Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Colyseus VS Photon Engine

Compare Colyseus VS Photon Engine and see what are their differences

Colyseus logo Colyseus

Multiplayer Game Server for Node.js. Focus on the gameplay instead of networking.

Photon Engine logo Photon Engine

Independent networking engine and multiplayer platform.
  • Colyseus Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-07
  • Photon Engine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-25

Colyseus features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Photon Engine features and specs

  • Scalability
    Photon Engine can handle thousands of concurrent users, making it ideal for both small and large-scale multiplayer games.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Photon supports multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and HTML5, allowing developers to reach a wider audience without platform-specific re-coding.
  • Ease of Use
    The engine provides comprehensive documentation and an intuitive API, which makes it easier for developers to integrate and implement multiplayer functionalities.
  • Real-time Communication
    Photon Engine excels in providing low latency and real-time communication, which is crucial for multiplayer gaming experiences.
  • Community and Support
    A robust community and active forums provide support and shared knowledge to solve common issues and improve development workflows.

Possible disadvantages of Photon Engine

  • Pricing
    While Photon Engine offers a free tier, advanced features and higher CCU (concurrent user) limits require a paid subscription, which can be costly for small developers.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    Despite having good documentation, the complexity of setting up multiplayer features can be challenging for novice developers without prior networking experience.
  • Limited Customization
    Some developers may find the out-of-the-box solutions limiting if they require highly customized networking features not directly supported by Photon.
  • Third-party Dependence
    Relying on an external service for networking can make a project dependent on the service's uptime and business decisions.
  • Latency Variance
    Although generally low, network latency can vary based on server locations, which might affect game performance in some regions.

Colyseus videos

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Photon Engine videos

Unet vs Photon Engine - A comparison

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Colyseus and Photon Engine)
Developer Tools
41 41%
59% 59
Game Development
30 30%
70% 70
App Development
46 46%
54% 54
Game Engine
25 25%
75% 75

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Colyseus should be more popular than Photon Engine. It has been mentiond 4 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Colyseus mentions (4)

Photon Engine mentions (2)

  • 'Foxhole' players launch organised in-game strike to demand change
    Source: photonengine.com (provides server networking and hosting for tens of millions of daily users on steam and other platforms). Source: almost 3 years ago
  • steam vs itch.io
    With Steam you get 70% of the money you make from your game, and it costs $100 to put your game on the platform. But you get stuff like Steam Networking, VAC, Steam Achievements, etc. You might also get more sales if you put your game on Steam. With itch.io however, you get 100% of the money you make, and it's free to put your game on the platform. The problem is you will get less players than if you were to put... Source: about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Colyseus and Photon Engine, you can also consider the following products

Nakama - Nakama is an open-source distributed social and realtime server for games and apps.

PlayFab - PlayFab is a backend platform for games, delivering powerful real-time tools and services for LiveOps.

Unity Multiplayer - Create real-time, networked games.

SmartFoxServer - Massive multiplayer platform

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

Socket.io - Realtime application framework (Node.JS server)