Side by side

Attract-Mode vs EmulatorJS

Both stand on emulation frontends. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Attract-Mode

Free plan Open source APILinuxMac+2

Attract-Mode provides a customizable frontend for emulator collections, with game-list tools, controller mappings, and media support. Note that the listed pause functionality does not include OS X, and RetroPie availability is experimental.

Visit Attract-Mode

EmulatorJS

Free plan AndroidiPhoneSelf-hosted+1

EmulatorJS is aimed at website embedding rather than use as a standalone emulator site. Check the supported-systems documentation and browser-serving requirements before setting it up.

Visit EmulatorJS

The facts

	Attract-Mode	EmulatorJS
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Yes	Not published
Runs on	API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows	Android, iPhone, Self-hosted, Web
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	2	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	attractmode.org	emulatorjs.org
On emulation frontends	#1 of 25	#3 of 25

Attract-Mode: what it does well

Free and licensed under GNU GPL v3.
Runs on Windows, OS X, and Linux.
Supports joystick, keyboard, and mouse mappings.
Can retrieve missing game details and artwork.
Layouts support themes, animations, and GLSL shaders.

What to know first

Emulator pause and resume is listed only for Linux and Windows.
RetroPie availability is described as experimental.
The listed OS X download is an app bundle.

EmulatorJS: what it does well

Free and open source.
Code generator creates embeddable code.
Supports multiple languages and customization.
Public CDN has stable, latest, and nightly paths.

What to know first

Requires serving pages through a web server.
Does not provide a Docker container.
Threaded cores require specific response headers.
Supported-systems list may be out of date.

Alternatives to Attract-Mode Alternatives to EmulatorJS The whole list