Lively Wallpaper vs MuGen Wallpaper

Lively Wallpaper is a free, open-source animated wallpaper application for Windows. It supports video and GIF wallpapers through mpv or VLC, with filters and hardware acceleration, and can load HTML files or web addresses running WebGL and JavaScript. Other wallpaper sources include GLSL shaders, Shadertoy URLs, video streams, and Unity or Godot games; GUI application support is limited. Wallpapers can span or duplicate across any number of monitors, including HiDPI and ultrawide displays, and any wallpaper can be used as a Windows screensaver. Command-line arguments and third-party scripting software such as AutoHotkey provide control options. Playback pauses when fullscreen applications or games run, reaching approximately 0% CPU and GPU usage. Lively says it does not collect, store or share personal information, while operational window and process data remains local. The listed plan is free and requires Windows 10 version 1903 or above with a 64-bit installer. Only the latest release receives security patches, and vulnerabilities can be reported by email.

MuGen Wallpaper is a macOS desktop app for dynamic video and programmable web wallpapers. It supports multiple screens, and web wallpapers can receive system utilization and screen-index information. Video speed and volume controls are included in both tiers. Playback can pause when every screen is in fullscreen mode, and the app can launch at startup. The maker says video playback uses Apple Silicon for efficient playback and lower power consumption. The MuGen Wallpaper Community lets users download and share wallpapers, with uploads reviewed before publication. Web wallpapers may opt into weather updates through OpenWeatherMap, using a supplied API key and location access, but they are limited to local resources and cannot call external APIs directly. The free plan costs nothing and allows up to 10 dynamic wallpapers. An unlock is a one-time in-app purchase with no listed price and no wallpaper limit. Community registration collects an iCloud identifier and associated Apple ID email; tokens and the weather key are stored in Keychain.