GS2-Matchmaking vs Photon Realtime
GS2-Matchmaking
docs.gs2.io
Photon Realtime
photonengine.comSide by side
| Figure | GS2-Matchmaking | Photon Realtime |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $1,000/mo | $0.29/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 8 |
| Spec score · Game Matchmaking Software | 9.1 (#5) | 8.8 (#9) |
| Company founding | Game Server Services states that it was established on September 7, 2016. | The German company register profile lists Exit Games GmbH as founded on 9 January 2003. |
| Company headquarters | The company page lists headquarters at 2-15-1 Shimoma, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. | Photon's LinkedIn profile lists Hamburg as headquarters and Hongkongstrasse 7, Hamburg as its primary location. |
| Company legal name | The maker identifies itself as Game Server Services 株式会社 (Game Server Services, Inc.). | Crunchbase identifies the maker's legal name as Exit Games GmbH. |
| Documentation depth | The documentation includes tutorials, API references, technical documentation, design guides, samples, SDK setup and service-limit guidance. | Documentation includes getting started, API reference, release notes, authentication, regions, rooms, encryption, traffic statistics, network simulation and PlayFab integration. |
| Founded | 2016 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan | Hamburg, Germany |
| Support | Basic support is free through the forum, while Business Support is listed at 3,000 USD per month and includes up to 15 hours of support. | Photon offers public Discord, email contact and an authenticated support form. |
| What it does | GS2-Matchmaking groups players according to conditions to find opponents. | Photon Realtime is a low-level, cross-platform networking API for multiplayer applications with rooms, lobbies, matchmaking, region selection, message relay and cloud webhooks. |
Plans
GS2-Matchmaking
- IndividualFree
- IndividualFree
- Professional Service$200, paid once
- Prototyping$1,000 a month
- Business Support$3,000 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- ProfessionalPrice not published
Photon Realtime
- 20 CCU Development OnlyFree
- Development Only — 20 CCUFree
- Premium Cloud$0.29 a month
- 100 CCU$95, paid once
- 500 CCU$95 a month
- 1000 CCU$185 a month
- 2000 CCU$370 a month
- Enterprise CloudPriced on request
In their own words
GS2-Matchmaking
GS2-Matchmaking is a managed service for grouping game players by conditions and finding opponents. In standard matchmaking, a player creates a gathering and others may join when they meet its requirements; it is deleted after reaching its required player count. Conditions can include up to five player attributes, role capacities, ratings, allowlists, and blacklists. Ratings follow a Glicko-2-based process, starting at 1500 and changing with game results. Party tokens allow gatherings with existing party members; player tokens last 3 minutes and party tokens last 10 minutes. Season matchmaking keeps gatherings for a specified period and supports up to 1000 players, but only searches by GS2-Experience rank and does not allow players to leave during the season. The service supports latency or region matching and server allocation. SDKs cover Unity, Unreal Engine 5, Godot 4, Go, PHP, Java, C#, TypeScript, and Python. The Individual plan is free for eligible users, subject to request-rate thresholds and a GS2 logo requirement at launch.
Photon Realtime
Photon Realtime has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.