Comparison
XPF vs the Mission Pinball Framework
If you are planning a homebrew pinball machine in 2026, these are two of the routes open to you — and they are built on opposite philosophies. This page lays out what each one actually gives you, including the cases where MPF is the better answer.
The short answer
MPF is free, open-source software that you install and pair with controller boards you buy elsewhere. It has been developed since 2014, is released under the MIT licence, and supports a wide range of hardware — FAST Pinball, Multimorphic P-ROC/P3-ROC, Open Pinball Project, Stern SPIKE and more. You supply the computer, the boards, the wiring and the integration.
XPF is one wireless node board that you buy from us, with the software included free in the cloud. There is no controller board, no PC in the cabinet, no toolchain and no integration step — but also no source code while the project runs, and no choice of hardware vendor. Our one commitment on that point: if XPF ever stops, all the sources are made public.
Choose MPF if you value openness, hardware freedom and a large existing community. Choose XPF if you want the wiring, the software and the debugging to be one supported system you do not have to assemble yourself.
Side by side
MPF details are taken from the project's public documentation at missionpinball.org, checked August 2026.
| XPF — Extended Pinball Framework | MPF — Mission Pinball Framework | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hardware + hosted software sold as one platform | Software framework only |
| Licence | Proprietary — not open source | Open source, MIT licence |
| Cost of software | Free (cloud) | Free |
| Cost of hardware | XPF node boards, bought from us | Third-party boards, bought separately |
| Controller board | None — every board is the same node board | Required (FAST, P-ROC/P3-ROC, OPP, SPIKE, LISY…) |
| Computer in the cabinet | None — a node board runs the rules | Yes — Windows, Mac, Linux or Raspberry Pi |
| Playfield wiring | Short runs; each node sits by its own coils and switches | Home runs from every coil and switch back to the boards |
| Board-to-board link | ESP32-C3 wireless mesh, 5 ms budget; 48 V/5 V daisy-chained | Wired, per the board vendor's bus |
| Rules are written as | Code or a visual graph, in the browser; AI-assisted | YAML config files, plus Python for custom logic |
| Install / toolchain | Nothing — a browser is enough | Python environment on the machine's computer |
| Simulation without hardware | Browser simulator with ball physics, same rule engine | Virtual platform and Visual Pinball (VPX) integration |
| Debugging | Timeline debugger, precise history of which rule fired which event, record & replay, wiring checker | Logs, config validation, community tooling |
| Display & animations | Integrated animation editor — DMD, LCD, Gottlieb System 1 & 80 (sys1, 80 and 80A) — with 30+ ready-made transitions, text, images, animated images, video and sound | Media controller (MPF-MC) configured in YAML; assets authored in external tools |
| Maturity | New platform | Since 2014; hundreds of machines built |
| Community | Small and growing | Large, active, well documented |
| If the project stops | All sources released publicly if XPF ever shuts down | The source is yours to keep and fork |
| Existing (EM / solid state) machines | Not the target — XPF is for new builds | Supported, including retrofits |
Cells marked in mint are where that platform has the clearer advantage.
When MPF is the better choice
We would rather you build a machine you are happy with than buy the wrong platform from us.
- You want open source. MPF's code is yours under the MIT licence, today, with no conditions. XPF is a hosted service and our boards are ours; our commitment is that if XPF ever stops, all the sources are released publicly — but that is a safety net, not the same thing as owning the code from day one.
- You are restoring an existing machine. MPF handles solid state and EM retrofits, and drives Stern SPIKE and LISY hardware. XPF is designed for new playfields, not for adapting to what is already wired in.
- You already own P-ROC, FAST or OPP boards. MPF will drive them today. Moving to XPF means new hardware.
- You want a large community. Twelve years of forum threads, config examples and build logs is a real asset when you are stuck at 2 a.m. Ours is a fraction of that size.
- You are comfortable in Python and YAML and want the machine to do something unusual that no GUI anticipated. MPF gives you the whole language.
- You need to run fully offline. XPF's editor, debugger and simulator are cloud-hosted; MPF runs entirely on your own computer.
When XPF is the better choice
The cases our design is actually built for.
- You want one thing to buy and one thing to learn. One board type for the whole machine, plus a multimedia node. No controller, no vendor matrix, no compatibility research.
- You do not want a PC in your cabinet. One of the node boards runs the rules. There is no computer to boot, patch, cool or replace.
- You dread the loom. Each node sits next to the coils and switches it drives, so runs are short and only 48 V and 5 V are daisy-chained. No home runs from every switch to a central board.
- You want to start tonight, without buying anything. Sketch a playfield, write rules and play them in the browser simulator before ordering a single board.
- You want debugging built in. A timeline debugger over every switch, coil and lamp event, a precise history telling you which rule triggered which event, record & replay of a real ball against modified rules, and a wiring checker that catches a swapped connector in seconds.
- You want the display done in the same place as the rules. An integrated animation editor for DMD, LCD and Gottlieb System 1 & 80 displays (sys1, 80 and 80A), with more than thirty ready-made transitions and support for text, images, animated images, video and sound — no separate media pipeline to assemble.
- You would rather not maintain a toolchain. No Python environment, no compiler, no drivers — and firmware and cloud update together, so the two never drift apart.
Two things worth being straight about
MPF is genuinely good, and it is free. It has run hundreds of homebrew machines and a few commercial ones since 2014. If the open-source model matters to you, nothing on this page should talk you out of it — and you can try it without spending anything.
XPF is not open source, and that is a real trade-off. You are trusting a supplier rather than owning a codebase. What we do commit to is that the day XPF stops, all the sources — firmware, cloud software and hardware design — are released publicly, so the platform cannot simply disappear with us. We think the integration you get in return is worth it for a first build; you may not, and that is a legitimate call. We would rather say so here than have you discover it after ordering.
XPF is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Mission Pinball Framework project. MPF, FAST Pinball, Multimorphic, P-ROC, Open Pinball Project and Stern are the property of their respective owners. MPF details on this page come from the project's public documentation and were checked in August 2026; if anything here has become inaccurate, tell us and we will correct it.
FAQ
Common questions about switching
Is XPF an alternative to MPF?
Partly. MPF is software that drives controller boards you buy separately, so an MPF setup is really MPF plus a hardware vendor. XPF replaces both halves at once: the node boards and the rule software come from the same place and are designed against each other. If you are comparing total setups rather than software alone, then yes — they are alternatives.
Can XPF run MPF configuration files?
No. MPF describes a machine in YAML config files aimed at its own device model; XPF uses its own rule format, written as code or as a visual graph. The concepts carry over — modes, multiball, ball saves, scoring, shot sequences — so the design work you did in MPF is not wasted, but the files themselves do not transfer and would need rewriting.
Can I use XPF boards with MPF?
No. MPF talks to supported controller boards over their documented interfaces, and XPF nodes are not among them — they speak their own wireless protocol and run the XPF rule engine on the board itself. The two are not interchangeable in either direction.
Which is cheaper for a first machine?
Both software packages are free, so the difference is hardware. With MPF you buy controller boards from a third party and supply a computer for the cabinet; with XPF you buy one node board per group of playfield mechanisms and no computer at all. Which totals less depends on your playfield size and which boards you would have chosen — compare the actual bill of materials for your design rather than the platforms in the abstract.
Do I need to know how to program?
For MPF, most rules are written in YAML config files, with Python available for anything unusual — so no formal programming for the common cases, but you are editing structured text. XPF gives you the same rules as code or as a visual graph, with AI assistance, so you can wire a mode up without writing text at all. Neither removes the need to think carefully about game logic.
What happens to my machine if XPF disappears?
This is the fair question to ask any closed platform, and we will not pretend otherwise: your boards keep the firmware they have, but the cloud editor, debugger and simulator are hosted by us. Our commitment is that if XPF ever stops, all the sources — firmware, cloud software and hardware design — are released publicly, so the platform can be picked up and kept alive by the people using it. MPF's answer is still the simpler one: the MIT licence gives you the code today, without waiting for anything to happen. If that difference is the deciding factor for you, MPF is the safer choice.