WSJT-X alternative without installing anything
WSJT-X is the well-known program for FT8. If it runs for you and you miss nothing, there is no reason to switch. CloudHamSuite is meant for the case where you cannot or do not want to install anything, or where you want station, logbook and map in one place.
CloudHamSuite is not a project of the WSJT-X team and does not use its decoder. The FT8 decoder is our own.
Try it with no install and no account
What is different
| Topic | WSJT-X | CloudHamSuite |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Install a program | Open the page in Chrome or Edge; only the rig's USB driver has to be there |
| Without internet | Receiving and transmitting work | Does not work, the station is loaded from cloudhamsuite.de |
| Rig | At the computer, controlled through Hamlib among others | At the computer with the browser, controlled through Hamlib, serial CAT only |
| Logbook | File on the computer | In your account, export as ADIF at any time |
| Modes | Many, including FT8, FT4 and WSPR | FT8, FT4 and WSPR; JS8, SSTV, FreeDV and Winlink as experiments in the settings |
What the decoder measured
We compared our FT8 decoder with jt9 -8 -d 3 from WSJT-X 3.0.2
on the same WAV files. The recordings come from an IC-7300, 15 minutes each on
15 m and 80 m on 18 October 2026, 119 time slots together. They were made only
after the decoder was fixed and were never used for tuning.
- CloudHamSuite found 1894 texts, jt9 found 1562.
- Both found 1553, only CloudHamSuite 341, only jt9 9.
- Of the 341 texts, 338 had a sender that could be checked. Other stations reported all 338 to PSKReporter or RBN on the same band within two minutes.
These are counted decodes from one station, one antenna and one afternoon,
not a statement about sensitivity. jt9 ran without its own callsign; WSJT-X
in live operation, which already knows the callsigns during a QSO, was not
compared. The decoder shipped today is one round newer than the measured one
and has not been run over these recordings. The full measurement is in our
decoder documentation (docs/FT8_DECODER.md, section “Holdout
18.10”, in German); the repository is not public.
Where WSJT-X fits better
- Without internet. For example portable operation with no network.
- Another browser. CloudHamSuite needs Chrome or Edge on a computer. Firefox or Safari will not do.
- A rig nobody has tried with us yet. Verified on the rig are the IC-7300 and IC-9700. For the other models in the list of supported rigs that is still open.
- Contests. Full-auto sends the normal FT8 sequence; there is no contest exchange.
Both at once on the same serial port does not work. Only one program can open it at a time, so close WSJT-X before you connect the station.
Taking your logbook along
With an account, the logbook reads an ADIF file, and WSJT-X writes its log
as ADIF (wsjtx_log.adi). Export is ADIF again. Guests have no
logbook.
Read on
- FT8 in the browser: what you need and how it works
- Requirements in the help