Performous
Performous is a free music game that combines karaoke, band play, and dancing for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
What Performous is
Performous is a free music game that combines karaoke, band play, and dancing for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It supports vocals, lead, rhythm and bass guitar, drums, and dancing, with multiplayer support. In scored singing, the game displays pitch to help players adjust their performance; karaoke mode shows lyrics without notes or scoring. The project says pitch detection works with laptop or webcam microphones. Controllers are autodetected, and play can use a keyboard, microphones, USB guitars and drums, or dance pads. Supported song formats include Frets on Fire, UltraStar, SingStar XML, and StepMania. Composer is an editor for music-game notes, with pitch analysis, zoomable timing, note synthesis, and format import and export; listed formats include SingStar XML, UltraStar TXT, and Frets on Fire MIDI. The project offers free karaoke song packages with different license terms for libre and restricted packages. Its free-song page does not yet have band-game or dancing songs. Performous is free software under GNU GPL version 2 or later. Downloads are listed for Windows XP or newer, OS X 10.6 or newer, and Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, and Arch Linux. Documentation, Discord, and a GitHub feedback page are available.
Good
- Supports vocals, instruments, drums, and dancing.
- Multiplayer support is available.
- Pitch display can help players adjust singing.
- Composer includes pitch analysis and note synthesis.
- Free software under GNU GPL version 2 or later.
Watch out
- Free-song page lacks band-game and dancing songs.
- Song packages have different license terms.
- No free trial is listed.
Who it suits
Performous suits people who want to sing, play music-game instruments, or dance, whether for practice or fun. It also fits players who want multiplayer modes or tools to edit and convert music-game notes.
Verdict
Performous combines scored singing, lyric-only karaoke, band modes, and dancing, with Composer for editing music-game notes. Players looking specifically for free band-game or dancing songs should note those are not yet on its free-song page.
Plans and prices
From Performous's own pricing page, checked 14 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Performous | Free | Free software · desktop game · requires a computer capable of running 3D games · microphones/controllers optional |
The facts
Each one read from Performous's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- API and SDKs
- The reviewed project pages describe a C++ codebase, build instructions and a webserver feature, but do not publish a separate public API or SDK.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Composer editor
- Composer edits and converts notes for music games, with pitch analysis, zoomable timing, note synthesis, and format import and export.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Composer formats
- Composer lists SingStar XML, UltraStar TXT, and Frets on Fire MIDI among its import and export formats.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Controller detection
- Controllers are autodetected instead of requiring manual key configuration.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Controllers
- Controllers are autodetected, and the game can use a keyboard, microphones, USB guitars and drums, and dance pads.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Developer documentation
- The website links to GitHub documentation, a wiki, Discord support and GitHub feedback/issues.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Feature expansion
- Version 1.3.0 added a Windows webserver, WebM video support, multitrack drums and Opus audio support.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Game modes
- It supports vocals, lead, rhythm and bass guitar, drums, and dancing, with multiplayer support.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Gameplay intelligence
- Its engine tries to infer intended guitar actions and suppresses accidental hammer-ons and pull-offs.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Hardware compatibility
- The project lists SingStar microphones, Guitar Hero and Rock Band instruments, USB microphones, USB guitars, USB drums and dance pads.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Independent listing
- AlternativeTo classifies Performous as a free, open-source music game and lists eight alternatives across desktop, web and Android platforms.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Instruments
- The game supports lead, rhythm and bass guitar parts, drums and dance play with multiplayer support.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Intended audience
- The site describes Performous as a game for people who want to perform songs, improve musical skills, or have fun.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Karaoke mode
- A karaoke mode shows lyrics without note targets or scoring.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Latest release
- GitHub lists Performous 1.3.1 as the latest release, with Windows, Debian and Fedora assets plus source archives.checked 14 Oct 2026
- License
- Performous is open source under GNU GPL version 2 or later.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Limit: documentation support
- SourceForge says the project has not indicated a best way to get help and points users toward project admins or third-party channels.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Limit: missing game features
- A Steam community commenter said Performous works with guitar, bass, drums, StepMania pads and vocals but lacks a life meter.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Limit: song availability
- The project says it has not prepared free FoFiX-format band songs or StepMania dance songs for its own song page.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Limit: source installation
- Linux Journal reported that building from source required a long dependency chase and many development packages.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Notable limitation
- The site says it has not yet gathered band-game or dancing songs for its free-song page.checked 7 Oct 2026
Money
- Free songs
- The site offers free karaoke song packages and identifies different license terms for its libre and restricted packages.checked 7 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Linux distribution support
- The project lists Ubuntu and Debian packages, an Ubuntu daily-build PPA and Arch Linux packages.checked 14 Oct 2026
- macOS download
- The download page offers a bundle for OS X 10.6 or newer.checked 14 Oct 2026
