Poki Playtesting vs The Playtest

Poki Playtesting is a free web service for game developer teams that want player feedback, bug findings, and design checks. Poki supplies players, devices, and tracking tools, while developers choose test devices and audience categories. Uploaded web builds or prototypes can come from any development stage, subject to content moderation; Poki recommends builds that work on desktop, mobile, and tablet. Each playtest returns 10 recordings containing button inputs, console output, session duration, country, and device type. Players join through a Mystery Tile and must consent to recording. After 10 recordings are watched, a player fit test can measure playtime with 500 players, usually in about five hours and up to twice daily. A web fit test presents the game on Poki category pages to around 10,000 players and measures click-through rate, average time on page, and conversion to play over roughly seven days. Poki for Developers provides upload, analysis, updating, and recording review tools. Supported workflows cover engines including Unity, Godot, Phaser, GameMaker, and others. Tests are free and repeatable, but uploading does not guarantee testing or platform placement.

The Playtest is a free playtesting tool focused on indie game studios. It helps teams create a project, define testing needs, set tester requirements, publish a playtest, gather guided survey feedback, and use responses for decisions. Recruitment can target platform, genre preference, region, and experience level. Studios can review applicants’ profiles, platforms, and experience before approval. Feedback forms can be designed, responses compared, patterns identified, and reports exported. CHAP, the built-in AI assistant, helps connect studios with testers, structure forms, and surface insights from playtest data. Testers browse open playtests by genre, platform, and region, then apply. Their profiles can show platforms, hardware, and testing history. The site says setup can take under five minutes. Testers do not receive direct build access unless a studio grants it. The service describes itself as a focused studio tool rather than a marketplace or social network. Studios can create an account and run their first playtest at no charge, with no credit card required.