Mandelbrot Explorer

Mandelbrot Explorer compared with Ultra Fractal and XaoS
Mandelbrot Explorer	Ultra Fractal	XaoS
Fractal families and navigation: The viewer covers the Mandelbrot set, a Julia preview and the Burning Ship, with variants selected by number keys. You move and zoom with mouse, keyboard or gamepad and raise or lower the iteration count to see how the boundary evolves.	Fractal families and navigation: Thousands of fractal types and coloring algorithms are available, with deep zooming, gradients, layers and custom formulas. It is a design environment for building images, not only a viewer.	Fractal families and navigation: Navigation is a smooth, continuous zoom driven by the mouse, with left click to zoom in and right click to zoom out. It adds many fractal types, several coloring modes, an autopilot, random palettes and color cycling.
Typical expertise required: None. The controls are limited to position, zoom, iterations and the choice of fractal, so a student can use it without reading documentation.	Typical expertise required: Beginner to advanced depending on the edition. Layers, masks and custom formulas need some familiarity with fractal rendering and with the formula language.	Typical expertise required: Little. Animated tutorials are included, and the main skill is steering the zoom.
Platforms and delivery: It runs in a browser as an HTML5 page, and the same release is offered as downloads for Windows, Linux and Android.	Platforms and delivery: It is a desktop program for Windows and macOS, and version 6.06 added Apple Silicon support.	Platforms and delivery: Downloads are offered for Windows, Mac and Linux, and a browser version is available at xaos.app.
Licence and cost: It is sold on a name your own price basis, so it can be downloaded for free. The page does not state a licence.	Licence and cost: Version 6 is sold in three editions: Express (single layer), Creative (adds layers and masks) and Extended (adds animation and network calculations). The shop offers a full refund within 30 days, and the vendor site also offers a free trial.	Licence and cost: The project is presented as GNU XaoS, with free downloads and a browser version. The page does not give licence terms.
Output and export: The page describes no export function, so it suits viewing and experimenting rather than producing finished images.	Output and export: Fractals can be rendered to disk at any size, and animation is available in the Extended edition.

Mandelbrot Explorer compared with Ultra Fractal and XaoS

Mandelbrot Explorer

Ultra Fractal

XaoS

Fractal families and navigation: The viewer covers the Mandelbrot set, a Julia preview and the Burning Ship, with variants selected by number keys. You move and zoom with mouse, keyboard or gamepad and raise or lower the iteration count to see how the boundary evolves.

Fractal families and navigation: Thousands of fractal types and coloring algorithms are available, with deep zooming, gradients, layers and custom formulas. It is a design environment for building images, not only a viewer.

Fractal families and navigation: Navigation is a smooth, continuous zoom driven by the mouse, with left click to zoom in and right click to zoom out. It adds many fractal types, several coloring modes, an autopilot, random palettes and color cycling.

Typical expertise required: None. The controls are limited to position, zoom, iterations and the choice of fractal, so a student can use it without reading documentation.

Typical expertise required: Beginner to advanced depending on the edition. Layers, masks and custom formulas need some familiarity with fractal rendering and with the formula language.

Typical expertise required: Little. Animated tutorials are included, and the main skill is steering the zoom.

Platforms and delivery: It runs in a browser as an HTML5 page, and the same release is offered as downloads for Windows, Linux and Android.

Platforms and delivery: It is a desktop program for Windows and macOS, and version 6.06 added Apple Silicon support.

Platforms and delivery: Downloads are offered for Windows, Mac and Linux, and a browser version is available at xaos.app.

Licence and cost: It is sold on a name your own price basis, so it can be downloaded for free. The page does not state a licence.

Licence and cost: Version 6 is sold in three editions: Express (single layer), Creative (adds layers and masks) and Extended (adds animation and network calculations). The shop offers a full refund within 30 days, and the vendor site also offers a free trial.

Licence and cost: The project is presented as GNU XaoS, with free downloads and a browser version. The page does not give licence terms.

Output and export: The page describes no export function, so it suits viewing and experimenting rather than producing finished images.

Output and export: Fractals can be rendered to disk at any size, and animation is available in the Extended edition.