Virtual Battle Mat vs Owlbear Rodeo: Which Fits Your Table?
By Burton Miller, creator of Virtual Battle Mat
This is a browser tab.
The short answer. Owlbear Rodeo and Virtual Battle Mat agree on the big thing. A virtual tabletop should get out of the way. VBM is easier to use. It also adds the rest of game night, with voice and video built in, minis on a battle mat, and a catalog from professional studios. If your group runs happily on Owlbear and Discord, you are well served. If you want the whole evening in one tab, that is the job VBM was built for.
What Owlbear Rodeo gets right
Owlbear is built on a simple idea. A table needs a map, tokens and fog of war that anyone can use in seconds. Players join with a link and no account. Extensions add dice, trackers and clever tools one piece at a time, so Owlbear grows with your table, and so does the complexity. The free tier is real, and the whole thing runs in a browser.
The real difference
Running a session takes more than a map. Owlbear has no voice or video of its own, so groups bring Discord or Zoom. VBM puts the whole evening in one tab, with no other tools or experience needed to get that "at the table" vibe.
Voice and video are built in. The table talks where it plays. No Discord, no Zoom, no extra apps.
Minis on a battle mat. The tokens are renders of real 3D minis, so your table looks like miniatures on a battle mat. VBM works with 3D isometric minis or traditional flat tokens.
Paint your own minis. With a free account, players can paint a mini in the browser and share the paint job.
A catalog comes stocked. Professional studios supply the minis and maps. Every token and map in the catalog is made by human artists, and the studio agreements require it.
Players still just click a link. No account, no download. On that, VBM and Owlbear agree.
What Owlbear Rodeo does that VBM does not
The extensions. Owlbear's community has built trackers, dice and many other add-ons, and VBM has none, on purpose. If your table has wired together an extension setup it loves, VBM does not replace it. VBM ships one toolset built to be easy for everyone, with scenes, fog of war, drawing, pings, dice, documents, voice and video, and minis. Fewer choices, nothing to piece together.
Side by side
Owlbear Rodeo
Virtual Battle Mat
The idea
A minimal core plus extensions
One simple experience, nothing to assemble
How players join
With your link, no account
With your link, no account
Voice and video
Not built in; groups add Discord or Zoom
Built in, beside the map in one tab
The look
Flat tokens on your maps
Renders of real 3D minis, or flat tokens
Minis and maps
Upload your own, plus built-in starter sets
Upload your own, plus a studio catalog of tokens and maps made by human artists. NEW: Full adventures set up in VBM with everything ready-to-go.
Extensions
Yes, a growing library
No, intentionally simple
Free tier
Yes
Yes, free forever
Paid plans
Add storage and rooms
More uploads and the full premium catalog
Pick Owlbear Rodeo if
Your table already hums along on Owlbear and Discord, you enjoy choosing your own extensions, and flat tokens suit your style. There is no reason to leave a setup you love.
Pick Virtual Battle Mat if
You want game night in one browser tab, with the map, the minis and everyone's faces together. You want your table to look like miniatures on a battle mat. You want a stocked catalog of minis and maps, and you want a table where nobody needs a manual, not even the GM. You want EASY.
Virtual Battle Mat's free tier is free forever. Start a session in minutes. Make your free account on a laptop or desktop at vbm.games.