HIDMaestro
Product information | September 21, 2026

HIDMaestro is a free, open-source SDK for creating virtual game controllers on Windows. Applications use its C# API and JSON device profiles to define controller identity, submit input, and receive output such as rumble and force feedback. PadForge uses HIDMaestro for virtual controller output. HIDMaestro is available under the MIT license, including for commercial use.

Website: https://hidmaestro.org/
Press resources: https://hidmaestro.org/press/
Current release: v1.9.0, September 20, 2026
Release notes and downloads: https://github.com/hifihedgehog/HIDMaestro/releases/tag/v1.9.0
Platforms: Windows 10 and 11 on x64. Windows 11 on ARM64.
SDK: C# / .NET 10. The driver and device profiles are embedded in HIDMaestro.Core.dll.
Price: Free.
License: MIT. Commercial use is permitted subject to the license terms.
License text: https://github.com/hifihedgehog/HIDMaestro/blob/v1.9.0/LICENSE

Architecture
Applications submit input through the C# SDK. JSON profiles describe controller
identity and reports. The core HID/XUSB paths use Windows UMDF2. Composite USB
profiles use a signed usbip-win2 transport for USB HID and audio interfaces.
Output events return to the application, which handles physical-device routing.
Input API support depends on the selected profile.

Setup and validation
Device creation and driver installation require administrator rights.
The v1.9.0 release was tested on Windows 11 x64. ARM64 binaries were built and
signed, but the regression battery has not been run on ARM64 hardware.
Installation: https://hidmaestro.org/docs/start/installation/
Platform support: https://hidmaestro.org/docs/start/platform-support/
Quickstart: https://hidmaestro.org/docs/start/quickstart/
Testing: https://hidmaestro.org/docs/reference/testing-and-verification/

References
Specifications: https://hidmaestro.org/specs.html
Architecture: https://hidmaestro.org/docs/reference/architecture-overview/
Input APIs: https://hidmaestro.org/docs/reference/cross-api-coverage/
Profiles: https://hidmaestro.org/docs/profiles/profile-system/
Source: https://github.com/hifihedgehog/HIDMaestro

Press assets
architecture.svg: Architecture overview, 1600 x 960 SVG.
hidmaestro-dark-mark.png: Dark conductor mark for light backgrounds, 1024 x 1024 PNG.
hidmaestro-light-mark.png: Light conductor mark for dark backgrounds, 1024 x 1024 PNG.

Credits
Nefarius pioneered the UMDF2 controller-driver approach in DsHidMini:
https://github.com/nefarius/DsHidMini
Composite USB profiles use usbip-win2 by Vadym Hrynchyshyn:
https://github.com/vadimgrn/usbip-win2
Third-party notices: https://github.com/hifihedgehog/HIDMaestro/blob/v1.9.0/sdk/HIDMaestro.Core/THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt