BYOND vs Ren'Py
BYOND
byond.com
Ren'Py
renpy.orgSide by side
| Figure | BYOND | Ren'Py |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Game Engine Software | 7.9 (#62) | 9.0 (#6) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile export | No | Yes |
| Purpose | BYOND is a gaming engine and community for creating, playing, and publishing games, with a particular focus on multiplayer games. | Ren'Py is a visual novel engine for creating interactive stories and life simulation games using words, images, and sounds. |
| Scripting languages | DM | Ren'Py script language; Python |
| Security | BYOND recommends passwords combining letters, numbers, and special characters and warns users never to give out their password. | Ren'Py warns that games can perform harmful actions and that loading untrusted save or persistent files can run arbitrary code. |
| Source code model | closed_source | open_source |
| Support | The official contact page directs software questions to the BYOND Help forum and development questions to the BYOND forums. | Ren'Py directs users to its Discord and Lemma Soft Forums for questions, and to GitHub for bug reports. |
| Target platforms | Windows,Linux development/hosting,modern web browsers | Windows 10+,macOS 10.10+,Linux x86_64/Arm,Android 5.0+,iOS 11+,HTML5/WebAssembly (beta) |
Plans
In their own words
Ren'Py
Ren'Py is a free visual novel engine for making interactive stories and life simulation games with words, images, and sounds. Its script language handles visual-novel writing, while Python can be used for more complex game logic. Default games include menus, automatic saves, rollback, predictive image loading, and mouse, keyboard, or gamepad controls. Creators can customize screens and styles using the screen language and Python. The launcher builds Windows, Mac, and Linux games from any of those desktop systems. Ren'Py also supports Android export and can package games for WebAssembly browsers, though web support is beta and lacks networking and multithreading. It targets Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.10 or later, Linux x86_64 or Arm, Android 5.0 or later, and iOS 11 or later. Building for iOS requires a Mac and Xcode, and that support remains a work in progress. The engine is free for commercial and non-commercial use; most is MIT-licensed, with some LGPL components whose terms distributors must meet.