The Showdown

Photon EnginevsUnityRealtimeServer

Why pay monthly fees for Photon Engine when you can self-host UnityRealtimeServer for free? Let's look at the facts.

Photon Engine

The Expensive Option

  • Closed Source (Black box)
  • Expensive monthly fees per user
  • Data stored on their servers
WINNER

UnityRealtimeServer

The Freedom Choice

  • 100% Open Source Code
  • Free forever (Self-hosted)
  • You own your data completely
Interactive Calculator

Calculate Your "SaaS Tax"

SaaS pricing is designed to scale with your success. See how much wealth transfers from your bank account to Photon Engine's shareholders.

10 people
150100200+
$

*Estimated standard pricing for Photon Engine. Adjust if needed.

Estimated Annual Waste
$1,440
Monthly Burn Rate$120
5-Year Projection$7,200
Cost with Self-Hosted$0
Start Saving Today

Calculations based on 10 users at $12/mo.

Detailed Breakdown

0
Unity Editor/Cloud
Standalone (Outside Unity)
1
Proprietary Binary
JSON Packets
2
Managed Cloud
Self-hosted