PyroPortal vs FWX Pro

PyroPortal and FWX Pro are both UK products for professional fireworks display companies. FWX Pro is made by TinyPixel. We make PyroPortal, so weigh this accordingly.

Everything said here about FWX Pro comes from its public website, fwx.pro, as read on 1 September 2026. Where its site does not mention something we say so, which is not the same as saying it is not there. If we have got anything wrong, tell us and we will correct it.

Who each is built for

FWX Pro describes itself as "Built for fireworks crews" and leads with "Plan. Prep. Fire. Deliver with precision." Its feature list is weighted towards the chain from design to firing: manual displays or Finale 3D script import, drag-and-drop cue lists, colour-coded labels, pick lists, position signs, rack plans, a "Magic Scanner" that recognises case labels through the camera, and minute-by-minute rainfall and wind monitoring on the night. Around that sit crew availability and records, equipment and vehicle planning, site maps, inherited risk assessments and method statements, show logs and show packs.

PyroPortal is built around the office, the magazine and the crew as one system. It starts earlier in the job: emails parsed into enquiries, a client booking page per show, supplier purchase orders and goods-in, a typed stock movement log with cost snapshots, and per-show margins computed from what actually moved. On the crew side it has a per-operator portal with one-tap confirm or decline, PPE sign-off per show, pre-show and post-show checklists, and a training matrix with expiries.

They overlap in the middle: display records, stock levels, site maps, crew, checklists and show packs. They differ at the ends: FWX Pro goes deeper on the firing side, PyroPortal on the buying and money side.

Features side by side

Area	PyroPortal	FWX Pro
Enquiries	Forwarded emails parsed by AI into enquiries; enquiry converts to a display; lost reasons recorded	Booking forms create enquiries; accept or reject enquiries
Client-facing page	One permanent public page per booking; client confirms date, venue and price, messages you, leaves feedback	Not mentioned on its site
Show design	Drag-and-drop cues, sequences and modules with a BoM and rolled-up totals; paste a product list to get BoM lines	Manual displays or Finale 3D script import; firework selection; drag-and-drop cue lists
Finale 3D import	Not offered	Script import claimed
Picking	Printable show pack; Pick and Prep on a phone with an explicit sign-off	Picking progress; pick lists; Magic Scanner reads case labels by camera
Labels, position signs, rack plans	Not offered	Colour-coded labels, position signs and rack plans claimed
Stock	Catalogue with attributes; per-store levels, reorder thresholds and bins; typed movements with cost snapshots; mobile stock-check	Live stock levels and movements; Excel imports
Magazine limits	Multiple stores with per-hazard-category limits; live utilisation shown	Stock against licensed store limits
Supplier orders	Smart-paste purchase orders; live on-order quantities; per-line query, cancel or substitute; goods-in writes movements	Incoming orders with partial delivery; supplier purchase orders not mentioned on its site
Per-show financials	Payments per show; real margin from design and stock moved; show-margins and financial-year cost of goods reports	Not mentioned on its site
Crew	Assign with role and pay; crew portal with own shows; one-tap confirm or decline; paid status	Crew availability requests; crew records and qualifications
Training	Per-operator records with dates and expiries; whole-team matrix grid; competency reviews	Crew records and qualifications; training matrix with expiries not mentioned on its site
PPE	Per-show, per-person PPE sign-off; ticks on behalf recorded by name	Not mentioned on its site
Checklists	Your own pre-show and post-show templates; photos; warnings acknowledged by name; optional GPS stamp	Equipment checklists; show logs; completion records
Risk assessments and method statements	Issue tracker with severity and status, scheduled reviews; RA and MS documents not offered	Inherited risk assessments; reusable method statements
Equipment and vehicles	Not offered	Equipment checklists; vehicle and transport planning
Site maps	GeoJSON site plan per venue with per-show copies and image export	Reusable site maps
Weather	Site forecast around setup and firing; Met Office Fire Severity Index outlook, archived daily	Minute-by-minute rainfall and wind monitoring
AI connector	MCP server so Claude or any MCP client can query your live data, permission-checked	Not mentioned on its site
Document numbering	Per-tenant number series on records	Not mentioned on its site

The same word on both sides does not mean the same feature.

Pricing

FWX Pro prices per show on a slider: all features, unlimited users, crew, stock and sites. Its site shows about £35 a show at 10 shows, £20 a show from 50 to 150, £18 at 250, and a custom plan above 400. The worked example on its pricing page is 150 shows at £300 a month or £3,000 a year, annual billing described as two months free. There is a 14-day free trial with no card.

PyroPortal prices by confirmed displays a year in four bands, all features on every band: Spark free up to 10 (3 users, 1 magazine, 25 products); Starter £39 a month or £390 a year up to 30; Pro £85 or £850 up to 70; Operations £215 or £2,150 up to 200. Paid bands have unlimited users and crew. The AI Assistant add-on is £5 per user a month. There is no trial: start on Spark and upgrade when you need to.

All figures ex VAT. Annual prices below.

Shows a year	PyroPortal	FWX Pro
10	£0 on Spark, within its limits; otherwise £390 on Starter	About £350
30	£390 on Starter	About £800 (estimate, interpolated between the 10 and 50 show points)
70	£850 on Pro	About £1,400 (estimate, at the £20 a show rate)
150	£2,150 on Operations	£3,000, as shown on its pricing page

PyroPortal counts only confirmed displays, so enquiries, quotes and rained-off dates do not use up a band. FWX Pro's slider is continuous, so between the points above its price sits between them; check its page for your exact number.

When FWX Pro is the better fit

If your show starts life in Finale 3D and you want the script in the same system as your stock and crew, FWX Pro claims that and PyroPortal does not. The same goes for cue lists as a first-class object.

If you want labels, position signs and rack plans printed from the system, FWX Pro lists all three. PyroPortal prints a pick sheet and a firing order with a layout column, and that is as far as it goes.

If you want risk assessments and method statements built and inherited inside the tool, FWX Pro claims that. PyroPortal has an issue tracker and scheduled reviews, and leaves the documents to you.

If equipment checklists and vehicle and transport planning matter to your operation, FWX Pro lists them. PyroPortal does not do either.

If minute-by-minute rain and wind on the night is what you want, that is FWX Pro. PyroPortal gives a site forecast around setup and firing and the Fire Severity Index outlook, which answers a different question.

Magic Scanner is a different idea, and PyroPortal has nothing like it.

And if you want to try the whole product for a fortnight with nothing committed, FWX Pro's trial is designed for exactly that.

When PyroPortal is the better fit

If the pain is in the office rather than on the field, PyroPortal starts earlier in the job. Emails become enquiries, enquiries become displays, and every client gets a booking page where they confirm the date, venue and price and send you the gate code.

If you buy in bulk, PyroPortal builds supplier purchase orders from a pasted supplier file, tracks on-order quantities live, handles short deliveries line by line, and writes the stock movements at goods-in. FWX Pro's site mentions incoming orders with partial delivery, not purchase orders to suppliers.

If you want to know what a show actually made, PyroPortal computes margin from the stock that moved, at the cost snapshotted when it moved, and rolls that into show-margins and financial-year cost of goods reports.

If you keep a training matrix with expiries, want PPE confirmed per person per show, and want your own pre-show and post-show checklists with photos and acknowledged warnings, all three are in PyroPortal today.

If you want to ask an AI assistant about your own stock, shows and orders, PyroPortal ships an MCP connector for that.

And on price, at 10 to 70 shows a year PyroPortal is the cheaper of the two on the figures above, and at 10 it can be free.

Questions operators ask

Can we move from one to the other?

Both accept spreadsheet imports: FWX Pro lists Excel imports, PyroPortal has a paste-based wizard for products and smart-paste for supplier files. Neither, as far as we can tell, offers a direct migration from the other, so expect to export, import and re-key the rest.

Does PyroPortal import Finale 3D scripts?

No. Show design is a drag-and-drop builder with a BoM, and you can paste a product list to create BoM lines, but there is no script import.

Which one has a free trial?

FWX Pro offers a 14-day trial with no card. PyroPortal has no trial clock: Spark is free up to 10 confirmed displays, and you upgrade when you pass it.

Does either charge per user?

Neither, for the core product. FWX Pro states unlimited users and crew on every plan; PyroPortal's paid bands have unlimited users and crew, and Spark allows 3. The only per-user charge on PyroPortal is the optional AI Assistant add-on.

Try both on real data

A feature table is a poor way to choose software for a season. Put one real show, one real supplier order and one real crew through both. FWX Pro's trial is built for that; on PyroPortal, Spark is free with no clock, so the same test costs nothing.

See it on your own data

Start with the display workflow, enquiry to reviewed, then check what your confirmed displays would cost on the pricing page. Spark is free and there is no card to enter.