RomM vs RomVault

RomM is a free, self-hosted app for scanning, enriching, browsing, and playing a ROM collection. The project says it supports more than 400 platforms, including multi-disk games, DLCs, mods, hacks, and manuals. Compatible games can run in a browser through EmulatorJS and Ruffle without setup, while saves and states sync across devices with conflict resolution. Metadata providers include IGDB, ScreenScraper, LaunchBox, and MobyGames; RomM can also fetch artwork from SteamGridDB and track RetroAchievements. A built-in patcher applies ROM hacks and translations. The project lists granular per-user permissions, OIDC single sign-on, a REST API, and exports for ES-DE and Pegasus. Official clients include a Windows Playnite plugin, the Android Argosy handheld launcher, and the Linux Grout handheld client. A native iOS app is a community project, and the team says it does not regularly review community project source code. RomM is AGPL-3.0 licensed, with no tracking or paid features. Setup help and community discussion are available through Discord.

RomVault is ROM management software for maintaining collections against DAT files on Windows and Linux. It scans ROMs, identifies available fixes, and rebuilds sets according to DAT definitions. Duplicate detection, file renaming, and hash verification are included. The built-in DATVault can update DAT files from ROM cataloging projects, although access without a key is limited to official MAME listxml DATs. Patreon supporters receive full repository access and a unique key. RomVault handles uncompressed files, ZIP, 7z, and CHD archives; RAR is not supported. The graphical interface runs directly as a standalone executable without an installer and needs write access to its directory. Separate command-line builds are available for Windows and Linux. Scanning and fixing default to Level 2. Removed files move to ToSort, with an optional double-check before deletion. The free plan costs nothing and includes core functionality without ads or nag screens.