Playnite Save Manager vs SideSave

Playnite Save Manager is a Windows plugin for backing up, restoring, and organizing PC game saves within Playnite. It detects save locations automatically, including paths under a user profile, game directory, or emulator directory, and supports relative paths. Backups can include optional notes; when restoring, users can choose an earlier backup and keep selected files or folders from being overwritten. An optional setting creates a backup when a game stops, and the per-game backup limit can be set to 0 for unlimited copies. The plugin also imports and exports save-path configurations, ZIP backup packages, and global configurations with backups. Cloud synchronization runs through Rclone and is described as experimental. Users choose a provider through a setup wizard, but the project does not enumerate providers. Cloud sync can have upload or deletion issues; syncing configuration before a game starts may increase startup time, and restoring before uploads finish can cause cloud pulls or conflicts. Optional version tracking records CRC32 checksums. The plugin is free: free.

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.