Photon Engine vs Unity Multiplayer

Struggling to choose between Photon Engine and Unity Multiplayer? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Photon Engine is a Gaming Software solution with tags like multiplayer, networking, realtime, game-backend, matchmaking, lag-compensation, crossplatform.

It boasts features such as Real-time multiplayer, Matchmaking, Authentication, Lobby system, In-game chat, Custom room support, Lag compensation, Cross-platform support and pros including Easy to integrate, Scalable, Good documentation, Active community support, Free tier available.

On the other hand, Unity Multiplayer is a Games product tagged with multiplayer, networking, unity, game-engine.

Its standout features include Networked scene management, Matchmaking, Lobbies, NAT punchthrough, Voice chat, Relay servers, Authoritative or autonomous networking models, and it shines with pros like Built into Unity so no extra SDKs needed, Good documentation and samples, Handles a lot of multiplayer complexity for you, Works across multiple platforms.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

Photon Engine

Photon Engine

Photon Engine is a proprietary multiplayer game development platform that provides a real-time multiplayer game backend and networking engine. It handles hosting, networking, matchmaking, lag compensation and has out-of-the-box support for different platforms.

Categories:
multiplayer networking realtime game-backend matchmaking lag-compensation crossplatform

Photon Engine Features

  1. Real-time multiplayer
  2. Matchmaking
  3. Authentication
  4. Lobby system
  5. In-game chat
  6. Custom room support
  7. Lag compensation
  8. Cross-platform support

Pricing

  • Freemium
  • Pay-As-You-Go

Pros

Easy to integrate

Scalable

Good documentation

Active community support

Free tier available

Cons

Limited features in free tier

Can get expensive at high user volumes

Not open source


Unity Multiplayer

Unity Multiplayer

Unity Multiplayer is a set of tools and interfaces that allow Unity developers to add multiplayer functionality to their games. It supports building games that can be played over LAN or the internet. Key features include a networked scene system, matchmaking, lobbies, NAT punchthrough, and more.

Categories:
multiplayer networking unity game-engine

Unity Multiplayer Features

  1. Networked scene management
  2. Matchmaking
  3. Lobbies
  4. NAT punchthrough
  5. Voice chat
  6. Relay servers
  7. Authoritative or autonomous networking models

Pricing

  • Free
  • Subscription-Based

Pros

Built into Unity so no extra SDKs needed

Good documentation and samples

Handles a lot of multiplayer complexity for you

Works across multiple platforms

Cons

Limited to Unity engine games

Can require additional server hosting costs

Advanced features may require coding knowledge