Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Gamesalad VS GDevelop

Compare Gamesalad VS GDevelop and see what are their differences

Gamesalad logo Gamesalad

GameSalad is a game development platform for iOS, Android and HTML5.

GDevelop logo GDevelop

GDevelop is an open-source game making software designed to be used by everyone.
  • Gamesalad Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-29
  • GDevelop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-23

Gamesalad features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Gamesalad provides a user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface that doesn’t require any programming skills, making it accessible for beginners.
  • Rapid Prototyping
    The platform allows for quick creation and iteration of games, which is great for developers looking to rapidly prototype their ideas.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Gamesalad enables developers to publish their games on multiple platforms including iOS, Android, HTML5, and more with minimal effort.
  • Template Library
    A variety of pre-made templates and assets are available, which can speed up the development process.
  • Community Support
    Gamesalad has an active community and a wealth of tutorials, forums, and guides to help new users get started.

Possible disadvantages of Gamesalad

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Gamesalad may lack some advanced features and functionalities that experienced developers might need, limiting its use for complex game development.
  • Pricing
    While there is a free version, the full suite of features comes with a subscription cost that can be a barrier for some users.
  • Performance Issues
    Games created with Gamesalad may encounter performance issues, especially on older hardware or less powerful devices.
  • Asset Management
    Managing assets within Gamesalad can be cumbersome, especially for larger projects where organization and efficiency are crucial.
  • Dependence on Updates
    Developers are dependent on Gamesalad's updates for new features and bug fixes, which may not always align with their project timelines.

GDevelop features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    GDevelop provides a drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible for beginners who don't have prior coding experience.
  • Cross-Platform Export
    Games created with GDevelop can be exported to multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and the web.
  • Free and Open Source
    GDevelop is completely free and its source code is open for anyone to modify and improve.
  • Extensive Documentation
    The platform provides a wide range of tutorials, examples, and thorough documentation, making it easier for developers to learn and utilize the tool.
  • Vibrant Community
    An active community forum and resources are available, providing support and opportunities for collaboration.
  • No-Code Solution
    GDevelop allows game creation without any coding, making it highly suitable for rapid prototyping and educational purposes.

Possible disadvantages of GDevelop

  • Performance Limitations
    The engine may struggle with performance issues for more complex games, especially those with high-end graphics and intensive computations.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    While suitable for 2D game development, GDevelop lacks advanced features found in other engines, potentially limiting more experienced developers.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Usage
    Although easy for beginners, mastering the platform for more complex projects can have a steep learning curve.
  • Limited Integration
    Integration with third-party tools and services is not as extensive as in some other, more established game development engines.
  • Project Collaboration
    Collaborative features are relatively basic, potentially making it less ideal for larger, team-based projects.
  • 2D Only
    GDevelop focuses exclusively on 2D game development, which can be a downside for those looking to develop 3D games.

Analysis of Gamesalad

Overall verdict

  • Gamesalad is generally considered a good option for those new to game development, especially if they prefer a visual programming environment. However, for more advanced developers, the limitations in customization and optimization compared to other engines might be a drawback.

Why this product is good

  • Gamesalad is a game development platform that offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible for beginners with little to no programming experience. It provides a suite of tools for creating both 2D games and interactive apps, which can be deployed across multiple platforms. The community support and abundance of tutorials are significant draws for newcomers to game development.

Recommended for

    Gamesalad is best suited for beginners, educators, and small indie developers who want to quickly prototype and develop games without delving into complex coding. It's ideal for those who wish to focus on game design and creativity rather than programming intricacies.

Analysis of GDevelop

Overall verdict

  • Yes, GDevelop is generally considered a good option for game development, especially for beginners.

Why this product is good

  • GDevelop is an open-source game development platform that provides an easy-to-use interface and a variety of features that allow for the creation of both 2D and 3D games without needing extensive programming knowledge. It offers a drag-and-drop interface, a robust set of pre-built behaviors, and extensive documentation and tutorials, making it accessible to new developers. Additionally, being free and supported by a community of developers, it constantly evolves with updates and new features.

Recommended for

  • Beginners who want to learn game development without extensive coding.
  • Independent developers looking for a free, open-source tool.
  • Educators teaching game development due to its user-friendly interface and ease of use.
  • Developers interested in rapid prototyping of game ideas.

Gamesalad videos

GameSalad Pros and Cons

More videos:

  • Review - Introduction to Gamesalad 2.0: Part 1
  • Review - GameSalad Review

GDevelop videos

GDevelop 5 -- Ultimate Beginner Game Engine?

More videos:

  • Review - Clickteam Fusion 2.5 Vs GDevelop 5 - (Game Engine REVIEW 2019 )
  • Review - Clickteam Fusion 2.5 Vs GDevelop 5 - (Game Engine REVIEW 2020 )
  • Tutorial - Beginner Multiplayer Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Gamesalad and GDevelop)
Game Engine
12 12%
88% 88
Game Development
11 11%
89% 89
3D Game Engine
9 9%
91% 91
Mobile App Builder
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Gamesalad and GDevelop. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Gamesalad and GDevelop

Gamesalad Reviews

The Best Gaming Engines You Should Consider for 2023
Designed for non-technical users, GameSalad is best suited to individuals and smaller teams who are after an easy-to-use platform that supports the creation of games in the HTML5 programming language.
20 Best Scratch Alternatives 2023
GameSalad and Scratch are inseparable in terms of compatibility. Both platforms are available online and support Windows and Mac desktop devices.
Trending 10 BEST Video Game Design & Development Software 2021
GameSalad is a very easy-to-use game making tool for 2D games. It allows you to create 2D games without any coding experience. With this simple platform, you can even make your first game in an hour.
Trending 7 Best Game Development Software 2021
As we come to payment details, GameSalad is not available for free, you need to subscribe to Gamesalad to use this software.
Source: vilesolid.com

GDevelop Reviews

16 Scratch Alternatives
Beginners who don’t have any programming skills but still want to create some games can quickly access one of the best platforms based on the open source network to help them develop games named the GDevelop. This platform lets users release their creative skills to quickly build games, such as puzzles, shoot-em-ups, strategy, racing, adventure, and more. It can even permit...
20 Best Scratch Alternatives 2023
GDevelop is described as a “free and easy game-making app.” It’s similar to Scratch in that it’s a no-code platform; it doesn’t require using programming languages. GDevelop is also free and open source.
Trending 10 BEST Video Game Design & Development Software 2021
Open-source free software, GDevelop allows developers to make games without programming skills. It allows you to create objects for games such as sprites, text objects, video objects, and custom shapes.
Best Game Engines for Linux in 2021
Construct 3 is free with limits. After that, you have to sign up for a monthly subscription. If you can not afford to pay for it, you can use GDevelop, an alternative to Construct 3 for Linux.
Source: kerneltips.com
Trending 7 Best Game Development Software 2021
GDevelop is the best game making software for beginners & professionals. GDevelop provides you easy and simplistic interface, which most developers like in GDevelop.
Source: vilesolid.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GDevelop seems to be a lot more popular than Gamesalad. While we know about 78 links to GDevelop, we've tracked only 4 mentions of Gamesalad. 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.

Gamesalad mentions (4)

  • Looking for game engine from childhood
    This probably isn’t it (at least, I really don’t remember too much of how it worked), but maybe Game Salad? Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is there is any free game engine for low end pc on which we can develop game without programming?
    What about Game Maker or Game Salad ? I don't think these both engine required programming language to create games. What do you think? Source: almost 3 years ago
  • are there any game engines out there as STUPID easy to learn and use as RPGmaker?
    Game Maker Studio is a little more advanced but pretty easy, it seems. Also Game Saladimpressed me in my short time with it. Source: about 3 years ago
  • The Old MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro M1
    Are you a starting developer? Then GameSalad is interesting software for you. It is easy to download on your Mac and it costs 44.5MB to download. That is why the MacBook Pro 13-inch is recommended. With this MacBook you can always and everywhere get started developing your games. On the road, at the office or at home on the couch, you can take the MacBook everywhere. With the current M1 chip, which is in both the... - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago

GDevelop mentions (78)

  • No-Code Game Development: Using AI to Build Your First Game
    GDevelop combines open-source flexibility with powerful no-code features. Their recent AI plugins provide remarkable capabilities:. - Source: dev.to / 16 days ago
  • Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
    Humble Bundle has a Godot bundle is available for the next day or so. That might be a good one to look at if you're ok with leaning into code a bit (gdscript is very very similar to python). https://www.humblebundle.com/software/learn-godot-43-complete-course-bundle-software Also check out the RPG Maker bundle. That's pretty point-and-click. You can have something basic up and running in a couple minutes... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Exploring Raylib and Open Source
    I selected this library as I normally use much higher-level tools to develop games such as p5.js, or GDevelop. Both these tools are amazing in their own right; however, I want to learn how these processes operate on a much lower level. These tools take care of a lot of issues for you ranging from asset to memory management. Raylib is still cross-platform but does not handle these tasks for the programmer which I... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Unity’s New Pricing: A Wake-Up Call on the Importance of Open Source in Gaming
    It's not as monolithic as you'd think. There are lots of engines out there but their communities aren't very vocal compared to Unity, Unreal, and especially Godot's community. Take a look at: https://itch.io/game-development/engines/most-projects And https://www.gamedeveloper.com/blogs/the-generous-space-of-alternative-game-engines-a-curation- If you look at both of these you'll see just how many engines there are... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Favorite Game Engine?
    I'm not really a game maker, but would like to give a shout out to the fabulous https://gdevelop.io/ It has everything you need, is free and its VISUAL PROGRAMMING is fab... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Gamesalad and GDevelop, you can also consider the following products

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

Unity - The multiplatform game creation tools for everyone.

Stencyl - Make iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android, Flash, Windows & Mac games without code using Stencyl.

Unreal Engine - Unreal Engine 4 is a suite of integrated tools for game developers to design and build games, simulations, and visualizations.

RPG Maker - Make your own PC game with RPG Maker. Our easy to use tools are simple enough for a child, and powerful enough for a developer. Try it free today!

AppyPie AppMakr - AppMakr is a browser-based platform designed to make creating your own iPhone app quick and easy.