Unity Version Control

Overview

Unity Version Control is a hybrid source-control system for game development teams managing code alongside large files and binaries. It is best suited to projects where developers and artists need to share repositories without sharing the same workflow. Its choice of cloud or self-hosted deployment is useful, but teams should weigh cloud transfer limits against the monthly per-seat cost of on-premises use.

Key features

Developers can work with centralized or distributed workflows, branching, and merging, while artists can use file-based workflows. Native large-file handling, file locking, and sparse checkout make the product relevant to asset-heavy repositories as well as source code. Smart Locks check that a user has the latest version before allowing a file lock, helping prevent conflicts caused by locking an outdated file.

Teams can use Unity-hosted cloud servers or deploy the server on their own infrastructure. Unity names JIRA, Rider, TeamCity, Jenkins, Bamboo, Unreal Engine, and Discord among its integrations and supported tools. Access control lists and permissions can be set for repositories, branches, and individual items. Uploads and downloads use SSL, and Unity permits only SSL connections.

Support includes an email response in less than 24 hours, remote assistance for complex issues, and priority for development-team code hotfixes. That response commitment may matter to teams relying on the system for active production work.

Pricing

The Free tier costs free and includes unlimited cloud seats, 25 GB of storage per organization per month, and 100 GB of egress per month. Usage beyond the included limits is pay-as-you-go, so the free entry price does not cap costs if a team exceeds either allowance.

Unity Version Control hosted cloud costs free, with 25 GB of included storage per organization per month and unlimited hosted cloud seats. The free seat allowance removes a per-user barrier to adding collaborators, but storage remains organization-wide and egress is limited under the Free tier terms.

Pay-as-you-go has custom pricing and includes 25 GB of free storage per organization per month and 100 GB of free egress per month. This is the option to consider when usage may go beyond the free allowances; costs beyond those included limits are pay-as-you-go.

Unity Version Control on-prem seats cost $38 a month, billed at $38/seat. This makes self-hosting a priced-per-seat choice rather than a way around cloud usage limits at no cost. Unity also offers a free trial of DevOps services when users without a DevOps setup enable Version Control through Unity Hub, but no trial duration is stated.

A user counts as active for a month after writing to a repository or uploading or downloading 5 MB of data. Teams estimating usage should account for that activity rule alongside storage and egress allowances.

Platforms

Desktop clients are available for Windows, macOS on Apple Silicon or Intel, and Linux. The product also supports web, API, and self-hosted deployment.

Who it's for

Unity Version Control is a sensible fit for game teams with large repositories that need both developer-oriented branching and merging and file workflows for artists. Teams that need a hosted service with many collaborators may value unlimited cloud seats, while organizations that require their own infrastructure can choose on-prem deployment. It is less compelling for teams that cannot work within the cloud storage and egress allowances or find the per-seat on-prem charge difficult to justify.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Native large-file handling, sparse checkout, and file locking address practical needs in asset-heavy game projects.
• Pros: Centralized and distributed developer workflows can coexist with file-based artist workflows.
• Pros: Hosted cloud seats are unlimited at no charge, and teams can alternatively deploy on their own infrastructure.
• Cons: Hosted storage is capped at 25 GB per organization per month, with 100 GB monthly egress included before pay-as-you-go usage.
• Cons: On-prem seats cost $38 per seat per month, which can make self-hosting costly as a team grows.

Alternatives

For another game version-control option, consider Diversion, which has a free plan and an Education tier free for up to 10 users for eligible academic institutions.

Accessibility Test Framework for Android is a free Android-focused option rather than a game-team version-control product. Apache Subversion is free open-source version control software with source code provided by its project. Fossil is a free, self-hosted option under a 2-clause BSD license. GitButler offers a free, open-source standalone client. Gitember is free and open source, with all features included and no account required. Gitnuro is free for personal and commercial use without limitations. Mercurial is free software under GNU GPL version 2 or later.

Browse more options in Version Control Software and Game Version Control Software. For adjacent game-production resources, see 3D Asset Libraries, Game Asset Marketplaces, Game Audio Middleware, and Game Profiling Software.

Verdict

Choose Unity Version Control if your game team needs one repository system for large assets and code, with distinct workflows for developers and artists and a choice of hosted or self-hosted deployment. Its strongest draw is that workflow flexibility without hosted seat charges. Look elsewhere if the cloud storage and egress allowances are too restrictive for your usage or the $38-per-seat monthly on-prem cost outweighs the value of running your own server.