The 8 Best D&D VTTs

The Top D&D Virtual Tabletops

Finding the perfect virtual tabletop (VTT) for your group depends on what you need—whether it’s deep integration with D&D Beyond, a sleek and modern UI, or a no-frills setup that gets you into the game fast. Below, we’ve outlined some of the best VTTs available, breaking down their pros, cons, and best use

• Best VTT for D&D Beyond Users: D&D Beyond Maps
• Best Free VTT: Owlbear Rodeo
• Best All-Purpose VTT: Roll20
• Best for Automation and Advanced Features: Fantasy Grounds
• Best for Tech-Savvy Groups: Foundry VTT
• Best for Immersive 3D Gameplay: TaleSpire
• Best for Simple and Fast Games: Owlbear Rodeo

If you’re looking for map-making software that best suits your needs, check out our guide to the best D&D map makers!

D&D Beyond Maps

D&D Beyond Maps is an official VTT built directly into D&D Beyond, offering seamless integration with characters, encounters, and purchased and free adventure content. Designed for ease of use, it provides a straightforward way to bring your games to life without the need for third-party software.

Pros

• Fully integrated with D&D Beyond, allowing easy access to purchased maps, encounters, and character sheets.
• Simple and intuitive interface, making it beginner-friendly.
• Supports official D&D modules, pre-loaded with adventure maps and tokens.
• Web-based, requiring no additional downloads or extensions.
• Tons of free content, including everything in the D&D Free Rules, 2014 Basic Rules, and some adventures.
• Allows you to upload your own maps and use tokens from homebrewed monsters.
• Includes an encounter builder and an Initiative tracker.

Cons

• Requires a monthly subscription.
• Limited customization options compared to other VTTs.
• No support for third-party RPG systems.
• Still in development, lacking some advanced features like dynamic lighting.

Use Cases

D&D Beyond Maps is ideal for groups already invested in the D&D Beyond ecosystem. If you primarily play official 5e adventures and want a simple, no-fuss way to run encounters with built-in maps and tokens, this VTT is a great choice. While it lacks some of the advanced features of other platforms, its ease of use and direct integration with DDB make it a strong option for quick, hassle-free games.

It’s also one of the most intuitive and polished options, resulting in a very low learning curve, so DMs can jump straight into their games.

AboveVTT

AboveVTT is an all-in-one browser extension that transforms your D&D Beyond (DDB) campaign page into a fully functional VTT. It integrates directly with DDB, meaning no additional sign-ups or fees—just install the extension, connect your DDB account, and you’re ready to play.

Pros

• Seamless DDB integration—use your character sheet, send spells and abilities to chat, and roll directly from DDB.
• One-click monster tokens from DDB, including official and homebrew creatures.
• Massive map library, including official DDB maps, community-sourced battle maps, and animated video maps.
• Supports dynamic lighting, fog of war, and custom token images.
• Free to use and open source with a thriving Discord and Reddit community providing ongoing support and content.

Cons

• Requires a DDB account to function.
• Limited to D&D 5e and DDB content—doesn’t support other RPG systems.

Use Cases

AboveVTT is the perfect solution for groups who already use D&D Beyond for character management and adventure content. Since it runs directly within your browser, setup is nearly instant, and you can import everything from your DDB purchases with a single click. The extension also boasts powerful DM tools, including scene management, grid wizards, and a projector mode for streamers.

If you’re looking for a lightweight, DDB-integrated VTT with minimal setup and powerful features, AboveVTT is one of the best options available.

Roll20

Roll20 has been around for a long time and continues to be one of the most popular VTTs available today.

Pros

• Supports almost any system – D&D, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and tons more.
• Offers support from Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, and hundreds of individual creators.
• Allows you to upload your own images for a custom campaign.
• Free to use! No purchase is needed to get started, whether you’re a player or a DM.

Cons

• It’s starting to show its age, being one of the oldest VTTs on the market. This is most evident in its clunky, hard-to-navigate UI.

Use Cases

Roll20 remains to be one of the most popular VTTs on the internet, and for good reason. It’s easy to get started and supports almost any game right out of the box. Paired with the huge swath of content that’s already available on the platform, ranging from official versions of popular adventures to indie creators’ latest hits, this VTT offers tons of content for any group of tabletop gamers.

However, the platform’s god-awful UI leaves something to be desired. It’s hard to navigate, is not at all pretty to look at, and is plagued with awful menus-within-menus. It makes playing Crusader Kings II look like fingerpainting.

All in all, Roll20 is a great starting place to get your feet wet with VTTs. It’s got a huge community of players, and you’re bound to find someone to help you guide yourself through the interface so you can get a game going.

Fantasy Grounds

Almost twice the age of Roll20, Fantasy Grounds boasts a powerful platform that supports a solid amount of game systems and comes with a lot more out of the box than appears at first glance.

Pros

• Tons of support for over 20 different systems.
• Lots of time-saving features such as automation and a great implementation for whatever system you’re playing, as well as random tables for DMs.
• Tons of assets, maps and tokens are included with the paid license.
• You get to roll 3D dice and watch them bounce around your screen.

Cons

• It’s paid software, so at least one person in your group has to pay for the $149 license, or everyone has to pay for the $39 license. There is a monthly subscription as well.
• Getting everything set up can be complicated for first-time users.
• Not as much support for smaller indie systems.

Use Cases

Fantasy Grounds is like the “power gamer” option of VTTs. It’s not as popular as Roll20 but offers a pretty similar amount of content. Those looking to play D&D or Pathfinder will be in luck, as well as some other notable systems that have been implemented. However, those looking to play lesser-known games may struggle to find support here.

It’s also important to talk about the price. While several VTTs are free, Fantasy Grounds is one of the few ones that has an upfront cost just to use the service. Players are able to play for free, as long as someone in the group has paid for the “Ultimate” package, at a whopping $149. This also doesn’t come with any of the books needed to actually run a game and just gives you permission to use the software.

For those who’ve got the wallets and the time to get a session up and running, Fantasy Grounds has you covered.

Foundry

One of the newest VTTs on the market, Foundry only came out of its closed beta in 2021. Despite being in testing for the last few years, it’s quickly become home to plenty of dedicated players.

Pros

• Features dynamic lighting, fog of war, playlists, and built-in VoIP.
• Runs as a self-hosted application, which means it doesn’t rely on any third parties outside of your group.
• Supports almost 200 different systems.
• Offers a huge variety of add-ons to improve or change how you play.

Cons

• Can take some getting used to when setting up your custom space.
• It’s still a fairly new product, and there are some growing pains within the community.

Use Cases

It’s exciting to see Foundry come such a long way in such a short time. Beginning its development only a few years ago, Foundry is now a feature-rich, complete package. It supports so many games and systems that it’s hard to compare it to other platforms.

It also has a very robust community that is dedicated to creating new modules and content to add to Foundry. Content creators are constantly adding new animations, music, art assets, and even rulesets to the program.. It may take a little time to get everything you want, but you can certainly get started quickly.

Tech-savvy gamers will love Foundry for its digital-first approach to its implementation, and TTRPG lovers will enjoy it for its ease of use and immersion features.

TaleSpire

One of the only fully 3D VTTs out there, TaleSpire aims to immerse you into the game just as much as a video game would.

Pros

• Beautiful 3D graphics and high-definition models and textures serve to bring you into your own world.
• Offers a robust map-making feature to let you build your encounters just the way you envisioned them.
• The platform is rules-agnostic for now, so it allows almost any system to be run.
• Offers great mod support through Steam, so you can find or make whatever you need.

Cons

• It’s still an Early Access product, and some features are missing.
• The platform is rules-agnostic for now, which means that you’re probably going to be doing a lot of paperwork and note-keeping outside of TaleSpire.
• Each player who wants to join a session needs to have their own copy of TaleSpire ($25), or one GM can host it and others can view it via screen sharing.

Use Cases

TaleSpire’s beautiful visual style paired with its callbacks to the real maps and minis experience feels like it will be the future of playing D&D through VTTs.

However, because the platform is so new, it is missing a few features. It doesn’t have any support for rules currently, meaning it’s just a dice roller and a mapmaker. For some, that’s exactly what they’re looking for, but it may not work for you and your group.

It also comes at a bit of a price – your DM can mitigate this by owning a copy of TaleSpire and running everything on their end, allowing you to view it as things play out. However, if you want to be able to participate, you’ll need to pony up some dough for your own copy.

Shard Tabletop

Shard is a labor of love that’s been in the making ever since its two creators met in high school in the 80s. It recently exceeded its Kickstarter funding goal in early 2021 by over four times, and nothing seems to be slowing them down.

Pros

• Entirely free! It comes with a good variety of assets to get your Dungeons and Dragons game up and running in no time.
• Tons of support from third-party creators means there’s a lot of homebrew content available for purchase on the platform.
• Also offers digital character sheets as a standalone product.

Cons

• Shard only supports Dungeons and Dragons 5E, and I don’t believe there are any plans to include other non-5E based systems.
• No official support or implementation of any of the 5th edition books, only the SRD. This means you’ll need to transfer everything you’re going to use into each of your campaigns by hand.

Use Cases

Shard is another newcomer to the scene, and it’s specifically aimed at 5th edition over anything else. It has some big third-party publishers supporting it, but there’s no official content from Wizards of the Coast.

Only including the SRD for 5e means that there can be a lot of work to set up a game since the SRD is such a brief portion of the Player’s Handbook. Adding in any content from other books can be a painfully long process.

However, Shard Tabletop remains free and can be used by anyone, with or without a subscription. This means it’s much easier to convince your friends to give it a shot.

Owlbear Rodeo

Who needs all these fancy bells and whistles? What if you just want a map, some tokens, and some dice? That’s where Owlbear Rodeo come in.

Pros

• No accounts, no signing up, no purchases whatsoever.
• Super simple, rules agnostic tabletop that just lets you get in and play a game.
• Everything is saved locally, so there’s no limit to what you upload for your players to use or see.

Cons

• It’s really no-frills. Don’t expect anything fancy from Owlbear Rodeo.

Use Cases

If minimalism had a virtual tabletop, this is it. Unlike John Hammond sparing no expense on his dinosaur accident island, Owlbear Rodeo is about as basic as it gets.

And that’s not a bad thing, not at all. Instead of spending hours trying to familiarize yourself with a clunky UI, or trying to figure out how to add your D&D books to your VTT, just play! Sure, you’ll need to have some books handy, but you’ll sacrifice handiness for accessibility.

Why use Virtual Tabletops for D&D?

Virtual tabletops have allowed Dungeons and Dragons to evolve from a pen-and-paper game to a digital experience. While not every Dungeon Master uses maps and miniatures, it has become the preferred way to play for many since 3.5 edition. VTTs are now used extensively when groups decide to play online with maps, and for a variety of reasons:

• Scheduling – It’s always been hard to get a group of friends together for anything, let alone a night of D&D. Using VTTs allows groups to meet up without needing to go anywhere. As long as everyone is online, you’re good to go!
• Immersion – Some Virtual Tabletops offer breathtaking immersion, much more than what you can get out of minis on a physical map. While most VTTs are 2D only, they can provide detailed maps and icons for everything a player would need, as well as sound effects and music. There are only a couple of 3D VTTs out there now, but they add an even deeper layer of immersion while playing.
• Plenty of Premade Content – Several VTTs offer support for creators to upload and share their own content with others. Even official outlets like Wizards of the Coast and Paizo have offered resources for their official adventures on some platforms, making it much easier for DMs to get down to business.