Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

EmulationStation VS itch.io

Compare EmulationStation VS itch.io and see what are their differences

EmulationStation logo EmulationStation

a graphical emulator front-end

itch.io logo itch.io

An online game marketplace and community.
  • EmulationStation Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-10-20
  • itch.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-22

EmulationStation videos

Playing Classic Games with EmulationStation & RetroArch

itch.io videos

What is… ITCH.IO & GAMEJOLT?! - Softlocked

More videos:

  • Review - Top 10 FREE Games on Itch.io
  • Review - ITCH.IO FREE Games Jampack Review!!! [23 reviews]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to EmulationStation and itch.io)
Gaming
100 100%
0% 0
Games
0 0%
100% 100
Emulators
100 100%
0% 0
Online Games
5 5%
95% 95

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare EmulationStation and itch.io

EmulationStation Reviews

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itch.io Reviews

The best Steam alternatives for PC gamers
The independent PC gaming platform, equivalent to the eccentric bric-a-brac shop selling obscurities from stuffed animals to crystal skulls. Itch.io is exclusively committed to indie games, and there’s a good chance that some of your favourite indie titles on Steam actually started life on Itch.io before growing to become fully-fledged commercial products. This makes it one...
The 7 Best Steam Alternatives
Itch.io has a strange name but a great premise: a place for independent PC game developers to sell their work with a pay-what-you-want model. Some games come with minimum prices, but you can pay more than this amount to help support the creators. Many free games are also available, which you can pay nothing or as much as you want for. Itch.io does offer some indie titles you...
10 Alternatives to Steam for Buying Cheap PC Games
Itch.io is all about the indies. Though most of the games offered on the site and download client are free (thanks to a mobile-style open submission policy), developers can add a price to their games, and many popular independent developers now use Itch.io as a primary distribution platform. There are zero games to be had from major publishers, but anyone who appreciates a...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, itch.io seems to be a lot more popular than EmulationStation. While we know about 7498 links to itch.io, we've tracked only 13 mentions of EmulationStation. 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.

EmulationStation mentions (13)

  • Anyone using a launcher?
    In my opinion the ideal situation would be a backend that any developer could build a frontend to that would suit their approach. For example there are many Retroarch frontends like Highscore, EmulationStation, etc. These all suit the needs for what some person may want. Source: about 1 year ago
  • SteamDeck Windows 11 Guide - Installed Win 11 on the SteamDeck and don't know what to do next? This is for you.
    Replacement for the epic EmuDeck. It utilises EmulationStation. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Is there a user interface that will load all roms from NES up through GameCube?
    I use EmulationStation on a lot of devices. It would cover what you're looking for. Other frontends I like are RetroArch and Daijisho. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Gifting an old pc to my handicapped grandson.
    If you want to piece meal and customize it RetroArch and Emulation Station is the way to go. Also have a robust wiki. Source: over 1 year ago
  • First ever “setup” im very poor
    Helpful link https://emulationstation.org/. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

itch.io mentions (7498)

  • Featured Mod of the Month: Phil Ashby
    Publishing on platforms like itch.io are a great way to get feedback (but see comments about comments earlier!) and to see if an idea is worth pursuing. Self-published mini-games are also a good way to scratch that gamedev itch when it isn't your day job too - I should push a couple myself actually! - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • I randomly got MK11 booster when I haven't played the game for almost 4 years. Is my account compromised or something?
    This guy might not be farming. I'm not, but I have hundreds of cheap games from early humble bundles, huge itch.io fund raiser bundles, etc. Source: 5 months ago
  • [SUGGESTION] If you liked The Painscreek Killing and Obra Dinn...
    I just found this game on itch.io and it's SO GOOD! Source: 5 months ago
  • System Suggestions
    Combat is as gritty as the GM makes it. Healing is TOUGH out of the box, so by default it is already pretty gritty. In fact, part of the crew premise is players can have a few 'cast of characters' that sub in when a PC is in a rough spot. You as the GM choose what type of physical harm to give out, and how often - so it's pretty controllable. Like I said, look at itch.io for some alternate healing ideas if you... Source: 5 months ago
  • Civitai dropped by its cloud computing provider after reports of possible CSAM
    I have just registered at itch.io and paid $10 for kudos. I don't have a GPU-equipped PC, I am just curious about the Horde system. Downloaded the client to my Windows laptop and ran it to generate a 512x512 picture of Julia fractal (my test prompt) with the Midjourney model, there seemed to be no SDXL models to choose from. It took about a minute to generate. The 2nd generation (with the same prompt), which took... Source: 5 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing EmulationStation and itch.io, you can also consider the following products

RetroArch - RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players.

GOG.com - DRM-free game store, selling both new and old titles. No clients required.

Batocera.linux - Batocera.linux is an open-source and completely free retro-gaming distribution that can be copied to a USB stick or an SD card with the aim of turning any computer/nano computer into a gaming console during a game or permanently.

OpenGameArt.org - A site dedicated to sharing artwork & other assets for game development.

LaunchBox - LaunchBox is a portable, box-art-based games database and launcher for DOSBox, emulators, arcade cabinets, and PC Games. Download it free!

IsThereAnyDeal - "When the price is right, you will play all night."