Polychromatic vs Razer Chroma App

Polychromatic is a free, open-source GNU/Linux frontend for OpenRazer. It controls lighting and other settings on supported Razer peripherals, with the home page listing more than 210 devices including keyboards, mice, mouse mats, and headsets. You can adjust built-in effects, brightness, DPI, and polling interval, or create static and animated mappings from pixels and frames for games, applications, or ambience. The app shows firmware versions and serial numbers and can test individually addressable LEDs. A tray applet provides settings access when the desktop supports system-tray indicators, and a troubleshooter addresses problems such as OpenRazer failures or missing devices. It runs locally without cloud services or a login and is licensed under GPLv3. Polychromatic supports OpenRazer only; other brands are unavailable, and key remapping is not supported.

Razer Chroma App controls and customizes RGB lighting on compatible devices. The app is standalone and includes Quick Effects for applying presets to one Chroma-enabled device or all devices together. For more detailed control, it offers Chroma Studio, Chroma Visualizer, and Chroma Connect. Listed effects include Breathing, Fire, Ripple, Spectrum Cycling, Starlight, Static, Wave, and Wheel, with 16.8 million colors. Lighting can also react to game events, such as turning devices red when a player’s health is low. Razer says hundreds of devices are supported, including Chroma-enabled accessories from more than 50 third-party hardware partners through Chroma Connect. Windows downloads are listed for Windows 11 x86-64 and Windows 10; the Mac preview supports macOS 15 Sequoia and later on Apple Silicon Macs. The app is free: its plan is free. Razer also offers an open, free Chroma SDK for developers building experiences for Chroma-enabled devices.