Game Development · pricing
PlayFab pricing
PlayFab publishes 4 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 30 August 2026, PlayFab pricing is free across 4 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Usage-based
- Tiers
- 4
- Free tier
- Yes
PlayFab plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to Start | Free | 3 | Entry tier |
| Pay-as-you-go | Free | 3 | +$0/month, 3 more features |
| Standard Plan | $99/month | 2 | +$99/month, 2 more features |
| Premium Plan | $1999/month | 2 | +$1900/month, 2 more features |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
Free to Start
FreeThe entry tier. It covers up to 10 development titles, 1,000 lifetime players per title, 750 free vm hours/month.
Pay-as-you-go
FreeOver Free to Start, this tier adds:
- No minimum charge
- Community support only
- Usage-based pricing
Standard Plan
$99/monthOver Pay-as-you-go, this tier adds:
- Includes $400 monthly meter value
- Support tickets included
Premium Plan
$1999/monthOver Standard Plan, this tier adds:
- Includes $8,000 monthly meter value
- Emergency escalations
Where PlayFab stops being free
Free to Start, Free
- Up to 10 development titles
- 1,000 lifetime players per title
- 750 free VM hours/month
Standard Plan, $99/month
The first thing you pay for:
- Includes $400 monthly meter value
- Support tickets included
What the product covers
The full PlayFab feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- Player authentication
- Data storage
- Analytics
- Multiplayer features
- Economy system
- Matchmaking
- Cloud saves
- Leaderboards
Integrations
- Azure services
- Xbox Live
- Game Center
- Steam
Security
- Microsoft security
- Encryption
- Two-factor authentication
Deployment
- Cloud deployment
- Azure deployment
Platform
- Cross-platform support
Localization
- REST API language support
- SDKs language support
People bring PlayFab in for backend as a service for live games, covering accounts, leaderboards and player data, hosting dedicated multiplayer game servers on azure, liveops, in-game economy and player segmentation for game studios. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to PlayFab are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Game Development
Too few game development tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlayFab (this page) | Free | usage-based | - | |
| Perforce Helix Core | Free | quote | - | vs PlayFab |
| Photon Engine | Free, then $9/month | Per month by peak concurrent users | - | vs PlayFab |
| Cocos Creator | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs PlayFab |
| GDevelop | Free | free | - | vs PlayFab |
| GameMaker Studio 2 | Free | freemium | - | vs PlayFab |
| Cocos2d-x | Free | free | - | vs PlayFab |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the PlayFab badges page.
Before you pay for PlayFab
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 4 tiers between Free and $1999/month, with the jump itemised above. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
PlayFab runs on cross-platform, and is published by Microsoft of Redmond, WA. The full record is on the PlayFab review, and the rest of the category is under best game development tools.
PlayFab pricing questions
- How much does PlayFab cost?
- PlayFab publishes 4 tiers, from Free for Free to Start up to $1999/month for Premium Plan. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does PlayFab have a free plan?
- Yes. The Free to Start tier costs nothing and covers up to 10 development titles, 1,000 lifetime players per title, 750 free vm hours/month. Paying starts at $99/month for Standard Plan.
- What is the difference between Free to Start and Pay-as-you-go on PlayFab?
- Pay-as-you-go costs Free against Free, and adds no minimum charge, community support only, usage-based pricing.
- Is the Premium Plan plan on PlayFab worth it?
- That depends entirely on whether you need what it adds, which on the published record is includes $8,000 monthly meter value, emergency escalations. It costs $1999/month against $99/month for Standard Plan. Softwr has not used either tier, so this page can tell you what changes, not whether it is worth the difference to you.
- Which game development tools can I use without paying?
- 8 of the 8 game development tools listed alongside PlayFab have a free tier: Perforce Helix Core, Photon Engine, Cocos Creator, GDevelop, GameMaker Studio 2.
- What am I actually paying for with PlayFab?
- The record lists 20 features across 6 areas: other, integrations, security, deployment, platform, localization. In practice it is brought in for backend as a service for live games, covering accounts, leaderboards and player data, hosting dedicated multiplayer game servers on azure, liveops, in-game economy and player segmentation for game studios.
- Does PlayFab charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 4 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these PlayFab prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare PlayFab against before paying?
- The closest game development tools in this directory are Perforce Helix Core, Photon Engine, Cocos Creator, GDevelop. Each has a side-by-side comparison with PlayFab covering price, platforms and features.