RetroAchievements vs TrueAchievements
RetroAchievements
retroachievements.orgTrueAchievements
trueachievements.comSide by side
| Figure | RetroAchievements | TrueAchievements |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $3.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 3 |
| Spec score · Achievement trackers | 9.1 (#1) | 7.8 (#13) |
| Spec score · Game Achievement Trackers | 8.6 (#2) | 7.6 (#16) |
| Founded | 2012 | 2008 |
| Privacy | The privacy policy says personal data is not passed to third parties without explicit consent or a legal basis and that API usage logs are retained for a period deemed appropriate. | The privacy policy says the site may process a user's Xbox GamerTag and email address to operate services, secure them, maintain backups, and communicate. |
| Purpose | RetroAchievements adds achievements to retro games and lets players build profiles, track progress, and compete with friends. | TrueAchievements tracks Xbox achievements and gaming accomplishments and provides news, reviews, features, and achievement help. |
| Support | Users can report broken achievements on the website and request manual unlocks with proof of completion. | The contact page directs general questions to the Help Forum or TrueAchievements Discord server. |
Plans
TrueAchievements
- Free accountFree
- TrueAchievements Pro$3.99 a month
- TrueAchievements Pro$39.99 a year
In their own words
RetroAchievements
RetroAchievements adds achievement goals and progress tracking to retro games. Players can build profiles, follow completion, and compete with friends. Its game listings span systems from Atari 2600 to PlayStation 2 and include Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and other platforms. Supported emulator options include PCSX2, Dolphin, PPSSPP, Flycast, and BizHawk, with choices for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, and browser-based SkyEmu.
Hardcore mode disables save-state loading, cheats, and most speed-altering emulator features. It is required for game mastery and some leaderboards. Community events include RA Roulette and Achievement of the Week, and developers can use public API documentation. Players can report broken achievements and request manual unlocks by providing proof of completion. The service is free. Its web application source code is GPL-3, while achievement trigger logic is proprietary to the RetroAchievements community. The service does not host copyright-protected ROMs. A player must be connected to the internet when starting a session, so fully offline play is not supported. System support and new features depend on volunteers.
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements is a web-based Xbox community for tracking achievements and gaming accomplishments, alongside news, reviews, features, and achievement help. A free account provides game and achievement tracking, while members can organize game collections, follow progress across game series, and set scoring and completion goals. Tracking requires the Xbox profile's game and app history to be visible to everyone. The site hosts more than 3,000 community-created walkthroughs and achievement guides, with bookmarks that persist across devices. Its free Xbox One app includes a gamer homepage, game lists, achievement solutions, gaming sessions, and stats; it can open achievement solutions from the official Xbox One Achievements app. Users can view Xbox Store purchases and import them into game and DLC collections. Pro users can automate daily updates. A free account costs nothing. TrueAchievements Pro costs $3.99 a month and includes no ads, automatic Xbox syncing every 30 minutes, unlimited on-demand updates, and expanded game lists and trophy case. The site describes itself as independent from Microsoft and the Xbox team.