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Game Development · head to head

Defold vs Photon Engine

Defold logo

Defold

Game Development

The game engine for the creators of King

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Photon Engine logo

Photon Engine

Game Development

Hosted multiplayer networking billed by concurrent users, not by seat or by player

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Defold the Defold License requires you to include the Defold license and copyright notice in any work you create with the engine; Photon Engine billing follows peak concurrent users, so a single stream or a launch weekend raises the bill immediately, and studios that cannot forecast concurrency cannot forecast the cost of their own launch.
  • They diverge on capability: Defold covers Lua scripting, Photon Engine covers Concurrent user billing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Defold and Photon Engine actually diverge.

Attributes where Defold and Photon Engine differ
AttributeDefoldPhoton Engine
Pricing modelfreePer month by peak concurrent users
PlatformsWindows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, WebWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console
Founded2005Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Game Development).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Defold

  • Lua scripting
  • Physics engine
  • Sprite system
  • Particle effects
  • Sound management
  • Collection editor
  • Mobile optimization
  • Lightweight

Only in Photon Engine

  • Concurrent user billing
  • Photon Fusion
  • Photon Quantum
  • Photon Voice and Chat
  • Global relay
  • Matchmaking and rooms

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Defold

  • Building 2D games for mobile, desktop, web and console from a single projectnot Photon Engine
  • Shipping small-footprint HTML5 gamesnot Photon Engine
  • Teams wanting a free engine with no revenue share on gamesnot Photon Engine

Photon Engine

  • Adding multiplayer to a Unity game without hiring a network engineernot Defold
  • Competitive titles needing deterministic rollback rather than state synchronisationnot Defold
  • Games with a large but thinly spread player base, where concurrency stays low and per player pricing would cost morenot Defold
  • Training and simulation projects that need shared real-time state outside gamesnot Defold

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Defold

  • The Defold License requires you to include the Defold license and copyright notice in any work you create with the engine
  • The licence forbids commercialising original or modified versions of the Defold editor or engine itself
  • Significant changes made to the Defold source must be documented under the licence terms

Photon Engine

  • Billing follows peak concurrent users, so a single stream or a launch weekend raises the bill immediately, and studios that cannot forecast concurrency cannot forecast the cost of their own launch.
  • Exceeding the band does not degrade gracefully; additional players are refused connections until concurrency falls or the plan is upgraded, which is a visible outage to your players at the worst possible moment.
  • PUN, the product most tutorials and courses still teach, is legacy, so a large share of the learning material available online points new projects at the wrong SDK.
  • Self-hosting is an enterprise arrangement rather than a purchasable licence, so a studio that wants its servers on its own infrastructure for cost or compliance reasons cannot simply buy that.
  • It is a networking layer only; accounts, persistence, leaderboards, inventories and anti-cheat all come from other services, so the multiplayer stack ends up as several vendors rather than one.

Pricing, plan by plan

Defold

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full editor
    • Lua scripting
    • Physics engine

Photon Engine

Free
  • FreeFree
    • A small concurrent user allowance for development and early testing
    • All regions available
    • No time limit on the free tier
  • Entry band$9/month
    • Around one hundred concurrent users
    • Full SDK access
    • Regional server selection
  • Higher bands$undefined/month
    • Sold in steps up to tens of thousands of concurrent users
    • Price rises with each band rather than with total players
    • Enterprise and self-hosted arrangements handled directly by Exit Games

Which should you pick?

Choose Defold if

  • You need lua scripting.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, Web.
  • You also want physics engine.
Defold review

Choose Photon Engine if

  • You need concurrent user billing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console.
  • You also want photon fusion.
Photon Engine review

Questions people ask

Is Defold or Photon Engine better?
Neither clearly leads. Defold starts at Free and Photon Engine at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Defold or Photon Engine?
Defold starts at Free and Photon Engine at Free.
Does Defold or Photon Engine run on more platforms?
Defold runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, Web. Photon Engine runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console.
Can I use Defold for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Defold best used for?
Defold is most often used for building 2d games for mobile, desktop, web and console from a single project, shipping small-footprint html5 games, teams wanting a free engine with no revenue share on games. Of those, building 2d games for mobile, desktop, web and console from a single project and shipping small-footprint html5 games are not what Photon Engine is typically brought in for.
What can Defold do that Photon Engine cannot?
Defold covers Lua scripting, Physics engine, Sprite system, Particle effects. Photon Engine covers Concurrent user billing, Photon Fusion, Photon Quantum, Photon Voice and Chat.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Defold: How much does Defold cost?

Defold is completely free with no up-front cost, no licensing cost, no royalties, and no runtime fees. The game engine is free forever, supported by the Defold Foundation with source code available under a developer-friendly license.

Source
Photon Engine: What exactly is a concurrent user?

A player connected to Photon at that moment. Your plan is sized by the peak of that number, not by downloads, registered accounts or monthly actives.

Defold: Is Defold free to use commercially?

Yes, Defold is free forever with no royalties or revenue sharing required. Developers can create and monetize commercial games without any fees to Defold.

Source
Photon Engine: Which product should a new project use?

Fusion for most real-time games, Quantum where determinism matters such as fighting and competitive titles. PUN is legacy and should not start a new project despite the volume of tutorials.

Photon Engine: Does it work outside Unity?

Unity is the first-class target. Unreal and other engines are supported through Realtime SDKs with less coverage and slower feature parity.

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