Photon Realtime vs Unity
Photon Realtime
photonengine.com
Unity
unity.comSide by side
| Figure | Photon Realtime | Unity |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.29/mo | Free |
| 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 | — |
| Plans published | 8 | 8 |
| Spec score · Game Networking Middleware | 8.9 (#2) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Spec score · Game Matchmaking Software | 8.8 (#9) | 8.7 (#10) |
| Company headquarters | Photon's LinkedIn profile lists Hamburg as headquarters and Hongkongstrasse 7, Hamburg as its primary location. | Unity Technologies is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. |
| Company legal name | Crunchbase identifies the maker's legal name as Exit Games GmbH. | Crunchbase lists the legal name as Unity Technologies, Inc. |
| Company size | LinkedIn lists Photon Engine's company size as 11–50 employees. | Wikipedia lists 4,987 employees in 2024, while Crunchbase categorizes the company in the 1,001–5,000 employee range. |
| Headquarters | Hamburg, Germany | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Integrations | The documented Realtime SDK variants are for Unity and .NET, and Photon’s SDK downloads also include JavaScript and native platform packages. | Unity Integrations connect Cloud Build, Cloud Diagnostics and Collaborate with webhooks, Discord, Slack and email. |
| Licence | The SDK is proprietary under Exit Games end-user licence terms and requires an Exit Games account and App ID; it is not presented as open source. | The Unity Editor is proprietary; Unity source-code access is governed by restricted proprietary terms rather than an open-source license. |
| Product | Photon Realtime is a cloud-hosted networking service for building cross-platform real-time multiplayer games. | Unity Engine is game and app development software for creating video games and immersive experiences from CAD and 3D data. |
| Security | 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. | Unity says it regularly tests its services and securely stores and separates user assets; it also operates a responsible disclosure and bug bounty program. |
| Support | Photon offers public Discord, email contact and an authenticated support form. | Unity directs users to its Issue Tracker and Editor bug reporting flow, while Pro includes expedited customer support and Enterprise includes dedicated support. |
| System requirements | Realtime Unity requires Unity 2022.3.x or newer, and the .NET SDK requires a .NET Standard 2.0-compatible project. | Unity 6 Editor supports Windows 10 21H1 or newer, Windows 11, macOS Big Sur 11 or newer, and Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04; 8 GB RAM is recommended. |
| What it does | Photon Realtime is a low-level, cross-platform networking API for multiplayer applications with rooms, lobbies, matchmaking, region selection, message relay and cloud webhooks. | Unity Engine creates 2D and 3D games and interactive experiences for more than 20 platforms and billions of devices. |
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
Unity
- Free tierFree
- Pay-as-you-goPrice not published
- Pay-as-you-goPriced on request
- Unity PersonalFree
- Unity Pro$210 a month
- Unity Pro$2,310 a year
- Unity EnterprisePriced on request
- Unity IndustryPriced on request
In their own words
Photon Realtime
Photon Realtime has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.