Mirror Networking vs Photon Realtime
Mirror Networking
mirror-networking.com
Photon Realtime
photonengine.comSide by side
| Figure | Mirror Networking | Photon Realtime |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $0.29/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 8 |
| Spec score · Game Networking Middleware | 8.1 (#10) | 8.9 (#2) |
| Headquarters | Germany | Hamburg, Germany |
| Integrations | Additional transports connect Mirror with Steam, Epic Online Services, Edgegap Relay, and third-party LiteNetLib and ENet implementations. | The documented Realtime SDK variants are for Unity and .NET, and Photon’s SDK downloads also include JavaScript and native platform packages. |
| Product | Mirror is a system for building multiplayer capabilities for Unity games. | Photon Realtime is a cloud-hosted networking service for building cross-platform real-time multiplayer games. |
| Security | The maker says Mirror follows common information security practices, has over 80% test coverage, and relies on no closed-source dependencies other than Unity. | Photon Engine states that it is ISO 27001:2022 certified and aligned with GDPR and CCPA; it says Photon Cloud does not store personally identifiable information. |
| Support | The maker invites users to contact [email protected] with questions or policy review requests and says it is happy to help with projects. | Photon offers public Discord, email contact and an authenticated support form. |
Plans
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
Mirror Networking
Mirror Networking is a free system for adding multiplayer capabilities to Unity games. It uses a server-authoritative model by default and supports dedicated servers as well as client hosts. Core tools include message handlers, serialization, distributed object management, and state synchronization. Unity components such as NetworkManager, NetworkIdentity, and NetworkBehaviour connect game objects and scripts, with automatic synchronization for transforms and script variables. Built-in transport choices include KCP UDP, Telepathy TCP, WebSockets, a multiplexer, latency simulation, encryption, and Edgegap Relay. Other transport connections include Steam, Epic Online Services, LiteNetLib, and ENet. Mirror is MIT licensed, with no paywalls or CCU costs. The maker says it stores no user data and performs no tracking, analytics, or advertising. Its feature list marks lag compensation and encryption as Beta, unreliable sync mode as in development, and bitpacking and prediction as being researched. The GitHub README recommends Unity 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 LTS, or 6000.1 to get started.
Photon Realtime
Photon Realtime has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.