FishNet vs Mirror Networking

FishNet is a networking solution for Unity games using a client-server model and a server-authoritative design. It supports dedicated servers, while developers can also run a server and client together for development and testing. Users may choose a host, including self-hosting or player-hosted servers, and the free plan has no CCU caps or paywalls. Its high-level API synchronizes state, logic, and objects; events and inheritance provide lower-level functionality. Built-in client-side prediction includes desynchronization smoothing and Rigidbody prediction, and Addressables support covers network scenes and prefabs. Other listed tools include buffered remote calls, area-of-interest controls, configurable SyncTypes, tick-based timing, and broadcasts. Customizable authenticators can require client authentication before server communication. Communication is unencrypted by default; FishyUnityTransport can enable DTLS for UDP or TLS for WebSocket. FishNet costs nothing. FishNet Pro costs $50, paid once and adds lag compensation and automatic removal of sensitive server logic from client builds. The documentation says prediction collider components currently support primitive shapes such as boxes, spheres, and circles.

Mirror Networking is a free system for adding multiplayer capabilities to Unity games. It uses a server-authoritative model by default and supports dedicated servers as well as client hosts. Core tools include message handlers, serialization, distributed object management, and state synchronization. Unity components such as NetworkManager, NetworkIdentity, and NetworkBehaviour connect game objects and scripts, with automatic synchronization for transforms and script variables. Built-in transport choices include KCP UDP, Telepathy TCP, WebSockets, a multiplexer, latency simulation, encryption, and Edgegap Relay. Other transport connections include Steam, Epic Online Services, LiteNetLib, and ENet. Mirror is MIT licensed, with no paywalls or CCU costs. The maker says it stores no user data and performs no tracking, analytics, or advertising. Its feature list marks lag compensation and encryption as Beta, unreliable sync mode as in development, and bitpacking and prediction as being researched. The GitHub README recommends Unity 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 LTS, or 6000.1 to get started.