Hello everyone!
I’m new around here and I’m a bit confused.
Since I’m considering working on my indie game with GDevelop as a free game engine I’m curious if it’s actually FREE or it will limit me as some of my friends told me why I should stay away from GDevelop as it’s not FREE for the most basic things.
For example: 1 - Will I be able to use the free version without having "Made by GDevelop? or I need to subscribe in order to get rid of that?
I didn’t see anything about it on the PRICING (to this date) so I wonder if it will be added as another freemium option. 2 - Can I only compile LOCALLY on my PC (desktop) only one time per day?
Such things are obviously freemium limitations, but since I’m a bit confused if it is maybe FREE and I didn’t understand completely it will be nice to work with GDevelop for my next project, or many projects in the future.
I would love to support GDevelop via purchasing marketplace assets, plugins, courses, etc… but for game engine, this is the only thing that currently I’m looking for a completely free with no strings attached, or surprises changes in the model (like unity) for making me subscribe on some point because I will HAVE to do so in order to publish my 100% own creation.
I hope somebody can explain the whole thing in case I missed any other freemium option that I should be aware of before I start working on my project in GDevelop, it will be nice to know ahead.
It is completely free to use GDevelop to make games. Some of the other services and functionality they offer (cloud projects, one click builds, etc) cost them money to maintain, so those other services and functionalities may be limited or not included in the free plan.
If you scroll past the pricing here, you can see the feature comparison of the different plans.
You can export your projects to build them locally on your pc as much as you want. Some people find it difficult setting up their development environment though so you might want to go through the steps to set it up, then test that it’s working by exporting and building a project before you make that a deciding factor.
Hope this helped give you more information for informed decision.
What about that “Made by GDevelop” logo on the start, is this also a must in the FREE version until paid subscription? or I don’t have to use it on the FREE and use my own splash screen?
Based on your explanation it’s not a needed maintain feature but I would like to know.
Also, are there any poups or built-in notification that will be annoying while working such as “please subscribe” or something similar?
Sorry if I may sound rude but I’m curious if anything will be popping up while working without subscription.
For most users it is free
But looking at questions you ask you will consider it as freenium
Same as for me as for me salami is best meat ever made and for you it is just ok meat
As free user
1 - You have choice between displaying gdevelop logo on loading screen
Or gdvelop watermak in a croner
You need to pick one and if you have paid subscription you can disable both
2 - You have 2 online exports per day for desktop and mobile
So if you want to export your game to android or windows you have limit of 2 exports per day
You can compile your game manually for each yet i see ppl having problems doing so while others don’t have problems and i never tried so i can’t judge is it hard or some ppl just make mistakes
Where exports for html/web/itch you name it can be done as many times as you want
Other than that you need to buy subscription if you wanna increase that limit
3 - There is built in multiplayer which you can use to make your game online
Yet you are limited to only 4 players and i do not know is it limit per game or per your account
Yet if you buy subscription that limit increase
There is engine called Ct.js https://ctjs.rocks which supports visual scripting
And have what i describe in all 3 points built in as a free option inside engine
If you really want something that never asks for your money and you only have option to donate
So you can disable watermark or logo just from options
You export your game to what system you want when you want and as many times you want since
Where you need to host your server for multiplayer game or make server from your device (self-host) imagine it as like setting up on your pc server for minecraft
While there is no built in server to which you can connect
I would argue do you need more than 2 exports per day
I would argue does gdevelop on loading screen hurts so much since i see AAA games showing such logo on loading screens
But i guess in their case its more to avoid questions like “Hey in what engine this game was made?”
Anyway as for judging is gdevelop is freenium or free it would vary from person to person
Some of us do not make multiplayer games do not mind logo and do not export each 5 seconds
While others do
So for some what we get for free will be perfectly fine
While for others not acceptable
Thanks you for the details, yes it is 100% freemium as my friends told me but I wasn’t sure if it’s correct that is why I had to check before I start working on my game.
For example the MUST USE the GDevelop watermark or icon is a deal breaker for me, must pay in order to NOT have it… yeah that’s not really giving lot of freedom already from the start, I guess the other freemium limitations are not going to change any time soon so I will have to check other options unless GDevelop will change something in the future.
I will stay tuned of course, hopfully GDevelop will go more in the free direction in the future and not only freemium limitations.
Hi,
the freemium question comes up from time to time and it seems that people easily miss the point why some of the stuff has a pricing. Usually in freemium you would get a basic software with limited functionality which you can expand against a payment. I don’t think that this really applies to Gdevelop as pretty much all the tools for making a game are just available. Stuff that costs the developers money to operate has a pricing (e.g. servers).
If you search in this forum you can find hints how to get rid of the splash screen and the watermark. As the watermark can be annoying, removing the splash screen seems to be unnecessary and I think it is also a mistake to use the removal option as an incentive for the subscription. It feels like negative advertisement, as if something is wrong with the engine and that it would be better to hide with which tool the game was made. If you use a free MIT licensed software like Gdevelop, I would say it is just fair to mention its name and give the developers the props they deserve.
I told you
As free user you have CHOICE between
Enable gdevelop at loading screen and disable watermark
OR
Enable watermark and disable gdevelop at loading screen
You do not need to have both but you need to have one as free user
But i do get you 100%
I for example can’t stand software that is free yet from time to time reminds me i can donate
I see that and it is the moment i uninstall it from my pc and never install it again
That sounds like a good plan, just stay tuned and who knows what direction GDevelop will go, it might be something more in line with what you want. It is a wonderful, exciting tool developed and contributed to by some wonderful people.
Other than that, it sounds like ZeroX4 answered your questions and you have made your decision. I am just going to add about the popups you asked about in case someone else has this question. The free plan has a:
Also to clarify, the 2 free online publishing per day for desktop and mobile that ZeroX4 mentions is for accounts created prior to Feb 2024. Now it is 1 free publishing per each per day.
There’s some assumptions and misuse of terms in here, so to clarify some things:
GDevelop the engine is free and open source under MIT licensing.
GDevelop.io’s cloud services, including one-click automated builds, online leaderboards, etc, are part of the subscription. These are separate services using an online cloud host that are then linked from within the engine, but not part of the engine itself. Users with a free subscription get access to these services with limited quantities, and different tiers of paid service get more quantities/feature sets within those. The cloud services are not open source.
The GDevelop logo and name are trademarked and not for reuse.
The watermark and/or loading screen can be switched between even on any account type. It can be completely disabled with a single click on a paid subscription. This is akin to Unity and Unreal. However, it can also be disabled in your project source code at any tier (paid or not) and is not against TOS. This is unlike Unity or Unreal (breaches their TOS if you do so), so that’s a differentiator around free v freemium.
Free accounts will see a reminder when you use the debugger, but it does not stop you from using it.
Interpret the above as you will, but calling the engine itself Freemium would generally be incorrect. Calling the GDevelop.io services as freemium would be accurate.
So you expect other people to build you a completely free game development suite, and it isn’t enough to just be free to use, you also require that the GD logo be removed so that you can pretend that you actually built your game from scratch. Entitled much?
There’s no reason to get passive aggressive (or just aggressive) folks. They asked a question and had expectations, they’re not belittling anything.
Hopefully the info I and others provided above was helpful @alben. I hope you find success using GDevelop, or whereever your gamedev journey takes you.
In my 1st reply here i mentioned Ct.js
Which does exactly that
Option to disable engine logo is right in the settings for free not requiring any kind of payment/subscription
Same as exporting/building your game is just one click option which is free and not require any payment no matter do you export once or 100 times since tools for export are built in and you do not need to follow some tutorial or subscribe to anything
And its not like gdevelop is bad cause it ask you to buy subscription if you wanna have more exports or remove both logo and watermark
It is just its buissness model
For example
Photoshop is not free
Aseprite is paid BUT they provide you source code for free and you can compile yourself aseprite for free they even have special channel on discord where they help you if you get some error
GIMP is totally free
And they just have different business model
Not like they prove who feels entitled to expect something for free
Yeah I was being slightly aggressive, but they didn’t just ask a question and then say “OK, Thanks.” They went on to whine and complain about how it just isn’t free enough and basically implied that the staff should not get paid in order to cater to their personal desire to just have everything handed to them.
And just to make it even more ridiculous, they claim to be ready (and would LOVE) to purchase “marketplace assets, plugins, courses, etc…” in order to support GD. But not a $5 subscription? Even though the splash is supposedly a dealbreaker? Absurd!
