Game Save Manager vs SaveState

Game Save Manager (GSM) is a Windows desktop application for organizing, backing up, and restoring game saves. Its PCGamingWiki-powered database covers more than 14,000 save locations, and it scans game installation folders and known locations such as Registry, AppData, and Documents. GSM keeps rolling backup history, supports permanently pinned backups, and can rotate older saves automatically. Automatic backups can run on a regular interval or when save files change, and persist across app restarts. For custom games, users can add folders, files, or registry keys and use dynamic path placeholders. The app exports save history to a .gsmr archive that can be imported and merged on another PC. The maker says it detects installations from Steam, Epic, Battle.net, and more, as well as account IDs for Steam, Ubisoft, Epic, Xbox, and Rockstar. The free GitHub plan provides a Windows 64-bit installer under GPL-3.0. The maker's privacy policy says the app runs locally and personal files are not uploaded, stored, or analyzed on its servers. It connects to download necessary data files and does not track in-app usage. A separate download option mentions optional support without stating an amount; website purchases grant a personal, non-transferable license.

SaveState is a graphical app for backing up and restoring video game saves, including games without cloud saves. It creates compressed ZIP backups, offers one-click backup and restore, and can rotate older backups automatically. Users can drop a game launcher shortcut onto the app to detect a game and search for its save folder. The desktop app supports Steam, Epic, GOG, Battle.net, Ubisoft, EA App, Playnite, and Heroic, as well as save discovery for emulators including RetroArch, Dolphin, ares, DuckStation, PPSSPP, and PCSX2. SaveState is free and GPLv3-licensed. Local backups need no account or configured provider; optional synchronization supports Google Drive, WebDAV, FTP/FTPS, SMB or network folders, and Git. Desktop releases are offered for Windows and Linux. Release notes describe Dolphin directory discovery for macOS locations. A separate Android app is in pre-release alpha and supports emulator detection, save scanning, ZIP backup and restore, and profile management. Some emulator saves in protected Android/data paths require a rooted device and superuser access through Root mode. The project describes preflight validation, staged extraction, atomic installation, and attempted rollback if replacement fails.