Battle.netvs
Steam
Steam: A far larger catalogue with a clear refund policy, family sharing and no regional balance lock
Battle.net
Blizzard game launcher and store, now owned by Microsoft, for a small first party catalogue
As of 31 August 2026, Battle.net is free to use. The required launcher for Blizzard and Activision titles on PC. Softwr lists it under Gaming. Battle.net is made by Blizzard Entertainment, a Microsoft company, available on Windows, macOS.
Overview
What Battle.net does
Battle.net is the client, store and account system for Blizzard and Activision games on Windows and macOS, covering World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Hearthstone, StarCraft, Warcraft and, since 2022, Call of Duty on PC. It handles installation, patching, friends, voice, cross game chat and the in game shops, and hosts the online services those games require. Ownership is the fact that changes decisions here twice over. Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in October 2023, and since then Blizzard titles have returned to Steam, so Battle.net is no longer the only route to most of them; where a game exists in both places, buying on Steam still requires linking a Battle.net account and launching through Blizzard services. And what you buy is a licence bound to that account and its region: there is no offline installer, Battle.net Balance cannot cross regions, gifting is restricted by territory, and a banned or lost account takes the whole library with it. It is unavoidable for anyone playing Blizzard games and irrelevant to everyone else. The trade-off is running a second launcher for a handful of titles, with none of the store features, refund policy or family sharing that a general storefront provides.
What people use it for
- Playing any current Blizzard title, since the launcher is mandatory whether or not you bought through Steam
- Running a World of Warcraft subscription and paying for it with in game gold through tokens instead of cash
- Keeping Call of Duty installs and updates managed on PC without going through the Xbox app
- Households that need play time and purchase limits applied to a child account by a parent
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Battle.net.
- Purchases are licences tied to one account in one region, so there is no resale, no transfer and no offline installer if the service or the account goes away.
- Battle.net Balance and account region are locked, which blocks the common tactic of buying in a cheaper territory and removes any pricing flexibility for players who move country.
- The store carries only Microsoft owned publishers, so it is an additional launcher and background updater running for a handful of games.
- There is no family or library sharing comparable to Steam Families, so a household with two players buys two copies of every title.
- A ban or a lost authenticator removes access to everything on the account at once, and Blizzard support decisions on account actions are slow and rarely reversed.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Battle.net
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- Battle.netvsEpic Games Store
Epic Games Store: Now carries some of the same titles with regular voucher discounts on new releases
- Battle.netvsGOG
GOG: If you would rather own a DRM free installer you can archive than a licence on an account
Pricing
What Battle.net costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Battle.net client
Free
- Free client and account
- Free to play titles including Hearthstone and Overwatch 2
- Games and expansions bought individually
World of Warcraft subscription
$14.99 /mo
- Monthly recurring subscription with cheaper three and six month terms
- Includes access to the current retail and classic realms
- Can be paid with in game tokens bought from other players
Capabilities
Features
Game installation and patching
Downloads, updates and repairs Blizzard and Activision titles including very large Call of Duty installs
Account services
One login covering characters, purchases, parental controls and the authenticator
Social layer
Cross game friends list, groups, voice chat and presence across Blizzard titles
In game shops
Handles mounts, cosmetics, battle passes and expansion purchases through Battle.net Balance or card
Subscription management
Runs the World of Warcraft subscription including game time bought as tokens in game
Parental controls
Play time limits and purchase restrictions applied per account by a parent account
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Do I still need Battle.net if I buy a Blizzard game on Steam?
Yes. Steam versions launch through Battle.net and require a linked Blizzard account, so you run both clients.
Can I get a refund?
Blizzard offers refunds within a narrow window and playtime limit, decided case by case. It is significantly less generous than the Steam two hour policy.
What happened to Battle.net after Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard?
It continues to operate as the launcher for Blizzard titles, but Microsoft has also returned those games to Steam, so it is no longer the only purchase route.
Keep looking
Where to go from Battle.net
- Battle.net alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Battle.net pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Battle.net badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Gaming softwareThe full category
- Best Gaming softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Gaming software for
Compare Battle.net with
- Epic Games Store
- Steam
- GOG
- Ubisoft Connect
- Humble Bundle
- Lutris
- Playnite
- GOG Galaxy
- Green Man Gaming
- Heroic Games Launcher
- Nvidia GeForce Now
- Minecraft
- Amazon Luna
- EA Play
- Fanatical
- Fortnite
- GOG Galaxy
- Green Man Gaming
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Free plan11 researched notesAuthorised key reseller with direct publisher agreements and a loyalty discount programme
Free plan11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Battle.net, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Battle.net
Battle.net alternatives
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Battle.net pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Battle.net
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Battle.net badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Gaming software alternatives
Sandbox building and survival game sold as a bundled Java and Bedrock purchase, owned by Microsoft, with paid Realms subscriptions
One-time purchase, optional Realms subscription
A user-generated games platform running on Robux, not a single game, with a developer payout system and a marketplace cut
Free to play, Robux currency packs and a subscriptionFree to play battle royale and creative platform funded by V-Bucks, skins and a seasonal battle pass
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Per user per month
Pay what you want game, book and software bundles with a bounded charity split
Pay what you want per bundle, or a monthly subscriptionSubscription access to the EA back catalogue with timed trials of new releases
Per user per month