Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

RemoteStorage VS PlayFab

Compare RemoteStorage VS PlayFab and see what are their differences

RemoteStorage logo RemoteStorage

An open protocol for per-user storage OWN YOUR DATA

PlayFab logo PlayFab

PlayFab is a backend platform for games, delivering powerful real-time tools and services for LiveOps.
  • RemoteStorage Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-15
  • PlayFab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-14

RemoteStorage features and specs

  • User Control
    RemoteStorage allows users to host their own data, giving them greater control over their information and how it's shared with applications. This enhances privacy and security for users.
  • Decentralization
    The platform supports decentralized data storage, reducing reliance on centralized servers and eliminating single points of failure.
  • Interoperability
    RemoteStorage uses a simple protocol that encourages interoperability between various applications, allowing users to switch between apps without losing access to their data.
  • Open Source
    The entire RemoteStorage protocol and libraries are open source, fostering transparency and allowing developers to contribute to its development.
  • Developer-Friendly
    Developers can easily use RemoteStorage libraries to integrate the protocol into their applications, facilitating seamless data management across different services.

Possible disadvantages of RemoteStorage

  • Setup Complexity
    While RemoteStorage offers user control, the need to set up a personal data hosting solution might be complex and challenging for non-technical users.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    As a relatively niche solution, the ecosystem of applications supporting RemoteStorage might be smaller compared to more ubiquitous cloud storage services.
  • Performance Variability
    The performance of data access and synchronization can be variable depending on the hosting infrastructure chosen by the user, potentially leading to slower speeds.
  • Data Management Responsibility
    Users are responsible for managing backups and ensuring data availability, which can add an additional layer of responsibility and risk.
  • Potential Scalability Issues
    Depending on how the personal storage solution is set up, users might experience scalability issues as their storage needs grow.

PlayFab features and specs

  • Comprehensive Backend Services
    PlayFab provides a wide range of backend services including player data management, authentication, leaderboards, and cloud scripting, allowing developers to focus on game development rather than infrastructure.
  • Scalability
    Being hosted on Azure, PlayFab can scale seamlessly to accommodate a growing user base, ensuring performance remains optimal even with a large number of concurrent users.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    PlayFab supports a wide variety of platforms including iOS, Android, and major gaming consoles, enabling developers to create cross-platform games with ease.
  • Analytics and Insights
    PlayFab offers robust analytics tools that provide deep insights into player behavior and game performance, helping developers make data-driven decisions.
  • Community and Support
    PlayFab has a strong community and offers comprehensive support, including documentation, forums, and customer service, making it easier for developers to troubleshoot issues and learn best practices.

Possible disadvantages of PlayFab

  • Cost
    While PlayFab offers a free tier, the costs can increase significantly as the number of users and the usage of various services grow, which can be a concern for small developers or those on a tight budget.
  • Complexity
    Given its wide array of features, PlayFab can be complex to set up and manage, especially for less experienced developers who might find the learning curve steep.
  • Dependency on Azure
    Since PlayFab is heavily integrated with Microsoft Azure, developers are somewhat locked into the Azure ecosystem, which might not be ideal for those who prefer or are already using other cloud service providers.
  • Limited Offline Support
    PlayFab is primarily designed for online games, which means it offers limited support for games that need offline functionality, potentially limiting its use cases.
  • Performance Overhead
    There can be a performance overhead due to the cloud-based nature of PlayFab services, affecting response times for players, especially in regions with slower internet connections.

Analysis of PlayFab

Overall verdict

  • PlayFab is generally considered a good choice for game developers who need a reliable, scalable backend solution. Its extensive features, coupled with the support from Microsoft, make it a trustworthy option for both indie and large-scale developers.

Why this product is good

  • PlayFab is a comprehensive backend platform for building and scaling games across multiple platforms. It offers a variety of features including player account management, real-time analytics, leaderboards, multiplayer capabilities, in-game purchasing systems, and data storage. Its integration with Azure and ease of use for developers make it a popular choice for game developers aiming for scalability and robust backend support.

Recommended for

    PlayFab is recommended for developers who are building multiplayer games, need robust backend support, or want seamless integration with other Microsoft services and Azure. It’s suitable for both small indie developers looking to minimize backend complexity and larger studios requiring advanced features and scalability.

RemoteStorage videos

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PlayFab videos

GameSparks vs PlayFab: Best Price? Trust? Features? Current+Future Value?

More videos:

  • Tutorial - PlayFab Tutorial - Multiplayer Back-End for Unity
  • Review - Meet Playfab - The Intelligent Backend Platform for Games

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RemoteStorage and PlayFab)
Developer Tools
43 43%
57% 57
Realtime Backend / API
100 100%
0% 0
Game Development
0 0%
100% 100
App Development
47 47%
53% 53

User comments

Share your experience with using RemoteStorage and PlayFab. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

RemoteStorage might be a bit more popular than PlayFab. We know about 21 links to it since March 2021 and only 16 links to PlayFab. 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.

RemoteStorage mentions (21)

  • A Local-First Case Study
    Https://remotestorage.io while it's a specific protocol for storing user data on a compatible server, their library also provides Google Drive integration. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Local First, Forever
    Https://remotestorage.io/ was a protocol intended for this. IIRC the visison was that all applications could implement this and you could provide that application with your remotestorage URL, which you could self host. I looked into this some time ago as I was fed up with WebDAV being the only viable open protocol for file shares/synchronization (especially after hosting my own NextCloud instance, which OOMed... - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Show HN: RemoteStorage – sync localStorage across devices and browsers
    Not to be confused with https://remotestorage.io/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Simple Lasts Longer
    This doesn't support the various consumer cloud storage APIs, but you've just reminded me of a project I ran into years ago that seems to still be around: https://remotestorage.io/ There's also Solid which attempts to do something similar: https://solidproject.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Simple Lasts Longer
    I have seen one web app uses the remote storage library. It does fit your criteria, but I don't think there is much traction yet. [0]: https://remotestorage.io/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

PlayFab mentions (16)

  • Multiplayer developers, how do you store player data?
    I think the best way to get started is PlayFab they have a great C++ & Blueprint UE plugin. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Any suggestion for a backend as a service for highscore/ranking data that is more customizable than Google Play?
    I’ve used playfab in the past to good success https://playfab.com/. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Magtatanong lang po.
    Kung gusto mo multiplayer game you can use Azure Playfab: https://playfab.com may "free" tier sila for development. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Leaderboard online in Unreal Engine 4.26
    Look into Microsoft's Azure PlayFab for something like this. There's a plugin for Unreal, though all of PlayFab's documentation seems to be for C# for Unity. Source: over 3 years ago
  • The Fundamentals of LiveOps with PlayFab
    This video blog provides a high-level overview of Azure PlayFab and how its services like LiveOps can be used to makes games more engaging for your players. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing RemoteStorage and PlayFab, you can also consider the following products

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

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

Supabase - An open source Firebase alternative

restdb.io - restdb.io lets you create databases and REST APIs quickly. Development databases are free. Powerful web-based and mobile-friendly data management.

Photon Engine - Independent networking engine and multiplayer platform.

Etebase - Etebase makes it easy to build end-to-end encrypted applications by taking care of the encryption and its related challenges.