Katmai vs SpatialChat: Daily Office or Event Space?

The short version: this comparison resolves faster than any other in the category, because these products have quietly stopped competing. SpatialChat is a 2D proximity-video platform that has repositioned around events, webinars, and classrooms. Katmai is virtual office software that feels real: a photorealistic 3D office your team works inside every day. If you need a daily office, Katmai. If you host gatherings, SpatialChat is a fine tool for that different job. The only mistake available here is buying one to do the other's work.

The core difference

SpatialChat's proximity-video rooms, float around a 2D space, hear people near you, were an early and genuinely clever take on spatial presence. Over time the product found its real market: virtual events, workshops, online classrooms, conference networking. Its features, its templates, and its positioning have followed that market.

Katmai is a workplace: always-on photorealistic 3D space, real video presence through the whole workday, spatial audio with physics, private offices and conference rooms, guests by browser link. It's built for the 250 ordinary days a year, not the 5 special ones.

Feature comparison

What SpatialChat does well

For its actual job, SpatialChat is good: guests join effortlessly, proximity audio makes networking sessions feel natural, breakout mechanics work, and educators like it. If your calendar says "quarterly summit" or "cohort workshop," it's a reasonable pick, and cheaper than building an office you'd only use for gatherings.

Why daily-office shoppers end up at Katmai

Session spaces don't become homes. A platform organized around events produces spaces that feel like venues: somewhere you go for a scheduled thing, then leave. An office is the opposite: a persistent place that's yours, that your team returns to by default. Teams that tried running daily work on event tools describe the same drift, attendance decays because nothing about the space says stay.

Presence needs a workday's architecture. Focus states, closable doors, desks that are yours, ambient awareness of who's around: daily presence requires features an event platform has no reason to build. Katmai's entire design is that architecture.

The 2D ceiling, again. Even at its best, an illustrated flat room reads as an interface. A photorealistic 3D office reads as a place, and that difference compounds over hundreds of workdays.

Choose SpatialChat if...

• Your real need is events: summits, webinars, workshops, classes
• Guests join rarely and in volume, not daily
• A free tier for occasional small gatherings covers you

Choose Katmai if...

• Your team needs a daily office, not a venue
• Real presence through the workday is the point
• Clients and candidates will visit a space that should look like yours
• You're 10+ people and want it configured for you

Both, honestly

Some companies run Katmai as the daily office and keep an event tool for big external gatherings. That's a coherent stack, and (worth knowing) Katmai teams run their all-hands, workshops, and offsites in their own office too, which is often where the second tool quietly stops getting renewed.

For the wider category, see the best virtual office software roundup or the virtual office software guide.

FAQ

Is SpatialChat a virtual office?

It began as one, but SpatialChat has repositioned around events, webinars, and classrooms, and its product reflects that. For an always-on daily office, purpose-built platforms like Katmai are the current category.

What's the main difference between Katmai and SpatialChat?

Katmai is a persistent, photorealistic 3D office with real video presence for daily work. SpatialChat is a 2D proximity-video platform built for sessions: events, workshops, and classes.

Can Katmai host events and all-hands?

Yes. Teams run all-hands, workshops, interviews, and offsites in their Katmai office; real spaces handle structured gatherings alongside daily work.

Do either require downloads or VR headsets?

No. Both run in the browser. Katmai's photorealistic 3D requires no headset and nothing to install.