# Frontends

In this guide, you'll learn:

* What frontends are
* The differences between `vpython_frontend` and `plotly_frontend`

## What are Frontends?

**Frontends** are functions that return another set of functions to display a simulation. All three display functions (`live`, `run`, and `show` - see [live-show-and-run](https://jewels86.gitbook.io/axinite/axtools/functions/live-show-and-run "mention")) take a frontend as an argument.

## Included Frontends

Currently, there are only 2 frontends included with `axtools`:

* `vpython_frontend`
* `plotly_frontend`

Each has there own use cases and drawbacks.

<table><thead><tr><th>Frontend</th><th width="184">Pros</th><th>Cons</th><th width="140" data-type="checkbox">Live?</th><th data-type="checkbox">Static?</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>VPython</td><td>Simple, colorful, and easy to use</td><td>Doesn't show details</td><td>true</td><td>true</td></tr><tr><td>Plotly</td><td>Shows numbers and includes lots of navigation options</td><td>Doesn't support real-time displays</td><td>false</td><td>true</td></tr><tr><td>Matplotlib 2D</td><td>Offers a lot of data</td><td>Can be a bit harder to understand</td><td>true</td><td>true</td></tr><tr><td>Matplotlib 3D</td><td>Simple and to the point</td><td>Less features than others</td><td>false</td><td>true</td></tr></tbody></table>