in person. Its tools include dice rolling, character sheets, campaign notes, handouts, images, tokens, and maps. Rulesets automate gameplay tasks while keeping detailed rules information available in the background. The full application is free to download and includes Game Master and player functionality, cloud connectivity, free rulesets, and unlimited campaigns, with no recurring costs listed for the Free to Play plan. Automatic NAT traversal is intended to avoid networking hassles. Dynamic line of sight, lighting, and vision features include darkvision support. Users can export custom adventure modules and create extensions or rulesets with XML and Lua. The Fantasy Grounds Forge lets creators share content for free or sell it, while users can purchase or subscribe to content. A browser-based Online Reader provides access to purchased modules from any device. Fantasy Grounds is listed for Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. SmiteWorks says it does not store credit-card data; support excludes product training, phone support, and languages other than English.

MapTool is a free, open-source virtual tabletop for creating detailed maps and running games online. Its integrated server connects players over the internet, while support for square or hex grids, tokens and images keeps it independent of any particular game system. Visibility controls include dynamic lighting, vision, fog of war and topology tools that limit what players can see. The application can replace paper, battle mats and dice, and its scripting language and macros can automate game activities. Macros can call REST services, including the documented Syrinscape example for playing sounds to connected players. MapTool is an installed application rather than a browser service and does not rely on a remote server; storage depends on available disk space. It runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. The maker provides forums, Discord, tutorials and a wiki. Version 1.18.6 is listed as released October 30, 2025, with stable and development builds available. Complex calculations and rolls require campaign properties and code macros.