Defold vs MobileTogether Designer
Defold
defold.com
MobileTogether Designer
altova.comSide by side
| Figure | Defold | MobileTogether Designer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $83.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Mobile Development IDEs | 8.7 (#5) | 8.1 (#19) |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden | Vienna, Austria; Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA |
| Integrations | Officially supported integrations include Firebase Analytics, AdMob, in-app purchases, push notifications, Google Play services, and game backends such as Nakama and PlayFab. | Legacy data sources such as Excel, EDI, and text can be connected through MapForce Server integration. |
| Maker | The Defold Foundation owns the Defold brand and product, and Refold AB is contracted for most day-to-day product work. | Altova describes itself as a software company serving technical and business users, including small and medium-sized businesses and large organizations. |
| Product | Defold is an all-in-one game engine for building cross-platform 2D and 3D games. | MobileTogether is a rapid mobile app development framework for building data-driven native apps and enterprise solutions. |
| Support | Defold offers community help through its forum and says technical support contracts are available if needed. | Altova lists a MobileTogether support forum, free XPath training, demo videos, a blog, and example files as user resources. |
Plans
MobileTogether Designer
- MobileTogether DesignerFree
- MobileTogether Server$1,000 a year
In their own words
Defold
Defold is a game engine for building cross-platform 2D and 3D games. Its toolchain combines an editor, runtime, scripting workflow, build pipeline, and deployment flow. Game logic is written in Lua; native extensions can use C, C++, Objective-C, Java, or JavaScript. Visual editors, a debugger, profiler, particle effects, animation, and integrated 2D and 3D physics are included. Target platforms listed are Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, HTML5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. Integrations include Firebase Analytics, AdMob, in-app purchases, push notifications, Google Play services, Nakama, and PlayFab. The Asset Portal offers reusable components and extensions. Live Update can provide additional game content after the initial download, with customizable content verification. Source code for the engine, editor, and build tools is available on GitHub under a developer-friendly license derived from Apache 2.0. Defold costs nothing, with no licensing fees, royalties, or runtime fees. Community help is available through a forum, and technical support contracts are available if needed.
MobileTogether Designer
MobileTogether Designer is Altova’s framework for building data-driven native apps and enterprise solutions. It combines drag-and-drop interface design, Action Tree visual programming, and XPath/XQuery for selecting and processing data. Apps can connect to REST and SOAP services, XML, JSON, HTML, and relational databases including SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL. MapForce Server integration can connect legacy sources such as Excel, EDI, and text. App functions may include camera use, push notifications, maps and geolocation, barcode and QR scanning, NFC, MQTT, signatures, and biometric authentication. Designer includes a simulator for supported operating systems and automated tests replayable on client devices through MobileTogether Server. Apps can be deployed to the server for access or compiled from generated code for app store submission. The server can run on premises or in a private or public cloud such as AWS or Azure. Designer is free for unlimited developers; MobileTogether Server starts at $1,000 a year for one core. Custom-branded app store deployments require the server, and developers compile and submit the generated code themselves.