SpectralBench
Free companion software for Renishaw Raman instruments — open WDF files in any browser
Renishaw is one of the leading manufacturers of Raman spectrometers — the inVia confocal microscope, Qontor, and RA802 Pharmaceutical Analyser are found in research labs, QC facilities, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Every Renishaw instrument saves data in the proprietary WDF format (WiRE Data Format), readable only by Renishaw's WiRE software.
The problem: WiRE licenses are tied to the instrument computer. If you want to analyze your Raman data on a laptop, share spectra with a collaborator at another institution, or access your data from a Mac or Linux machine, you're stuck. Exporting to CSV from WiRE works, but you lose the convenience of working directly with your native WDF files.
SpectralBench reads Renishaw WDF files natively — drop a .wdf file onto the viewer and your Raman spectrum appears instantly. No WiRE license and no installation required. SpectralBench parses the binary WDF format directly, extracting the Raman shift axis and intensity data from WiRE's block structure.
From there, you can detect peaks, apply baseline correction and fluorescence removal, compare spectra from different instruments, and export to any format — CSV for Excel, JCAMP-DX for open interchange, JSON or MATLAB for scripting. Everything runs with no installation required.
Renishaw WDF support: SpectralBench parses the WiRE Data Format (.wdf) binary structure directly — Raman shift, intensity, and metadata are extracted without any vendor software.
Drag your .wdf file onto SpectralBench. The parser detects the Renishaw format automatically and extracts your Raman spectrum.
Interactive Raman spectrum with zoom, peak detection, baseline correction, and comparison with reference libraries.
Convert to CSV, JCAMP-DX, JSON, or MATLAB. Share with collaborators on any platform — no WiRE needed on their end.
| Feature | Renishaw WiRE | SpectralBench |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Commercial license (instrument-tied) | Free |
| Platform | Windows only (instrument PC) | Any browser (Mac, Linux, Windows, iPad) |
| File Formats | Proprietary WDF + limited export | WDF, JCAMP-DX, SPC, CSV + 25 more |
| Peak Identification | Manual annotation in WiRE | Automatic Raman peak ID with confidence scores |
| Cross-Instrument | Renishaw data only | Vendor-neutral (any manufacturer) |
| Export Formats | Limited (WDF, CSV, image) | CSV, JCAMP-DX, SPC, JSON, MATLAB, SVG, PNG, PDF |
| Collaboration | None (file-based) | Shareable links, community library |
SpectralBench supports spectral data from any instrument, not just Renishaw:
Yes. SpectralBench reads Renishaw WiRE WDF files directly — just drop your .wdf file onto the viewer. No WiRE license and no export step required. For map and series WDF files, SpectralBench loads the first spectrum.
Renishaw ships WiRE (Windows-based Raman Environment) as its proprietary analysis software, but WiRE licenses are tied to the instrument computer. SpectralBench is a free browser-based alternative for viewing, processing, and exporting Raman data from Renishaw instruments — on any computer, any operating system.
Drop your WDF file onto SpectralBench to view your Raman spectrum instantly. From there you can identify peaks, compare spectra from different instruments, apply baseline correction and smoothing, and export to CSV, JCAMP-DX, JSON, or MATLAB — no install required.