Game Save Manager vs SideSave

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.

SideSave is free, open-source software that synchronizes save data for non-Steam games added to Steam as shortcuts. It pairs two approved machines and transfers tracked saves over a local network or an internet relay, sending only changed content blocks. Versioned snapshots and branches preserve history, while lineage-based conflict detection asks whether to keep the local copy, remote copy, or both. Saves can be restored individually or as complete versions. Detection reads Steam’s shortcuts.vdf file and offers Proton save locations for tracking. The scan excludes real Steam Cloud games, emulator saves, repack-wrapper detection, and portable installs. Optional backups can mirror snapshots to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV, a webhook, or local/NAS storage. SideSave has no accounts or telemetry; relay traffic is encrypted but not end-to-end. The project publishes no releases, so users build the CLI, desktop app, relay, or Steam Deck components from source.