so ive been using WSJT-X for FT8 stuff for about a year now and just got into contesting, did my first ARRL DX CW last month and just ran with the basic logging in WSJT-X which was obviously not ideal. everyone in my club keeps telling me to get N1MM Logger+ but a buddy of mine wont shut up about Log4OM and how its better for everyday logging and integrates fine with contests too.

heres the thing though, i dont really do a ton of contests, maybe 3-4 a year, mostly just HF ragchewing and some FT8 pileups on the weekends. is N1MM even worth learning if im not a serious contester? it seems like a pretty steep learning curve just to use it a few times a year. Log4OM looks nicer honestly but i cant tell if the contest support is actually solid or just kind of bolted on.

also does either of these play nice with WSJT-X over UDP or do i have to mess with ADIF imports every time. that part has been annoying me since i started, i hate importing files manually

N1MM is basically the standard for contesting and theres a reason for that - the exchange logging, dupe checking, multiplier tracking, its all really tight once you get used to it. that said if youre only doing 3-4 contests a year and they arent super serious efforts, the learning curve might genuinely not be worth it. i spent like two weekends just figuring out the config files the first time.

for everyday logging Log4OM is hard to beat honestly. the WSJT-X UDP integration works fine, i just point WSJT-X at the right port and Log4OM picks up the QSOs in real time no file importing needed. the contest module in Log4OM has gotten better but its still not where N1MM is for the big ones like SS or CQWW. for a county hunter thing or a smaller sprint it does okay though.

my actual setup is Log4OM running all the time for day to day stuff and then i just fire up N1MM when a real contest comes around. takes maybe 10 minutes to remember how it works since i dont use it constantly. thats probably the move if you dont want to commit to one or the other

the UDP thing with WSJT-X is actually pretty painless once you set it up, at least with Log4OM. i was dreading it but it was like three fields to fill in. N1MM does it too but the WSJT-X interaction feels a little clunkier to me, like they added it because they had to not because they wanted to.

anyway dont stress too much about picking the "right" one, theyre both free so just install both and mess around outside of contest season when theres no pressure