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Game Development · head to head

LDtk vs Photon Engine

LDtk logo

LDtk

Game Development

Modern 2D level editor from the creator of Dead Cells

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: LDtk no web, iOS, or Android build; it is an Electron desktop app for Windows/macOS/Linux only; 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: LDtk covers Auto-layers, 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 LDtk and Photon Engine actually diverge.

Attributes where LDtk and Photon Engine differ
AttributeLDtkPhoton Engine
Pricing modelopen-sourcePer month by peak concurrent users
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console
Founded2020Unknown

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 LDtk

  • Auto-layers
  • IntGrid layers
  • Entity system
  • Enums
  • World map
  • Rule-based tiling
  • JSON export
  • Hot reloading

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.

LDtk

  • 2D platformer and top-down level buildingnot Photon Engine
  • Placing customizable entities such as spawns, enemies, items, and triggersnot Photon Engine
  • Auto-tiling and auto-rendering via a visual rule systemnot Photon Engine
  • Multi-level 'worlds' with seamless level transitionsnot Photon Engine
  • Native Aseprite (.aseprite) import with live reloadingnot Photon Engine

Photon Engine

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

Where each one falls short

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

LDtk

  • No web, iOS, or Android build; it is an Electron desktop app for Windows/macOS/Linux only
  • Native format is JSON; use with other formats such as Tiled TMX requires a separate importer or custom parsing
  • Engine integration depends on separate official importers/libraries per engine (Unity, Godot, MonoGame, Bevy, GameMaker, Haxe, Playdate)
  • dev-x.y.z branches on GitHub are explicitly flagged as potentially unstable and not for production

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

LDtk

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the LDtk review.

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 LDtk if

  • You need auto-layers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want intgrid layers.
LDtk 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 LDtk or Photon Engine better?
Neither clearly leads. LDtk 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, LDtk or Photon Engine?
LDtk starts at Free and Photon Engine at Free.
Does LDtk or Photon Engine run on more platforms?
LDtk runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Photon Engine runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console.
Can I use LDtk for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is LDtk best used for?
LDtk is most often used for 2d platformer and top-down level building, placing customizable entities such as spawns, enemies, items, and triggers, auto-tiling and auto-rendering via a visual rule system, multi-level 'worlds' with seamless level transitions. Of those, 2d platformer and top-down level building and placing customizable entities such as spawns, enemies, items, and triggers are not what Photon Engine is typically brought in for.
What can LDtk do that Photon Engine cannot?
LDtk covers Auto-layers, IntGrid layers, Entity system, Enums. Photon Engine covers Concurrent user billing, Photon Fusion, Photon Quantum, Photon Voice and Chat.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LDtk: Does LDtk cost anything to use?

LDtk is completely free to use without any limitations. The license is Apache 2.0 open source.

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.

LDtk: Can I support LDtk development?

LDtk operates on a pay-what-you-want basis. Users can optionally purchase or become a direct sponsor to support the developer's work, but payment is not required.

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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