PlayFabvs
DragonBones
DragonBones: Free 2D skeletal animation solution
PlayFab
Player data backend for games
As of 30 August 2026, PlayFab is free to use. PlayFab is Microsoft's cloud backend service for games. Softwr lists it under Game Development. PlayFab is made by Microsoft, launched in 1975.
Overview
What PlayFab does
PlayFab is Microsoft's cloud backend service for games. It provides player authentication, data storage, analytics, and multiplayer features.
What people use it 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
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 PlayFab.
- A title in development mode can only have up to 1,000 lifetime player account creations
- Multiplayer server costs are billed per VM compute hour on Azure virtual machines and vary by region and VM family
- Network egress is charged per GB and varies by zone, at $0.05 in Zone 1, $0.08 in Zone 2 and $0.20 in Zone 3
- Pricing is consumption based across a set of separate meters rather than a flat plan
- The vendor states prices are subject to change and that actual costs depend on the PlayFab plan and usage
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of PlayFab
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.
- PlayFabvsUnity
Unity: Create beautiful interactive content with the world's leading real-time engine
- PlayFabvsAseprite
Aseprite: Animated sprite editor and pixel art tool
- PlayFabvsGodot Engine
Godot Engine: Free and open-source 2D and 3D game engine
Pricing
What PlayFab costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free to Start
Free
- Up to 10 development titles
- 1,000 lifetime players per title
- 750 free VM hours/month
Pay-as-you-go
Free
- No minimum charge
- Community support only
- Usage-based pricing
Standard Plan
$99 /mo
- Includes $400 monthly meter value
- Support tickets included
Premium Plan
$1,999 /mo
- Includes $8,000 monthly meter value
- Emergency escalations
Capabilities
Features
Player authentication
Data storage
Analytics
Multiplayer features
Economy system
Matchmaking
Cloud saves
Leaderboards
Azure services
Integration with Azure services
Xbox Live
Integration with Xbox Live
Game Center
Integration with Game Center
Steam
Integration with Steam
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.
How much does PlayFab cost?
PlayFab uses a usage-based consumption model. The Free to Start tier includes 1,000 lifetime players per title and 750 free VM hours. Pay-as-you-go has no minimum; Standard plans start at $99/month and include $400 in monthly meter value; Premium plans start at $1,999/month.
SourceIs PlayFab free?
PlayFab offers a Free to Start tier for development with limits: up to 10 development titles and 1,000 lifetime players per title. Additionally, pay-as-you-go pricing has no minimum commitment and covers only actual usage.
SourceWhat are PlayFab's consumption meters and pricing?
PlayFab charges per various consumption metrics: PlayStream Events cost $6.60 per million, Profile Reads cost $0.33 per million, Profile Writes cost $7.15 per million, and Profile Storage costs $1.54 per GB. The first 150k Economy V2 requests monthly are free.
SourceBehind it
Who makes PlayFab
- Company
- Microsoft
- Based in
- Redmond, WA
Keep looking
Where to go from PlayFab
- PlayFab alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- PlayFab pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- PlayFab badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Game Development softwareThe full category
- Best Game Development softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Game Development software for
Compare PlayFab with
- Unity
- DragonBones
- Aseprite
- Godot Engine
- Gamesparks
- Photon Engine
- Cascadeur
- Construct 3
- GameMaker Studio 2
- Mixamo
- Pico-8
- CryEngine
- Defold
- Flax Engine
- FMOD
- Fyrox
- Gamesparks
- Substance 3D Painter
Other Game Development software
Create beautiful interactive content with the world's leading real-time engine
Free plan15 researched notesHosted multiplayer networking billed by concurrent users, not by seat or by player
Free, then $9/mo9 researched notesBuild worlds, break limits. Professional game development engine.
Free plan16 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for PlayFab, 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 PlayFab
PlayFab alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
PlayFab pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare PlayFab
Put it head to head with anything we hold
PlayFab badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Game Development software alternatives
Hosted multiplayer networking billed by concurrent users, not by seat or by player
Per month by peak concurrent users
Free 2D and 3D engine with no royalties, dominant in Chinese mini-game platforms
Open source, no licence fee
