Compare
How YUP lines up against the frameworks people usually weigh it against, taken from each project's own documentation. Every framework here is good at something, so pick the one that fits your project.
| Feature | YUP | JUCE 9 | iPlug2 | DPF | Visage | Qt 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| License | ISC | AGPLv3 or commercial | zlib-like | ISC | MIT | LGPLv3, GPLv3 (some modules) or commercial |
| Closed-source commercial use | Free, no revenue cap | Free up to $20k revenue, then $40 or $175 per user per month (or perpetual) | Free, no revenue cap | Free, no revenue cap | Free, no revenue cap | Free under LGPLv3 terms, otherwise a commercial license |
| Builds plugins | CLAP, VST3 (Windows, macOS), AUv2, AUv3 (macOS), standalone. Linux, AAX and LV2 in progress | VST, VST3, AU, AUv3, AAX, LV2, standalone. CLAP through the third-party clap-juce-extensions | CLAP, VST2, VST3, AUv2, AUv3, AAX, WAM, standalone | CLAP, VST2, VST3, AUv2, LV2, LADSPA, DSSI, JACK standalone | No, UI library only (ships a CLAP example) | No, not a plugin framework |
| Hosts plugins | CLAP, VST3, AUv2 | VST, VST3, AU, AUv3, LV2 | No | No | No | No |
| UI rendering | GPU by default: Metal, Direct3D 11, OpenGL, OpenGL ES, WebGL2, WebGPU. Vulkan in progress | CoreGraphics, Direct2D or software, optional OpenGL | NanoVG or Skia on OpenGL or Metal, GPU by default | OpenGL by default, OpenGL ES, Cairo, WebView | GPU only, through bgfx: Direct3D 11/12, Metal, Vulkan, WebGL | Qt Quick on OpenGL, Vulkan, Direct3D 11/12 or Metal. Widgets in software |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Wasm | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, iOS, visionOS, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Wasm, embedded |
| Runs in the browser | Yes: Emscripten with WebGPU or WebGL2, AudioWorklet and Web MIDI | No official target | Yes: Emscripten, packaged as Web Audio Modules | Emscripten target in the build files | Yes: Emscripten with WebGL (UI only, no audio) | Yes: Emscripten with WebGL |
| Official Python bindings | Yes, yup_python |
No (third-party popsicle) | No | No | No | Yes, Qt for Python |
| AI in the framework | LLM clients, tools, embeddings, MCP client and server | No | No | No | No | No, AI features are in the tooling (Qt Creator) |
| Language | C++20 | C++17 | C++17 | C++11 | C++17 | C++17 |
| Build system | CMake | CMake or Projucer | CMake, Xcode and Visual Studio projects, Make | Make or CMake | CMake | CMake |
Checked September 2026 against JUCE 9.0, the iPlug2, DPF and Visage main branches and the Qt 6.11 documentation. Spotted something out of date? Open an issue.