---
title: Software for stimulus generation and presentation
description: "**[Psychtoolbox](http://psychtoolbox.org/): Matlab-or Octave-based stimulus presentation library.** *Pros:* - Multi-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows). - Very powerful and with comprehensive support for numerous hardware peripherals (e.g. eye tracking, data recording). - Extremely precise control of timing for recording responses and presenting stimuli…"
url: "https://cubicwiki.psychologyresearch.co.uk/docs/software-for-stimulus-generation-and-presentation/"
updated: "2026-06-23"
category: "Computing & Analysis Resources"
---

# Software for stimulus generation and presentation

**[Psychtoolbox](http://psychtoolbox.org/): Matlab-or Octave-based stimulus presentation library.**

*Pros:*

- Multi-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows).
- Very powerful and with comprehensive support for numerous hardware peripherals (e.g. eye tracking, data recording).
- Extremely precise control of timing for recording responses and presenting stimuli (especially visual).
- Large user community and active forum
- Numerous well documented demo functions that can be readily modified to suit new experiments
- Free and open source

*Cons:*

- Difficult to learn and requires reasonable command of Matlab/Octave
- No GUI interface
- Requires Matlab (proprietary) or Octave (open source)
- Not yet supported on Apple Metal (which suffers from timing issues and is not recommended at the present)

**[PsychoPy](https://www.psychopy.org/): Python-based stimulus presentation library.**

*Pros:*

- Multi-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows).
- Powerful and easy to use with an optional drag-and-drop GUI
- Large user community
- Generally good control of timing
- Well documented

*Cons:*

- Some parts are proprietary/commercial
- Not yet supported on Apple Metal

**[MGL](https://gru.stanford.edu/doku.php/mgl/overview): Matlab-or Octave-based stimulus presentation library.**

For the Linux version, please contact [jonas.larsson@rhul.ac.uk](mailto:jonas.larsson@rhul.ac.uk) for the latest distribution.

*Pros:*

- Similar to Psychtoolbox, but easier to use
- Built-in task library facilitates experiment design

*Cons:*

- Only supported on MacOS and Linux (the Linux version is not as comprehensive as the MacOS one)
- Not yet supported on Apple Metal, so will not work on newer Macs
- No Windows support
- Requires Matlab (can be run with Octave but tends to be slow)

**E-Prime **![FIXME](http://54.236.43.240/lib/images/smileys/fixme.svg)

**Presentation **![FIXME](http://54.236.43.240/lib/images/smileys/fixme.svg)

# Stimulus databases

![FIXME](http://54.236.43.240/lib/images/smileys/fixme.svg)