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DisplayBuddy vs Luminance: catalog facts
DisplayBuddy	Luminance
Best for: Mac or Windows users with external monitors they want to adjust without the hardware buttons	Best for: Linux users with external monitors who want software brightness control
Paid Paid app with a 7-day refund on full-price purchases; also available through Setapp.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence.
Windows, macOS	Linux
Controls brightness, contrast, volume and input over DDC Handles several displays from one menu All 4 strengths for DisplayBuddy Controls brightness, contrast, volume and input over DDC Handles several displays from one menu Presets switch a whole monitor setup at once Works with monitors from most major brands	Controls external monitor brightness over DDC/CI Simple GTK interface All 3 strengths for Luminance Controls external monitor brightness over DDC/CI Simple GTK interface Includes a GNOME Shell extension
Paid, with no free tier mentioned Depends on the monitor supporting DDC control	External monitors must support DDC/CI Linux only
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-3.0-only
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for DisplayBuddy displaybuddy.app Catalog checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Luminance github.com/sidevesh/Luminance Catalog checked October 1, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.