GamersVault vs RetroAchievements
GamersVault
gamersvaultapp.comRetroAchievements
retroachievements.orgSide by side
| Figure | GamersVault | RetroAchievements |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Game Achievement Trackers | 7.8 (#13) | 8.6 (#2) |
| Spec score · Achievement trackers | 7.7 (#15) | 9.1 (#1) |
| Privacy | GamersVault says it never sells personal data and collects only what is necessary to provide the gaming experience. | The privacy policy says personal data is not passed to third parties without explicit consent or a legal basis and that API usage logs are retained for a period deemed appropriate. |
| Purpose | GamersVault helps gamers track progress, discover games, and connect with other gaming enthusiasts. | RetroAchievements adds achievements to retro games and lets players build profiles, track progress, and compete with friends. |
| Support | General support is available by email, with the site stating email responses take less than 24 hours. | Users can report broken achievements on the website and request manual unlocks with proof of completion. |
Plans
In their own words
GamersVault
GamersVault is a free web service for recording game progress, discovering titles, and following other players. Users can mark games as started, finished, or dropped, attach dates and half-star ratings, and record replays. A month-by-month diary can be kept public or private. Following friends shows their logs and reviews as they appear. Steam syncing imports owned games, playtime, and wishlists, while the catalog contains 272.0K+ games and tracks titles across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. Catalog data syncs automatically from IGDB and Steam. The Free plan costs nothing, billed Free forever, with no credit card, premium tiers, hidden costs, or ads. Progress analytics and social comparison are listed. Its achievement system is marked Coming Soon, describing planned badges, leaderboards, notifications, custom goals, and rewards. The service says it does not sell personal data. Users must be at least 13, and accounts inactive for more than two years may be deleted.
RetroAchievements
RetroAchievements adds achievement goals and progress tracking to retro games. Players can build profiles, follow completion, and compete with friends. Its game listings span systems from Atari 2600 to PlayStation 2 and include Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and other platforms. Supported emulator options include PCSX2, Dolphin, PPSSPP, Flycast, and BizHawk, with choices for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, and browser-based SkyEmu.
Hardcore mode disables save-state loading, cheats, and most speed-altering emulator features. It is required for game mastery and some leaderboards. Community events include RA Roulette and Achievement of the Week, and developers can use public API documentation. Players can report broken achievements and request manual unlocks by providing proof of completion. The service is free. Its web application source code is GPL-3, while achievement trigger logic is proprietary to the RetroAchievements community. The service does not host copyright-protected ROMs. A player must be connected to the internet when starting a session, so fully offline play is not supported. System support and new features depend on volunteers.