Bethesda Creations vs Thunderstore

Bethesda Creations is a community for discovering, downloading, and playing content made for Fallout 4, Skyrim, and Starfield. Its catalog includes creations from professional developers and enthusiasts. Some content is free; other creations require Creation Credits purchased through a game’s in-game menu. Players browse and download through supported games, while Skyrim creations can also be added from the website. Purchased creations may appear on multiple platforms when the same Bethesda.net account is linked, but credits remain on the platform where bought and are not transferable. Credits work across the three games on that same Steam or Xbox platform. Creators accepted into the Verified Creator Program can sell creations and earn royalties. Bethesda requires applicants to provide a portfolio, linked accounts, multifactor authentication, and the latest Creation Kit. Availability varies by region, title, and platform.

Thunderstore is a mod database and API for developers to publish mods and for mod managers to download them. Its catalog lists over 110,000 mods across 300+ games. Thunderstore Mod Manager installs, updates, and manages mods for supported games; it supports profiles, profile export, direct downloads and installs, configuration editing, and updates for outdated mods. The official site directs users to download the manager for Windows, and the app is powered by the Overwolf Client, which is installed with it. Developers can use linked API and package-format documentation, a manifest validator, and a Markdown preview tool. The free plan is listed at free. Thunderstore directs users and developers to Discord for manager support, game requests, and rejected-upload review requests. Its privacy notice says nonessential cookies are applied only with consent and technical and usage data is generally retained for up to 30 days, with stated exceptions. It also says associated GitHub or Discord account details are not made public unless a user requests publication.