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Kodiak vs QLab
Start with full credit: QLab does true fill and key over dual SDI, on the same keyer-capable Blackmagic class Kodiak uses. Only one of these keeps a second Mac holding a live, one to one copy of the whole show, ready to cut itself to air within seconds if the first Mac dies. QLab runs theaters from a cue stack. Kodiak runs keyed graphics into your ATEM.
Updated July 2026.
Choose for the job you run
Choose Kodiak if
A native macOS editor and broadcast playout deck in one app: layered slides, fill and key over dual SDI, deep ATEM automation, and a hot-backup Mac that takes over on its own. $200 once, perpetual, two computers.
- The show is one keyed program feed through an ATEM
- You want a backup Mac that takes air on its own
- You build the slide in the same app that airs it
- $200 once covers the whole two-machine rig
Choose QLab if
Figure 53's macOS software for sound, video, light, and show control cues in one workspace, with true fill and key over dual SDI. $599 perpetual for the Video set, two computers, with rent-to-own day rentals.
- Theater cue stacks are the job: audio, video, and light in one workspace
- Waits, fades, groups, scripting, OSC, and MIDI run the night
- Rent-to-own day rentals fit a one-off production
- It is the Mac theater standard, and it earned that for good reason
What Kodiak adds on show night
Five capabilities built around the program feed, beyond the true fill and key output both products provide.
A live backup, not mirrored triggers
- Import on the primary and the backup has it
- Edit a slide or move a timer and both machines match
- The whole show stays mirrored cue for cue, media and all
- If the primary goes silent, the backup cuts itself to program on the ATEM within seconds
- No operator action once auto-cut is armed
QLab's own Main or Backup cookbook is honest about the job: mirrored triggers, external switching hardware, and an operator who makes the cut.
ATEM automation through the whole cue
- Tally can trigger the take
- Kodiak watches the downstream key state
- Cue end can cut the key automatically
- A dropped switcher link reconnects on its own
QLab can send outbound network cues to a switcher, but it has no built-in switcher awareness.
A full editor in the same app
- Builds the layered slide and airs it, one app
- The fix two minutes before doors happens in the tool already on program
QLab plays back media finished in other applications; built-in creation stops at styled Text cues, with no built-in slide editor for layered layouts.
Bad media caught before it airs
- Every file checked in the background
- Corruption flagged off the air path, before it goes to program
- The preview shows the exact composited frame that goes to the key
The output watched, licensing that never darks it
- A stalled SDI raises the alarm within seconds
- No license state has a path to the output
- Never-block-go-live is structural, not a promise
Kodiak, up close
The parts that matter, shown instead of listed.
The editor and the deck, one app
Kodiak's editor lives inside the deck that airs the show.
The fix two minutes before doors happens in the same app that takes it to program.
The fix goes straight from the run sheet to the SDI output.
Fluent ATEM
Tally cues the take, the downstream key is watched, and Kodiak cuts on cue end.
A dropped link reconnects on its own, mid show.
The switcher stays in the loop from take through cue end.
Live sync, then takeover
The whole show mirrored one to one, cue for cue, media and all.
If the primary dies, the backup cuts itself to air on its own.
The backup is already current when it needs to take over.
Fill and key, by the book
External keying only, and Kodiak verifies the device can key before the show.
The SDI locks and stays locked once the output format is set to the switcher's standard, 1080p29.97 by default.
The device and format are checked before the output goes live.
NDI on a slide
Drop a network source onto a slide and it plays like any other layer.
Sources on the network show up on their own.
Network sources stay in the same run sheet as every other cue.
Built to keep the switched show on air
Kodiak is not trying to replace a theater cue stack for audio, video, and lighting. It is the native Mac editor and playout deck for one keyed program feed through an ATEM. It builds the graphic, checks media before air, watches SDI while the show runs, keeps the switcher connected, and holds a synchronized backup ready to take over. If that is the job your room needs done, choose Kodiak.
Keep comparing
Kodiak vs Mitti
Two native Mac tools that both talk to an ATEM. Where the single-clip cue player ends and the whole show begins.
Read the comparisonKodiak vs PlaybackPro
The corporate roll-in incumbent against the keyed-graphics deck. Different jobs, and their own docs draw the line.
Read the comparisonSee the full comparison matrix
Give it one rehearsal
The trial is the full app for 21 days. No account, no card. When it ends, Kodiak keeps running free, everything but NDI, the ATEM link, and hot-backup sync.
Try Kodiak freeCompetitor capabilities verified July 2026. Check each vendor for current details.
Competitor names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Kodiak is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.