GEVIBench — Genetically Encoded Voltage Indicator Benchmark

Compare 70 voltage indicators by speed, brightness, sensitivity, dynamic range, photostability, and popularity.

All Sensors

2Photron — Chemigenetic voltage indicator built from Klebsormidium nitens rhodopsin and HaloTag, engineered for two-photon voltage imaging.
Ace2N-mNeon — First Opsin-fluorescent protein FRET voltage indicator using an Ace2 opsin,.
Ace2N-mNeon2 — Improved Ace2N-mNeon variant optimized for lower illumination power.
AMBER — First autonomous bioluminescent voltage indicator by pairing a VSD with a self-sufficient luciferase enzyme.
Arch — The first archaerhodopsin-based voltage indicator, establishing that microbial opsins can optically report membrane potential, though with extremely dim baseline fluorescence.
Archer1 — Archaerhodopsin variant functioning as both a voltage indicator and a light-activated neuronal silencer.
Archer2 — Archaerhodopsin variant that further suppresses photocurrents at the expense of slower kinetics and lower sensitivity than its Archer1.
Archon1 — Robotically evolved archaerhodopsin variant with improved brightness, millisecond kinetics, and exceptional photostability for long-duration recordings.
Archon2 — Sibling variant of Archon1 with superior membrane localization and brightness at the cost of reduced sensitivity.
ArcLight — Classic GEVI using a VSD fused to pH-sensitive GFP.
ASAP1 — First ASAP sensor, establishing the VSD/cpGFP architecture for fast, negative-going fluorescence responses to voltage.
ASAP2s — Higher-sensitivity ASAP1 variant that trades speed for larger fluorescence responses.
ASAP3 — 3rd-gen ASAP sensor with large fluorescence modulation and fast kinetics.
ASAP4b — Bright-optimized ASAP4 variant with superior brightness and photostability for extended two-photon recordings.
ASAP4e — Speed-optimized ASAP4 variant with fast kinetics and a large fluorescence increase per action potential.
ASAP5 — Optimized for detecting subthreshold activity, with the steepest F-V slope near resting potential.
ASAP6.1 — ASAP4 variant with fast kinetics and the largest per-spike fluorescence increase among the ASAP sensor lineage.
ASAP6b — Brightness-optimized sibling of ASAP6.1.
ASAP6c — Contrast-optimized sibling of ASAP6b with the largest per-spike fluorescence increase and signal-to-noise of the ASAP lineage for one- and two-photon spike detection in vivo.
ASAP7y — Red-shifted ASAP5 variant optimized for ultrasensitive subthreshold voltage imaging, with a steep response near resting potential and excitation compatibility extending to high-power 1030-nm fiber lasers.
Bongwoori-R3 — Bongwoori variant with an arginine-enriched linker that enlarges the fluorescence response and shifts voltage sensitivity near resting potential for robust action-potential imaging.
Bongwoori — ArcLight-derived voltage indicator with an improved voltage-sensing domain.
CAESR — Pioneering opsin-FRET voltage indicator fusing Citrine to the QuasAr2 archaerhodopsin quencher; the prototype of the QuasAr-based eFRET sensor lineage.
Cepheid1 — Red opsin-FRET voltage indicator pair featuring RFP donor insertion into the first extracellular loop of Ace rhodopsin for large voltage-dependent response with improved brightness or photostability.
ElectraOFF — Photostable negative-going eFRET GEVI combining Ace2 opsin with mBaoJin(3M), a StayGold-derived bright and photostable green FP.
ElectraON — Photostable positive-going eFRET GEVI combining pAce with mBaoJin(3M), a StayGold-derived bright and photostable green FP.
ElectricPk — Early voltage indicator using a cpGFP inserted into a voltage-sensing domain.
FlicR1 — Red fluorescent GEVI using the same voltage-sensing domain as ArcLight.
FORCE1s — Positive-going variant evolved from JEDI-2P with substantially larger spike responses, high intrinsic brightness, and repolarization kinetics tuned for 2P imaging.
HArclight1 — Chemigenetic adaptation of the ArcLight architecture that replaces the pH-sensitive GFP with a HaloTag labeled with a far-red Si-rhodamine dye, giving negative-going fluorescence responses to depolarization.
HASAP1 — Chemigenetic adaptation of the ASAP architecture that replaces cpGFP with cpHaloTag labeled with a far-red Si-rhodamine dye, giving positive-going fluorescence responses to depolarization.
HVI — Chemigenetic GEVI that conjugates dyes to an Ace2 rhodopsin.
HVI+ — Positive-going variant of chemigenetic voltage indicator HVI.
Jarvis — Variant of pAce with the ultra-bright AausFP1 fluorophore, yielding a high-contrast positive-going FRET-opsin indicator compatible with 2P voltage imaging.
JEDI-1P — One-photon optimized GEVI evolved from ASAP2s with improved brightness, kinetics, and sensitivity.
JEDI-2P — Two-photon optimized GEVI evolved from ASAP2s with improved brightness, photostability, and sensitivity under two-photon illumination.
JEDI-3hyp — JEDI-2P variant with two-photon voltage sensitivity shifted toward hyperpolarized potentials for detecting subthreshold fluctuations below resting membrane potential.
JEDI-3sub — JEDI-2P variant engineered for two-photon detection of subthreshold voltage fluctuations with enhanced responsiveness across the physiological voltage range.
LOTUS-V — First bioluminescent FRET-based voltage indicator, enabling excitation-free ratiometric imaging.
MacQ — Early opsin-fluorescent protein FRET voltage indicator, fusing the Mac rhodopsin to mCitrine.
Marina — Positive-going ArcLight variant created by directed evolution.
Mermaid — FRET-based GEVI using a VSD paired with coral-derived fluorescent proteins for ratiometric voltage.
Mermaid2 — Improved CFP/YFP FRET variant of Mermaid engineered for larger ratiometric response and submillisecond activation, enabling single-trial detection of action potential trains up to 150 Hz.
nirButterfly — Near-infrared VSFP-Butterfly variant using bacterial phytochrome-derived fluorescent proteins.
NovArch — Photoactivatable archaerhodopsin-derived indicator whose near-infrared fluorescence is reversibly enhanced by one-photon blue or two-photon near-infrared excitation, enabling optically sectioned voltage imaging in tissue.
pAce — Reverse-polarity variant of Ace-mNeon2 whose fluorescence increases during depolarization, enabling dual-polarity multiplexed voltage imaging in a single color channel.
pAceR — Reverse-polarity red variant of VARNAM2 that brightens upon depolarization, enabling dual-polarity multiplexed voltage imaging alongside negative-going sensors in the same color channel.
Pado — Based on a proton channel VSD, uniquely capable of reporting membrane potential, pH, and gap junction in a single construct.
Positron — Positive-going Voltron variant with inverted fluorescence polarity.
Positron2 — Positive-going Ace2N-HaloTag variant optimized for stronger spike and subthreshold responses in cultured neurons.
PROPS — First microbial opsin-based voltage indicator, though only functional in bacteria and extremely dim.
QuasAr1 — First-generation QuasAr with extremely fast response times.
QuasAr2 — Higher-sensitivity QuasAr variant spike counting and subthreshold event detection.
paQuasAr3 — Photoactivatable QuasAr3 variant that can be selectively activated.
QuasAr6a — Archon1 variant evolved through video-based pooled screening with improved SNR.
QuasAr6b — Archon1 variant evolved through video-based pooled screening with improved speed.
rEstus-NI — Variant of rEstus optimized for fluorescence lifetime imaging and absolute membrane potential measurement.
rEstus — Variant of ASAP3 optimized for non-excitable cells, shifting voltage sensitivity to match their characteristically negative resting potentials.
Solaris — Novel chemigenetic voltage indicator that inserts a dye-binding tag into the rhodopsin itself, achieving substantially higher voltage sensitivity than previous Voltron-family sensors.
SomArchon — Soma-targeted Archon1 variant designed for population voltage imaging.
VARNAM — Voltage indicator using opsin-FRET architecture with red fluorescent protein for improved tissue penetration.
VARNAM2 — Second-generation red-shifted eFRET voltage indicator derived from VARNAM with improved voltage sensitivity for low-power in vivo imaging in behaving animals.
Vega — Photostable green eFRET GEVI built by inserting mBaoJin(3M) into the first extracellular loop of Ace2 rhodopsin, with Kv2.1 and ER2 targeting motifs for long-duration one-photon voltage imaging.
Voltron — Breakthrough chemigenetic GEVI that binds fluorescent dyes with exceptional brightness and photostability.
Voltron2 — Improved Voltron with enhanced sensitivity, retaining fast kinetics and photostability.
VSFP1 — The first genetically encoded voltage indicator, establishing the VSFP architecture of pairing a voltage-sensing domain with a FRET fluorescent protein pair.
VSFP2.1 — VSFP variant tuned to operate near resting membrane potential.
VSFP2.3 — The first VSFP variant to achieve reliable in vivo cortical voltage imaging in transgenic mice.
VSFP3.1 — Third-generation Ci-VSP voltage sensor using a single Cerulean fluorescent protein, derived from VSFP2 by removing the FRET acceptor, achieving the fastest response kinetics reported among fluorescent protein-based voltage indicators at the time.
VSFP-Butterfly — FRET-based voltage indicator with a novel 'Butterfly' topology sandwiching the voltage-sensing domain between two fluorescent proteins.