Comparison

PaceFinder vs SimHub: Which Forza Telemetry Tool Should You Use?

Two popular tools, two different philosophies. PaceFinder focuses on session history and AI coaching; SimHub focuses on customisable dashboards and hardware integration. Here's how they actually compare.

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Short answer

  • Pick SimHub if you want a heavily customisable dashboard, hardware integration (button boxes, shakers, RGB), and support for nearly every sim on the market.
  • Pick PaceFinder if you want automatic session logging, lap-time trend analysis, and AI coaching that reads your historical data — focused on Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon.
  • They're not mutually exclusive. Both listen to Forza's UDP stream and don't conflict. Plenty of people run both.

What each tool is, briefly

SimHub

SimHub is a Windows desktop application that has been around for years. It started as a dash builder and expanded into a general-purpose sim racing hub: customisable dashboards, hardware integration (Arduino, bass shakers, RGB strips, button boxes), overlays, and telemetry export. It supports virtually every modern racing sim — iRacing, ACC, rFactor 2, AMS2, Forza, and more. It's free with optional paid licenses for advanced features.

PaceFinder

PaceFinder is an open-source telemetry application focused on Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon. It runs as a Python listener on any machine — Windows, macOS, or Linux — captures UDP packets, stores every session in a local SQLite database, and serves a web dashboard you can open from any device. It includes an AI coaching engine (Spotter) that analyses your sessions against your own history. MIT licensed.

Side-by-side

Platform support

  • SimHub: Windows only. The application itself runs on the same PC as the game.
  • PaceFinder: Windows, macOS, Linux. Often run on a separate machine — a spare laptop, a Pi — so the gaming PC stays unburdened.

Sim coverage

  • SimHub: Broad — iRacing, ACC, rFactor 2, AMS2, AC, F1, Forza, RBR, and others.
  • PaceFinder: Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon today. ACC and F1 support is on the roadmap.

Live dashboard

  • SimHub: Highly customisable dashboards designed for in-rig displays, button boxes, and tablet overlays. Visual editor, large community library of dashboards.
  • PaceFinder: Web-based dashboard you open in any browser on any device on your network. Opinionated layout — speed, throttle, brake, slip — rather than infinitely customisable.

Session logging & history

  • SimHub: Has lap data and export, but session-by-session history and trend tracking are not the focus.
  • PaceFinder: Every session is automatically saved and browsable by circuit. Lap-time trends, best laps, and progress over time are the core feature.

AI coaching

  • SimHub: Not a built-in feature.
  • PaceFinder: Spotter analyses your session against your historical baseline at each circuit and gives focused coaching feedback. Bring your own Anthropic API key.

Hardware integration

  • SimHub: Strong — Arduino, RGB, bass shakers, button boxes, motion seats.
  • PaceFinder: Not a focus. PaceFinder is about analysis and coaching, not driving hardware peripherals.

Where your data lives

  • SimHub: Local files on the PC running it.
  • PaceFinder: Local SQLite database and raw UDP packets on the machine running the listener. No cloud, no accounts.

Licensing

  • SimHub: Free with optional paid licenses for advanced features. Closed source.
  • PaceFinder: MIT licensed, fully open source.
These tools don't compete for the same UDP packets. Both listen passively to Forza's Data Out stream. You can run SimHub for in-rig dashboards and hardware, and PaceFinder for session history and coaching — at the same time, on the same network.

Which one fits which kind of sim racer

Choose SimHub if…

  • You race across multiple sims and want one tool that supports all of them.
  • You have hardware — button boxes, shakers, RGB strips — that you want driven from telemetry.
  • You enjoy building and customising your own dashboards.
  • You're on Windows and happy to keep the telemetry tool on the same machine as the game.

Choose PaceFinder if…

  • You race primarily on Forza Motorsport or Forza Horizon.
  • You want every session captured automatically, with no manual export, so you can see lap-time trends over weeks and months.
  • You want AI coaching that's specific to your own history at each circuit.
  • You want to keep the telemetry tool off your gaming PC — running on a Mac, a Pi, or a spare laptop.
  • Open source matters to you and you'd like to be able to read or modify the code.

The bottom line

SimHub and PaceFinder solve adjacent problems. SimHub is the right answer if you want a customisable dashboard and hardware integration across many sims. PaceFinder is the right answer if you want a focused, Forza-specific tool that logs every session and helps you find pace through your own historical data.

Try one. If it's not the right shape for what you want, try the other. They're both free to start with, and they don't get in each other's way.

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Track your improvement with Pacefinder

The fastest way to apply what you've learned is to measure it. Pacefinder logs your lap times, positions gained, and consistency score across every session — so you can see exactly what's working.

Install Pacefinder

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Forza Data Out Setup

Both tools read the same UDP stream. Set it up once.

How to read a telemetry trace

Whichever tool you choose, this is how you turn the data into faster laps.