Boosteroid vs Cloudy Pad

Boosteroid is a cloud gaming service that runs games on remote gaming rigs and streams gameplay to users. Players launch games they already own, with access to hundreds of titles from popular platforms. Supported devices include Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, browsers, ChromeOS and smart TVs including Android TV, webOS and Samsung Tizen TV. Streaming can reach 4K resolution, and ray tracing is listed as supported. Gaming sessions have no time limits, and users can switch devices and continue playing. Gameplay can also be streamed to YouTube. Boosteroid says it does not share user data and lists no ads or lock-in contract. Online chat support is available 24/4, with responses stated as taking 1-2 minutes. There is no free plan listed. The Ultimate plan is billed €89.89 per year, equivalent to €7.49 per month; the Ultra plan costs €16.89 a month.

Cloudy Pad lets users deploy a cloud gaming instance on their own server, machine, or cloud provider and play games from their own library. It can be self-deployed, including directly on a server via SSH, or used through Cloudy Pad App, a web platform for deploying a gaming instance. Listed launchers include Steam, Epic, GOG, Heroic, and Lutris; listed providers include AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Scaleway, and Paperspace. Cloudy Pad can deploy a Sunshine or Wolf streaming server for use with the Moonlight client, with streaming up to 1440p. Its documentation describes hourly billing without a subscription, automated cost alerts, and Spot instances that can be up to 90% cheaper. The self-deployment guide requires Docker, a Moonlight client, an NVIDIA GPU or supported cloud provider, and a stable internet connection with at least 20 Mbps download speed. Steam use requires Proton, and compatibility can be checked on ProtonDB. Cloudy Pad is free and open source, though cloud provider usage may incur charges. The maker describes the project as experimental and says breaking changes may occur.