Over the decades, there have emerged several game engines that devs use to design and develop games. Two of the most popular engines today are Godot and Unity—two different engines that are quite different from each other but are becoming increasingly compared side by side.
Unity is the most popular game engine, and it’s been used to develop many of the most commercially successful games today. In fact, about 53% of the mobile games on the 1,000 top-grossing mobile games list were developed using Unity.
On the other hand, Godot is a relatively new engine—about half as old as Unity. It was officially released in 2014 as an open-source project, and it remains so until today. But being open-source has not stopped Godot from slowly dominating the charts and quickly landing a spot among the top 5 game engines.
But what exactly are the differences between the two, and why are people becoming more inclined to pit them against each other?
Let’s go over some of the most important differences between Godot and Unity, covering the following:
- Licensing Cost;
- Porting Capabilities;
- Ease of Use;
- Mobile Compatibility;
- Multiplayer capacity;
- And more.
Preference is King
Before we get into an in-depth analysis of Godot vs. Unity, allow us to first explain how valuable personal preference is when choosing software for game development.
There are numerous strong opinions in the community about which engine is the best, but it’s really ultimately up to you and what you need. Your experience may be completely different from ours, and that’s okay!
The beauty of game dev is that it allows us to approach the work in a way that aligns with our brain’s natural ways of thinking—which may vary from person to person. Therefore, always choose the option you’re most comfortable with and bring out the most in your creativity.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s launch into how we think Godot and Unity hold up against each other.
Godot vs. Unity for Beginners
Like nearly all professional tools, both Godot and Unity have steep learning curves. Each of these engines does take some time to learn, and if you’re a complete beginner, expect that both Godot and Unity will need significant investments in your time and effort.
That said, Godot is generally regarded to be the more beginner-friendly option. As a relatively young engine, Godot does not have as many features as Unity, which can have its pros and cons.
One of the pros of having fewer features is that Godot is much easier to learn than Unity—although there are definitely more learning resources for Unity.
Now, your beginner experience with Godot and Unity is highly dependent on how experienced you are with coding. Godot has a node-based interface that beginners may or may not be too comfortable with—the game dev community doesn’t always agree on this one.
By and large, our experience with using new tools is highly dependent on what we’re used to doing, and Godot and Unity are no exception! For instance, if you’ve been predominantly using your right hand your whole life, imagine how difficult it would be to use scissors made for left-handed individuals—see where we’re going here?
If you come into this comparison completely unaware, with zero experience in coding and game dev, then maybe Godot will work better for you. But if you have some experience, then it could easily be the other way around with Unity being the better option.
But overall, we maintain that Godot is the better option for beginner game developers in general.
Godot vs. Unity for Professionals
Put simply, Unity is the better professional game engine. Because Godot hasn’t been around as long and still does not have many features that would be handy in commercial production, Unity remains a superior choice for professional game development.
However, this doesn’t mean that you cannot use Godot for commercial pursuits. Still, it may be a bit more challenging than just using Unity.
Godot vs. Unity Visual Graphics
Visual graphics is another area where Unity takes the cake. Because Unity has been around for some time, it has also had more opportunities to develop its application and focus on the nicer to have aspects of production like visual graphics.
Quite the contrary, Godot is fairly new and doesn’t have an endless pool of money and resources to pull from. Godot mainly relies on donations and grants to continue with production and support, and operations are contingent on what support the company receives.
So if the game you’re building is highly dependent on complex, quality graphics, then Unity will probably be your best bet.
Godot vs. Unity 2D Games
When it comes to 2D games, there’s no clear winner. Both Godot and Unity are excellent options for 2D game development, and it will mostly boil down to preference and the purpose of your project.
If you want to build a game with more focus on visuals, Unity is the way to go. Unity has had more to refine its features and has a much better set of visual tools for:
- Shading;
- Animation;
- Color;
- And other visual elements.
But if that isn’t your goal, then Godot will work perfectly fine. And because Godot has a smaller feature set, you will be able to master it faster, and in turn, create a pretty good game!
Godot vs. Unity 3D Games
Unity is far better for 3D games than Godot, there is absolutely no doubt about it.
Godot may begin to catch up in 3D dev with the release of Godot 4, but perhaps even then, Unity will remain a superior option for developing 3D games.
Unity’s superiority is due to several factors, including:
- Engine Maturity. Unity has been around far longer than Godot, and it is the most popular engine on the market right now. The time elapsed since Unity’s release in 2005 has allowed the engine to improve and grow significantly over the years;
- Budget. Unity is a multi-billion dollar corporation, and it’s even publicly traded on the stock market! A higher budget also means Unity has (much) more resources than Godot, so it’s able to develop more features and invest in more improvements.
Godot vs. Unity Game Porting
Here’s the thing, Godot is an open-source engine, and that fact becomes especially relevant when it comes to game porting because it means that Godot is simply unable to provide support for console-based gaming.
Consoles typically have proprietary development kits, and putting them on in an open-source code isn’t viable at all. While you can still pay for somebody to port your Godot game to a console, you still can’t do it with Godot alone.
So if you were planning to port your game to Switch or another console, then Godot may not be the most straightforward solution. Yes, it is possible, but not the most convenient.
If you’re planning on releasing your game on different platforms, it’s best to just give Unity a shot and have a better experience overall.
Godot vs. Unity Mobile Games
Unity is clearly the more powerful tool. If you were gunning for an engine that would allow you to use complex features for your mobile game, then by all means, go for Unity.
But if you’re building your first mobile game and you’re still getting used to the ropes, Godot is a worthy opponent. As we’ve established Godot is much simpler to use and has a pretty decent set of features already.
If you’re still testing out the waters with mobile game development, Godot will be more than sufficient.
If you find that Godot is lacking in certain areas, then it may be time to consider more complex game engines like Unity.
Godot vs. Unity Cost
If it’s your first time exploring the game development industry, you will quickly find that software cost is one of the most crucial turning points of any project (along with salaries!). As you start to make sales off of your game, you may be required to pay licensing fees and other associated costs.
Godot is a free, open-source software. This means it is completely free to use—commercially or personally. You do not have to pay a penny to use Godot, and it was built on the combined effort of thousands of contributors.
Thus, if you’re just working on a project on the side and you don’t want to worry about ever shelling out money, Godot is the option for you. Even if you end up developing a game that makes millions of dollars a month, you will not have to pay a single licensing penny for using Godot.
Unity on the other hand is a different story. While there is a free-to-use version of Unity (which is absolutely functional), you will have to pay for licensing once your game reaches a certain threshold.
Overall, Godot is the clear winner in terms of cost because it is free to use always. However, Godot doesn’t fall far behind with its free standard version. So if you’re working on a personal project, either option will be perfectly cost-effective.
Should I choose Godot or Unity?
After reading all that, it should be pretty clear which option you like better. And if it’s not, then why not try both? There’s value in learning both gaming engines, and neither one of them are perfect across the board.
We recommend asking yourself the following questions first to help guide you in choosing the appropriate engine for your project.
- How much experience do you have with game development? If it isn’t a lot, then we would suggest starting with Godot and moving forward if it doesn’t suit you. As a complete beginner, Unity may be a challenging learning curve, and you’re better off trying to master the feature set in Godot first;
- How much do you want to pay for licensing? Even if both Unity and Godot don’t have any upfront costs if you just want to try them out, you have to think of the long-term goals of your project. If you don’t see yourself wanting to pay thousands of dollars for licensing, and if you feel like your project doesn’t really need it, then Godot is a fantastic choice;
- How complex is your project? The thing is, Godot is excellent for simple 2D projects, but it has many limitations beyond that. If your goal is to create a visually compelling 3D game, then using Godot may be a bit of a struggle. Unity is a far better and more stable engine for developing complex 3D games, so it’s better to start with that one first;
- Where do you see yourself releasing your game? If your goal is to release on a console, then Godot will not be a good option for you at all. Godot, by its open-sourced nature, will limit your ability to port your game into different platforms and may limit the overall potential of your game. While porting to consoles is still possible, it’s an extra step you wouldn’t have to do with Unity.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, the game engine you use to develop your shiny, new game idea is completely up to personal preference. Godot and Unity both have the potential to be excellent options, depending on what you’re shooting for with your game.
However, one element that is often glossed over in comparisons is how much Godot has grown in the last (almost) 10 years since its official release in 2014. Godot’s massive improvement as a game engine is a fantastic reminder of what people can achieve when working together on an open-source project.
And while Godot is for sure not the best for more complex graphics and porting, it still holds up pretty well to Unity, considering that Unity is quite literally worth billions of dollars.
So, at the end of the day, which should you pick? Godot? Unity?
The answer is simple and complex at the same time—choose the engine you feel most comfortable with.
Guides on the internet will only get you so far. Sure, we can tell you technical details and already-established user feedback, but there’s truly nothing like getting your hands dirty and trying out an engine for yourself. Plus, who knows? You might end up pretty surprised with what you find!