CueServer is a proven, rock-solid architectural show controller with a mature CueScript engine. If you are looking for a CueServer alternative that starts as software, scales past add-on universe licences, or gives staff a touchscreen and permissioned zones, here is how DMX Core 100 compares with CueServer 3 — fairly, feature by feature.
This page is about CueServer as an install controller. QLC+, ChamSys, Lightkey, grandMA, Madrix, MadMapper, Resolume and Lightjams are sources you record from, not competitors. The comparison below is CueServer versus another show controller. Also looking at a sealed recorder or a Visual Productions box? See the Enttec S-Play alternative and CueCore3 alternative.
A side-by-side look at the features installers and integrators evaluate most. Specs below are current for DMX Core 100 as documented on this site, including the Faders page and Avolites Personality Library import.
| Feature | DMX Core 100 | CueServer 3 Core |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $599 software (800 universes) $399 software (8 universes) · $999 appliance |
$1,599 (hardware) |
| Max Universes | 800 at 40 Hz 600 at 60 Hz, native — two flat tiers |
32 DMX channels licensable across 128 eDMX; add-on universe licences |
| Software-Only Option | ✓ Win / Mac / Linux | — |
| Dedicated Hardware | ✓ touchscreen appliance | ✓ sealed processor |
| Web UI | ✓ | ✓ |
| Art-Net / sACN / KiNet | ✓ | ✓ |
| OSC | ✓ | ✓ |
| MQTT | ✓ | — |
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| MIDI | ✓ built in | — Core; SM-MIDI on Pro/Flex |
| Q-SYS / Symetrix | ✓ | — |
| Stream Deck | ✓ | — |
| Cloud remote access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Zones | ✓ first-class, with submasters | Via CueScript |
| Faders / live levels | ✓ Faders page, fade mode | Web live control |
| Record & playback | ✓ Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512, KiNet | ✓ |
| Timeline editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sunrise / sunset scheduling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Native GPI / contact-closure | ADIO board / USB / MQTT IO | ✓ mature hardwired I/O |
| Synchronized audio playback | ✓ WAV / FLAC (does not record audio) | ✓ CS-3150 and above |
| Multi-user / roles | 24 permissions | — |
| Scripting | JavaScript + plugin SDK | CueScript (mature) |
| Plugins & open SDK | ✓ maintained plugins, open .NET SDK | First-party plugins only |
| Evaluate before you buy | Free demo; recording unrestricted; output pauses 1 min / 16 | Hardware unit required |
Competitor specs are based on publicly available product documentation and may change. Always confirm current details with the manufacturer. DMX Core prices set out or referred to on this page are recommended prices only, and there is no obligation to comply with the recommendation.
People searching for a CueServer alternative are rarely looking for a live desk. The useful split is which Interactive Technologies box is in the rack, and what job it is doing.
The current generation, and the one this comparison is built around. The decision usually comes down to universe licensing and how the venue is operated: the CS-3 handles up to 32 universes of DMX with channels licensable across 128 eDMX universes, while DMX Core 100 does up to 800 at 40 Hz for $599 in software, with no add-on universe SKUs. If you are near the CS-3's ceiling, quoting before the fixture schedule is final, or you want to evaluate on a laptop before committing to hardware, that is the gap worth testing.
Still in service in a great many installs, and still supported. If it is doing the job, there is no urgency. The usual triggers for a change are needing more universes than it can address, wanting a browser and touchscreen interface that non-technical staff can use, or wanting to record what a visiting designer programmed rather than re-programming it. If your CueScript is doing heavy lifting, read the section below before you move.
If you are replacing a unit this old, you are doing a refresh rather than a like-for-like swap, and it is worth reopening the requirements. Programming is likely long gone with the integrator who wrote it. Recording the DMX output of whatever is driving the rig today — at the protocol level, before you change anything — is often the cheapest way to preserve the existing looks, and it is free and unrestricted in the demo.
We would rather be honest than oversell. CueServer is a strong product, and it may be the right call if:
CueServer's scripting language is mature and deeply documented. DMX Core 100 answers with JavaScript plus maintained plugins and an open SDK, but if your install is built around complex existing CueScript logic, that investment carries weight. There is no CueScript importer.
CueServer is a dedicated hardware processor with a long field-proven track record and a mature contact-closure story. For industrial and architectural installs that live on physical inputs, that simplicity is exactly the point. DMX Core 100 adds IO via expansion or MQTT; evaluate both if the project is GPI-heavy.
CueServer has deep, long-established integrations with Crestron, AMX, Vantage, Control4, and Savant. If your install is built around one of those ecosystems, that maturity counts. DMX Core 100's native stack is MQTT, Q-SYS, Symetrix, Stream Deck and an open plugin SDK instead.
CueServer expands through add-on universe licences sold on top of the base unit, so the quote grows with the channel count. DMX Core 100 has two tiers and nothing metered in between — $399 for up to 8 universes, $599 for up to 800 at 40 Hz. Useful when you are pricing a job before the fixture schedule is final.
Run identical software on Windows, macOS, or Linux, or deploy it on dedicated touchscreen hardware. Prototype on a laptop, ship on an appliance. CueServer is hardware-only; evaluating it means a unit in your hands.
Zones are a first-class concept, not just extra CueScript. The Faders page gives console-style levels with zone submasters and fade mode. Import profiles from GDTF, Lightkey, Daslight, and the Avolites Personality Library, or generate one from a fixture manual.
MQTT, Q-SYS, Symetrix, Stream Deck, Home Assistant and an open plugin SDK, plus MIDI built in rather than an add-on module, and 24 permission-based user roles. A volunteer can recall a scene without any path to re-patch the rig.
Capture shows from any console over Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512 or KiNet, convert protocols on output, and trigger them on schedules or events. Attach WAV or FLAC to a cue or timeline so lighting and soundtrack stay locked — DMX Core does not record audio, and we will not pretend otherwise.
The free demo is full-feature, with no signup and no expiry. Recording is unrestricted. The only gate is DMX output, which pauses for 1 minute every 16 minutes — enough to commission looks, train staff, and decide before anyone buys a box.
Brand pages sell the box. This is the part that actually decides a CueServer alternative: what happens after handover.
CueServer is programmed for an integrator who will configure it once and leave. DMX Core 100 is programmed in the same Web UI you hand to the venue, on a laptop or on the appliance. There is no separate compile-and-upload step, and staff see the same screens the integrator used. Custom menus and 24 permission-based roles cover the “please just press this” wall-tablet case.
Churches and restaurant groups are the usual reason people look past a sealed architectural box. On DMX Core 100, day-to-day control is the touchscreen, browser, Stream Deck, or a locked-down custom menu. A volunteer or duty manager can recall a look without reaching patch, outputs or scripts. If the building will never be touched except by the original integrator, CueServer's model is coherent.
A visiting designer on grandMA, ChamSys, Avolites or Lightkey is not a competitor to either product. Record what they put on the wire, then run the looks afterwards. DMX Core 100 also chases Art-Net ArtTimeCode on a timeline; it does not chase SMPTE or MTC. If the CueServer show is locked to an analog or MIDI clock, keep that clock in the path or stay on CueServer for that role.
Migrating an existing CueServer is a rebuild, not a file conversion. Record the live DMX it is putting out, which preserves the looks, then recreate triggers, schedules and zone logic. On a straightforward facade that is a day; on a complex multi-zone attraction, allow more. The permanent installation guide covers commissioning and handover on the DMX Core side.
Yes. DMX Core 100 is available as desktop software for Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as on dedicated touchscreen hardware. CueServer is hardware-only, so DMX Core 100 lets you start in software and add an appliance later.
The comparison table is built against the current CueServer 3. If you are replacing a CueServer 2 the same points apply, with universe count and a browser-based interface for non-technical staff being the usual reasons people move. If you are retiring a legacy CS-800 or CS-900, treat it as a refresh rather than a swap — recording the DMX your rig receives today, before you change anything, is usually the cheapest way to preserve the existing looks.
DMX Core 100 supports up to 800 universes at 40 Hz, or 600 at 60 Hz. The CueServer 3 Core handles up to 32 universes of DMX, with up to 16,384 channels licensable across 128 sACN, Art-Net, or KiNET universes, so DMX Core 100 is a better fit for the largest installations.
DMX Core 100 software is $599 for up to 800 universes, or $399 for up to 8, or $999 for the appliance. CueServer 3 Core hardware typically starts around $1,599.
No. DMX Core 100 has two software tiers — $399 for up to 8 universes and $599 for up to 800 — and nothing between them is metered. CueServer works differently: the base unit ships with a set number of universes and Interactive Technologies sells add-on universe licences for CueServer 2 and CueServer 3 to expand it, which its dealers list as separate SKUs. Neither model is wrong, but they behave differently when a project grows. Costing a CueServer means costing the unit plus however many universe licences the final channel count needs; costing DMX Core 100 means picking one of two tiers up front. If your channel count is settled and small, the difference is academic. If the rig is likely to grow, or you are quoting before the fixture schedule is final, the flat tier removes a variable from the estimate.
This is the most common reason people look. A CueServer is built for integrators who will configure it once and hand it over; churches usually need the opposite — a volunteer team that changes things weekly without an integrator on call. DMX Core 100 is worth a look here because it has a browser and touchscreen interface that non-technical volunteers can use, 24 permission-based roles so a volunteer can recall a scene but not re-patch the rig, and the ability to record the looks a visiting designer programmed on their own console so the team can simply recall them afterwards.
Yes. Download DMX Core 100 for Windows, macOS or Linux and run the full-feature demo with no signup and no expiry. Recording is free and unrestricted. The only demo gate is DMX output, which pauses for 1 minute every 16 minutes. CueServer is hardware-only, so evaluating it means buying or borrowing a unit.
No. DMX Core 100 records lighting (Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512 or KiNet). It does not record audio. You can attach WAV or FLAC files to cues and timelines so lighting and soundtrack stay locked on playback, and effects can react to live sound, but the capture itself is DMX only. On CueServer, synchronized audio playback is on the CS-3150 and above — still playback, not a combined audio-and-DMX recorder.
Usually, yes. DMX Core 100 speaks Art-Net, sACN (E1.31), KiNet v1/v2 and DMX-512, which covers what a CueServer is typically distributing, so the fixtures, nodes and cabling normally stay as they are. What does not transfer is the CueServer's programming — there is no show-file import between the two platforms. The practical migration path is to record the existing looks off the CueServer as live DMX, then rebuild the triggers, schedules and zone logic in DMX Core.
No. DMX Core 100 chases Art-Net ArtTimeCode on a timeline — Play joins the live clock instead of starting at t=0, including after a restart — but it does not chase SMPTE or MTC in this release. If the CueServer show must lock to an analog or MIDI clock, evaluate that before switching. If the site clock is already Art-Net, DMX Core 100 can take it.
A CueServer is a one-off hardware purchase, and for a single-site install that is a perfectly sensible model. The difference shows up on multi-site rollouts and on refreshes: DMX Core 100 starts at $399 as software, so a chain deploying to twenty venues can standardize on hardware it already owns or specify the $999 appliance per site, and programming done on a laptop in the office moves to site without re-licensing.
No, and it is worth being clear about that before you switch. The CueServer has a mature contact-closure and hardwired-input story that suits industrial and architectural installs, CueScript is a deep scripting language, and Interactive Technologies has a long track record supporting it. If your project leans heavily on physical I/O or existing CueScript, evaluate both. If it leans on scheduling, recorded playback, zones, remote access and multi-user operation, DMX Core 100 is the stronger fit.
No. Those are consoles, live-control apps and generative tools you design on. DMX Core 100 is a show controller: it records what they put on the wire and runs the install afterwards. We do not pitch it as a replacement for a desk or a media server. CueServer sits in the same install-controller class as CueCore3, Enttec S-Play and Pharos LPC 1/2/4.
Download the free demo and run DMX Core 100 on Windows, macOS or Linux — no hardware required, recording unrestricted, output pauses 1 minute every 16.