Flax Engine vs Stride
Flax Engine
flaxengine.comStride
stride3d.netSide by side
| Figure | Flax Engine | Stride |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Game Engine Software | 8.9 (#10) | 8.8 (#13) |
| Spec score · Game Development Software | 8.8 (#7) | 8.2 (#25) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile export | Yes | Yes |
| Product | Flax Engine is a modern 3D game engine written in C++ and C#. | Stride is a free, open-source C# game engine for creating 2D and 3D games and other interactive content for desktop and VR. |
| Scripting | It provides seamless C++, C# and Visual Scripting, plus hot-reloading of C# and C++ in the Editor. | Stride supports C# 14 and .NET 10, asynchronous scripting, and hot reload for scripts and shaders. |
| Scripting languages | C#,C++ | C# |
| Source code model | source_available | open_source |
| Support | The feature page promises direct communication and help from engine developers, and the site provides a contact form. | Users can seek help through the Discord community, GitHub Discussions, and the documentation. |
| Target platforms | Windows,Linux,Android,iOS,PlayStation 4/5,Xbox One/Series,Nintendo Switch | Windows is currently supported; Android, iOS, Linux, and macOS are listed as experimental, and the engine supports most popular VR devices. |
| Visual scripting | Yes | Yes |
Plans
In their own words
Flax Engine
Flax Engine is a 3D game engine written in C++ and C#, with visual scripting and full Editor source code available. It supports C++, C#, and visual scripting, with hot-reloading for both programming languages in the Editor. Rendering features include real-time global illumination, reflections using custom software ray tracing, and GPU lightmap baking. World-building tools cover terrain, foliage, fog, nested prefabs, level streaming, and large-world 64-bit coordinates. Multiplayer projects can use low- and high-level networking APIs. Its Online system supports services such as Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network for profiles, friends, achievements, presence, and cloud saves. Supported targets include Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, macOS, web, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series, and Nintendo Switch. Web support is experimental and lacks C# scripting, video playback, and some other engine features. NDA-protected platform support is excluded from the public repository. The engine is free for non-commercial or educational use; commercial releases pay a 4% royalty on earnings exceeding $250,000 per calendar quarter.
Stride
Stride is a free, open-source C# engine for building 2D and 3D games and interactive content on desktop and VR. Game Studio manages assets, scenes, sprites, interfaces and curves. The engine provides physics, navigation meshes, visual scripting, physically based materials, light probes, particles, post effects and customizable shaders, with DirectX 12 and Vulkan graphics APIs. C# 14, .NET 10, asynchronous scripting and hot reload are supported. Native Oculus and HTC Vive support includes VR previewing from the scene editor. Stride exports to Windows, Linux, Android and iOS, and is free to use, modify and distribute under the MIT license. Listed development requirements include Windows 10 or 11, an x64 CPU, a Direct3D 10-or-newer GPU, 4 GB RAM and 5 GB disk space. The project describes itself as community-driven, without full-time developers dedicated solely to its advancement.