Skip to content
SPECIFICTION
Get listed

Epic Online Services

onlineservices.epicgames.com

Free plan WebWindowsmacOSLinuxiOSAndroid
Visit onlineservices.epicgames.com
Spec score 8.9 #1 of 20 in Sdk

What it is

Epic Online Services is a suite of modular online services for game developers. Its service areas cover accounts and social features, multiplayer, player and game data, and trust and safety. Social capabilities include crossplay, friends, presence, overlay, and the Epic Games account ecosystem. Multiplayer tools include peer-to-peer features, sessions, lobbies, and voice chat. Developers can use leaderboards, stats, achievements, and storage for player and title data. Trust and safety services include Easy Anti-Cheat, sanctions, player reports, and Kids Web Services. The services can be used with Unreal Engine, Unity, or a developer's chosen engine. SDKs are available for PC in C or C#, Android, and iOS; console SDKs require a request through the Developer Portal. Epic describes the service as free to use, with no royalty or hosting fees, though usage restrictions may apply. Epic says it processes game-service data to operate the services and does not share partner data without explicit authorization. Use may be throttled or suspended for violations of service restrictions.

Spec sheet

What it does
Epic Online Services is a hosted set of modular online services for building and operating cross-platform games.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Product
Epic Online Services is a suite of open, modular online services for game developers.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Intended users
Epic describes the services as for game developers ranging from the smallest developer to the largest publisher.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Support
Epic directs developers with unanswered FAQ questions to its EOS support contact.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Headquarters
Cary, North Carolina, USARead 23 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Founded
1991Read 23 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Accounts and social
The platform provides Epic account integration, cross-platform identity, friends, overlay and presence capabilities.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Achievements
EOS includes achievement tracking services.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Anti-cheat
Easy Anti-Cheat is part of the trust and safety offering, with extra support available under a paid enterprise agreement.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Backend hosting
Epic hosts the backend services, so developers do not need to operate the service infrastructure themselves.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Console access
Console SDKs require access through the Developer Portal after approval by the platform holder and Epic Games.Read 15 Oct 2026 · dev.epicgames.com
Crossplay
Epic positions EOS as a way to integrate once and launch games across multiple stores and platforms.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Data handling
Epic says it processes game-service data only to operate the services and will not share partner data with third parties or its internal game development and publishing teams without explicit authorization.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Data processing
Epic says game-service data is processed to operate the services and is not shared with third parties or Epic development teams without authorization.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Developer support
The free license includes learning resources and community-based support.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Documentation
Epic provides technical documentation, how-to guides and SDK samples through its developer documentation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Engines
Developers can use Unreal Engine, Unity, or the engine of their choice.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Integration partners
Listed partners include Edgegap and Hathora for server hosting, PubNub for dynamic matchmaking, and AccelByte for backend customization.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Kids Web Services
The related Kids Web Services product provides parent verification, age verification and consent management without user-volume restrictions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Leaderboards
Leaderboards are included among EOS player and game data services.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Limit: certificate dependency
PLAION warned that Windows games using EOS SDK versions earlier than 1.17.1.3 could lose connectivity after an AWS certificate change unless systems were updated.Read 15 Oct 2026 · plaion.freshdesk.com
Limit: documentation difficulty
A Unity forum reviewer said available documentation made Unity implementation a headache and lacked clear tutorials.Read 15 Oct 2026 · discussions.unity.com
Limit: integration complexity
Forum discussion described EOS setup as involving complicated authentication and implementation flows, especially for Unity projects.Read 15 Oct 2026 · discussions.unity.com
Maker founded
Epic Games says it was founded in 1991 by CEO Tim Sweeney.Read 15 Oct 2026 · epicgames.com
Maker headquarters
Epic Games lists its headquarters at 620 Crossroads Blvd., Cary, North Carolina, USA.Read 15 Oct 2026 · epicgames.com
Maker legal name
Epic identifies the company as Epic Games, Inc.Read 15 Oct 2026 · epicgames.com
Maker size
LinkedIn lists Epic Games as a privately held computer-games company with 1,001–5,000 employees and headquarters in Cary, North Carolina.Read 15 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
Multiplayer
EOS includes peer-to-peer networking, sessions, lobbies and voice chat services.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
News: Linux anti-cheat
Epic's homepage announced on October 14, 2026 that Easy Anti-Cheat Linux v2 was evolving to reduce the protection gap with Windows.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Partner integrations
The partner directory lists Edgegap and Hathora for server hosting and orchestration, and PubNub for dynamic matchmaking.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Player data
Player and game data features include leaderboards, stats, achievements, player data storage, and title storage.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Player data storage
EOS offers player data storage for synchronizing persistent player information.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Praise: free access
Unity forum participants repeatedly praised EOS as genuinely free and attractive for indie multiplayer development.Read 15 Oct 2026 · discussions.unity.com
Praise: platform coverage
A Unity forum participant described the service as covering all desired platforms and usable without selling through the Epic Games Store.Read 15 Oct 2026 · discussions.unity.com
Sanctions and reports
The trust and safety group includes sanctions and player-reporting services.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
SDK platforms
The SDK is available for PC in C or C#, Android, and iOS; console SDKs are available through the Developer Portal after requesting access.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Security obligations
The developer agreement requires technical and organizational measures, secure development safeguards and need-to-know access controls for Epic Account Data.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Service categories
The services cover accounts and social, multiplayer, player and game data, and trust and safety.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Service tiers
The developer agreement distinguishes long-term Live Services from changeable Preview Services.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Social features
Accounts and social features include crossplay, friends, overlay, presence, and the Epic Games account ecosystem.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Statistics
EOS provides statistics services for player and game data.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Subprocessors
The published subprocessors list includes AWS, Cloudflare, Confluent, Databricks, Sentry, Instaclustr and New Relic.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Supported SDK languages
Epic provides PC SDKs in C and C#, plus Android and iOS SDK downloads.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Title storage
EOS includes title storage for game-managed data.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Trust and safety
Trust and safety features include Easy Anti-Cheat, sanctions, player reports, and Kids Web Services.Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Usage limits
EOS applies technical limits intended to prevent abuse and may drop requests, throttle usage or temporarily disable access when limits or overload conditions occur.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Use restriction
The SDK and services may be used only with interactive video game software for entertainment purposes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Web APIs
Epic permits web API access only where its technical documentation identifies public endpoints outside the SDK.Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com

Plans and prices

Epic Online Services Free Free to use No royalty fees · No hosting fees · Service usage restrictions may apply Read 29 Sep 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Free license Free Video games and related applications · commercial, non-commercial, educational and personal use · unlimited games and live titles · unlimited player accounts · no royalty or hosting fees Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com
Enterprise Anti-Cheat agreement Priced on request Additional Anti-Cheat support and features · paid enterprise agreement Read 15 Oct 2026 · onlineservices.epicgames.com

Every Epic Online Services plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • No royalty or hosting fees
  • Includes crossplay, friends, sessions, and voice chat
  • Offers leaderboards, stats, achievements, and data storage
  • Works with Unreal Engine, Unity, or another engine
  • SDKs listed for PC, Android, and iOS

Limits

  • Service usage restrictions may apply
  • Console SDKs require requesting access
  • Violations may lead to throttling or suspension

Who it suits

Epic Online Services suits game developers who need online accounts, social, multiplayer, player-data, or trust-and-safety services. The SDK supports PC, Android, and iOS; console SDK access requires a request.

Epic Online Services in depth

Read the full write-up

Overview

Epic Online Services is a modular suite of online services for games, from social and multiplayer functions to player data and safety tools. It is best suited to developers who can use several of those components across a cross-platform game. The free, no-royalty, no-hosting-fee terms are a strong draw, tempered by usage restrictions and a request process for console SDK access.

Key features

EOS combines accounts and social capabilities—crossplay, friends, overlay, presence, and the Epic Games account ecosystem—with peer-to-peer multiplayer, sessions, lobbies, and voice chat. That range can cover several common online-game needs within one suite; teams needing only one narrow feature may find less reason to adopt the broader package.

For player and game data, EOS includes leaderboards, stats, achievements, player data storage, and title storage. Trust and safety services include Easy Anti-Cheat, sanctions, player reports, and Kids Web Services. This breadth is useful for developers seeking backend and safety components together, but usage restrictions intended to prevent excessive load and denial-of-service attacks can lead to throttling or suspension for violations.

Developers can use Unreal Engine, Unity, or their engine of choice. Epic says it processes game-service data to operate the services and does not share partner data with third parties or its internal game development and publishing teams without explicit authorization. Its listed subprocessors include AWS for cloud services and Cloudflare for content delivery and API security, both in the USA.

Pricing

Epic Online Services: free, billed Free to use. The plan has no royalty fees and no hosting fees, making it a fit for developers from small studios to large publishers who want to use the services without those charges. Service usage restrictions may apply, so the free terms are not an unlimited-use guarantee.

Platforms

The service supports cross-platform deployment, with Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows among its listed platforms. The SDK is available for PC in C or C#, Android, and iOS. Console SDKs are available through the Developer Portal after requesting access; developers first set up a product there using an Epic Games account. That extra step matters for teams whose release depends on console support.

Who it's for

EOS suits game developers who want a broad set of online building blocks and can use multiple parts of the suite, whether they work in Unreal Engine, Unity, or another engine. It is also relevant to teams looking for crossplay and social functions alongside multiplayer, player data, and trust-and-safety services. A project that needs console SDK access should factor in the request process, while any team should account for the usage restrictions.

For server hosting and orchestration, Epic's partner directory includes Edgegap and Hathora; for dynamic matchmaking, it includes PubNub. Developers with unanswered FAQ questions can contact EOS support.

Pros and cons

Pros: No royalty or hosting fees, alongside social, multiplayer, data, and safety components that can serve several needs in one suite.

Pros: Engine flexibility: developers can use Unreal Engine, Unity, or their engine of choice.

Pros: Epic commits not to share partner data with third parties or its internal game teams without explicit authorization.

Cons: Service usage restrictions can result in throttling or suspension, so teams must consider whether their usage fits the restrictions.

Cons: Console SDK access requires a Developer Portal setup and an access request.

Alternatives

For a narrower anti-cheat comparison, Easy Anti-Cheat has a free plan for basic protection with no usage limits, while its Core plan uses custom pricing. AGINUZ Anti-Cheat Infrastructure offers a free Protected plan aimed at single-player and offline games, making it a more focused fit for those projects. Anybrain is a paid anti-cheat alternative for teams considering a paid option.

GuardingPear Anti-Cheat has a one-time Anti-Cheat (Pro) plan at $34.99 as a one-time purchase for one seat, and a Security Bundle at $64.99, paid once. RoSentry offers a free forever Basic plan for up to 100 concurrent players and one active game, with community support, no moderation dashboard, and in-game branding. Byteria Game Anti-Cheat is a paid alternative for developers looking for an anti-cheat product.

OZeroSecurity Anti-Cheat SDK has a $159, paid once perpetual Standard license with ten security modules, offline operation, and unlimited projects. BattlEye is another paid anti-cheat option.

For category browsing, see Game Anti-Cheat Software, Game Backend Services, Game Matchmaking Software, and Game Leaderboard Software.

Verdict

Choose Epic Online Services if your game can benefit from several social, multiplayer, data, and safety services without royalty or hosting fees. Its broad scope and engine flexibility make the free offer compelling; look elsewhere if usage restrictions do not fit your needs or console SDK access is a blocker.

Verdict

Epic Online Services groups social, multiplayer, player-data, and trust-and-safety components for game developers, without royalty or hosting fees. Account for usage restrictions, and note that console SDK access requires a request.

Where Specifiction places it

Alternatives to Epic Online ServicesAll alternatives →