Side by side
Open Match vs PlayFab
Both stand on game backend services. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APISelf-hosted
Open Match provides building blocks rather than a ready-made matchmaking service, with customization central to how matches are formed. Teams should account for Kubernetes operations, production resource needs, and TLS configuration.
Visit Open Match Free plan AndroidAPIiPhone+4
Visit PlayFab The facts
| Open Match | PlayFab | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | No |
| Runs on | API, Self-hosted | Android, API, iPhone, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | See the plans |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | open-match.dev | developer.microsoft.com |
| On game backend services | #16 of 27 | #12 of 27 |
Open Match: what it does well
- Developers control matchmaking logic
- Supports match quality and latency measurement
- Provides REST APIs over HTTP and gRPC
- Offers TLS transport encryption
- Includes a default Evaluator for common cases
What to know first
- Self-hosting requires a Kubernetes cluster
- APIs are unencrypted by default
- Production setup requires significant resources
- Backfill requires custom changes
PlayFab: what it does well
Alternatives to Open Match Alternatives to PlayFab The whole list