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Game Development · head to head

GDevelop vs Photon Engine

GDevelop logo

GDevelop

Game Development

Create games without coding

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: GDevelop the free tier allows 3 cloud projects and one desktop or Android build per day; 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: GDevelop covers Visual event editor, 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 GDevelop and Photon Engine actually diverge.

Attributes where GDevelop and Photon Engine differ
AttributeGDevelopPhoton Engine
Pricing modelfreePer month by peak concurrent users
PlatformsWindows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, WebWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console
Founded2010Unknown

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 GDevelop

  • Visual event editor
  • Drag-and-drop interface
  • Physics engine
  • Particle effects
  • Sprite editor
  • Sound editor
  • Scene editor
  • Extensions support

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.

GDevelop

  • Building 2D games with visual event logic rather than codenot Photon Engine
  • Exporting one project to web, desktop, Android and iOSnot Photon Engine

Photon Engine

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

Where each one falls short

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

GDevelop

  • The free tier allows 3 cloud projects and one desktop or Android build per day
  • Free accounts get one leaderboard per game
  • Publishing to the iOS App Store requires the Gold plan, which caps those exports at 15 a month
  • AI credits are metered per tier, from 40 a month on free to 3,000 a week on Pro

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

GDevelop

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full editor
    • Cross-platform export
    • Asset library

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 GDevelop if

  • You need visual event editor.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, Web.
  • You also want drag-and-drop interface.
GDevelop 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 GDevelop or Photon Engine better?
Neither clearly leads. GDevelop 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, GDevelop or Photon Engine?
GDevelop starts at Free and Photon Engine at Free.
Does GDevelop or Photon Engine run on more platforms?
GDevelop runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Ios, Android, Web. Photon Engine runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console.
Can I use GDevelop for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is GDevelop best used for?
GDevelop is most often used for building 2d games with visual event logic rather than code, exporting one project to web, desktop, android and ios. Of those, building 2d games with visual event logic rather than code and exporting one project to web, desktop, android and ios are not what Photon Engine is typically brought in for.
What can GDevelop do that Photon Engine cannot?
GDevelop covers Visual event editor, Drag-and-drop interface, Physics engine, Particle effects. Photon Engine covers Concurrent user billing, Photon Fusion, Photon Quantum, Photon Voice and Chat.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GDevelop: How much does GDevelop cost?

GDevelop offers a free plan. Silver, Gold, and Pro tiers are available with monthly and yearly billing options that provide up to 40% savings for annual commitment, but specific prices are not displayed on their website.

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.

GDevelop: What does GDevelop's free plan include?

The free plan includes a fully featured, open-source game engine with 3 cloud projects, 40 free AI credits per month, and limited publishing of 1 per day for desktop and Android.

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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