Speedrunning & TAS Tools

The speedrunning + tool-assisted speedrun (TAS) ecosystem. For multi-system / TAS-grade emulators see Nintendo emulators and Sony emulators. For livestreaming runs see Live Streaming Software and Streaming Overlays & Alerts. For RetroAchievements (achievement-shape "speedrun" challenges over emulators) see Achievements / RetroAchievements.

The 2024–26 reality: LiveSplit is still the standard timer despite being closed Win-only and somewhat unmaintained; LiveSplit One (the Rust rewrite, cross-platform) has matured and is now production-credible. Speedrun.com remains the leaderboard. BizHawk + libTAS is the TAS stack. Splits.io hosts splits + history.

Splits / timers

• ★ ★ LiveSplit — free closed; Win-only. The default speedrun timer. Auto-splitter ecosystem (per-game DLLs that read game memory and split on triggers), comparison panes, segment history, race integration. Maintenance has slowed but it remains the de facto standard in 2026.
• ★ LiveSplit One — Apache-2.0 OSS; Rust rewrite; Win/Mac/Linux/web/OBS. Cross-platform; works on Steam Deck and Mac. Auto-splitter support via WebAssembly auto-splitters; coverage growing. The future-facing alternative.
• Llanfair — free OSS Java; legacy; most have moved to LiveSplit / One.
• WSplit — older free Win timer.
• SpeedrunIGT (Minecraft) — game-internal timer that integrates with LiveSplit.
• AutoSplit — free OSS; image-recognition auto-splitter for games with no memory hooks (works against the video output).

Splits / runs hosting

• ★ Splits.io — free; hosts split files, run history, comparisons; integrates with LiveSplit.
• ★ ★ Speedrun.com — free; the universal leaderboard. Per-game / per-category leaderboards, verified video runs, moderator teams. The center of the community.

TAS (tool-assisted speedrun) tools

• ★ BizHawk — MIT OSS; Win-first / Linux. The TAS emulator. Frame-perfect input recording, save-state per frame, multi-system (NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBA, Genesis, Atari, etc.). The TAS community standard.
• libTAS — GPL OSS; Linux only. Tool-assisted-speedrun for native Linux games. Hooks the game process for frame-perfect input replay. The closest thing to BizHawk for non-emulated PC titles.
• Hourglass — older Win equivalent of libTAS; legacy.
• TAStudio (within BizHawk) — frame-by-frame movie editor.
• Lua scripting in BizHawk / FCEUX / Mesen / Snes9x — for memory-watch overlays and bot-shaped run helpers.

Race / community / events

• ★ ★ Games Done Quick (GDQ) — twice-yearly speedrun marathon for charity (AGDQ January, SGDQ June). The cultural anchor.
• RaceTime.gg — free; online race rooms with built-in timers; pairs with LiveSplit.
• kadgar.net — free; multi-stream side-by-side viewer for race watching.
• The Speedrun.com Discord ecosystem — per-game communities; route guides, video reviews, world-record verification.

Practice tools (game-specific)

• Practice ROMs / PracticeRom hacks — community ROM hacks that add menu-based practice modes to retro games (SM64 practice ROM, OoT randomizer practice, etc.).
• Bizhawk's RAM Watch / Memory Tools — for finding and watching key game state during practice.
• CrowdControl — paid; Twitch chat → game effects; tangentially adjacent to speedrun community streaming.

Pick this if…

• Default Win speedrun timer: LiveSplit + Splits.io.
• Mac / Linux / Steam Deck speedrunning: LiveSplit One.
• TAS for emulated games: BizHawk.
• TAS for native Linux games: libTAS.
• Watching speedruns: GDQ on YouTube, Twitch speedrun channels, kadgar.net for races.
• Submitting a run: Speedrun.com — read the per-game rules carefully.