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Game Development · head to head

Perforce Helix Core vs Photon Engine

Perforce Helix Core logo

Perforce Helix Core

Game Development

Centralised version control for multi-terabyte binary game projects

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: Perforce Helix Core the free tier covers only a handful of users, which maps badly onto how the product is actually used, because asset version control is needed by the whole studio, artists and audio staff included, not by the engineers alone.; 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: Perforce Helix Core covers Exclusive checkout, 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 Perforce Helix Core and Photon Engine actually diverge.

Attributes where Perforce Helix Core and Photon Engine differ
AttributePerforce Helix CorePhoton Engine
Pricing modelquotePer month by peak concurrent users
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console

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 Perforce Helix Core

  • Exclusive checkout
  • Very large depots
  • Streams branching
  • Proxies and edge servers
  • Unreal and Unity integration
  • Fine grained permissions

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.

Perforce Helix Core

  • A studio where artists and designers version hundreds of gigabytes of uncompressed assetsnot Photon Engine
  • Unreal Engine projects that want the engine to talk to source control directlynot Photon Engine
  • Console development where platform holders and publishers expect an auditable centralised depotnot Photon Engine
  • Distributed teams with outsourcing partners who need path-level access to part of the project onlynot Photon Engine

Photon Engine

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

Where each one falls short

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

Perforce Helix Core

  • The free tier covers only a handful of users, which maps badly onto how the product is actually used, because asset version control is needed by the whole studio, artists and audio staff included, not by the engineers alone.
  • Beyond the free tier pricing is quoted per seat and renewed annually, and it does not scale down for contractors or outsourcing partners who touch the depot for a single milestone and still consume a full licence.
  • It is centralised, so when the server or the connection to it is unavailable, work stops for everyone; edge servers reduce this but add another system to run.
  • Administration is a genuine role. Depot layout, streams, protections, proxies, checkpoints and backups all need someone who knows Perforce, and that person is expensive and hard to replace.
  • Exclusive checkout prevents merge conflicts on binaries but blocks colleagues outright; a file locked by someone on leave needs administrator intervention, which turns a holiday into a production stoppage.

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

Perforce Helix Core

Free
  • Helix Core$undefined/year
    • Free for a small number of users and workspaces, intended for evaluation and very small teams
    • Beyond that, per user licensing quoted annually by Perforce sales
    • Cloud-hosted and self-managed deployments both available

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 Perforce Helix Core if

  • You need exclusive checkout.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want very large depots.
Perforce Helix Core 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 Perforce Helix Core or Photon Engine better?
Neither clearly leads. Perforce Helix Core 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, Perforce Helix Core or Photon Engine?
Perforce Helix Core starts at Free and Photon Engine at Free.
Does Perforce Helix Core or Photon Engine run on more platforms?
Perforce Helix Core runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Photon Engine runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web, Console.
Can I use Perforce Helix Core for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Perforce Helix Core best used for?
Perforce Helix Core is most often used for a studio where artists and designers version hundreds of gigabytes of uncompressed assets, unreal engine projects that want the engine to talk to source control directly, console development where platform holders and publishers expect an auditable centralised depot, distributed teams with outsourcing partners who need path-level access to part of the project only. Of those, a studio where artists and designers version hundreds of gigabytes of uncompressed assets and unreal engine projects that want the engine to talk to source control directly are not what Photon Engine is typically brought in for.
What can Perforce Helix Core do that Photon Engine cannot?
Perforce Helix Core covers Exclusive checkout, Very large depots, Streams branching, Proxies and edge servers. Photon Engine covers Concurrent user billing, Photon Fusion, Photon Quantum, Photon Voice and Chat.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Perforce Helix Core: Why not just use Git with LFS?

Git assumes text files that merge and a full local history. Game projects have terabytes of unmergeable binaries. LFS handles the size but not the locking or the clone time, which is why studios past a certain size move to Perforce.

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.

Perforce Helix Core: How much does it cost?

Perforce does not publish prices. It is free for a small number of users and workspaces, after which licensing is quoted per user annually and depends on volume and support level.

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.

Perforce Helix Core: Can programmers keep working in Git?

Partly. Helix4Git bridges Git repositories into the Helix Core depot, but it is another component to run and does not remove the difference in workflow between the two systems.

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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