Software Alternatives & Reviews

EmulationStation VS Playnite

Compare EmulationStation VS Playnite and see what are their differences

EmulationStation

a graphical emulator front-end

Playnite

Source code generated using layoutit.com
  • EmulationStation Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-10-20
  • Playnite Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-05

EmulationStation

Categories
  • Gaming
  • Gaming Tools
  • Emulators
  • Online Games
Website emulationstation.org  
Details $-

Playnite

Categories
  • Gaming
  • Emulators
  • Gaming Tools
  • Games
Website playnite.link  
Details $

EmulationStation videos

Playing Classic Games with EmulationStation & RetroArch

Playnite videos

Checking out the Playnite 5.5 Update and it's damned good

More videos:

  • Review - Is the best Launcher even BETTER? - Playnite 5 Review
  • Review - Playnite games launcher Quick Look and Impressions
  • Demo - Youtube.com

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to EmulationStation and Playnite)
Gaming
18 18%
82% 82
Emulators
31 31%
69% 69
Games
0 0%
100% 100
Gaming Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using EmulationStation and Playnite. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare EmulationStation and Playnite

EmulationStation Reviews

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Playnite Reviews

Best Free Game Launcher for Windows PC
Presenting you, Playnite, a game launcher, containing a nice set of features. In this, you can scan the games on your device, get a nice combination of features with a user-friendly UI. You will not only get a launcher but also emulators.
Top 6 best launcher games to launch and organize PC games
This is due to the open source of the project. Playnite has many contributions and so it grows quickly. In addition to the launcher, Playnite also supports many emulators, it can handle retro games effectively.
Source: tipsmake.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Playnite seems to be a lot more popular than EmulationStation. While we know about 286 links to Playnite, we've tracked only 13 mentions of EmulationStation. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

EmulationStation mentions (13)

  • Anyone using a launcher?
    In my opinion the ideal situation would be a backend that any developer could build a frontend to that would suit their approach. For example there are many Retroarch frontends like Highscore, EmulationStation, etc. These all suit the needs for what some person may want. Source: 11 months ago
  • SteamDeck Windows 11 Guide - Installed Win 11 on the SteamDeck and don't know what to do next? This is for you.
    Replacement for the epic EmuDeck. It utilises EmulationStation. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Is there a user interface that will load all roms from NES up through GameCube?
    I use EmulationStation on a lot of devices. It would cover what you're looking for. Other frontends I like are RetroArch and Daijisho. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Gifting an old pc to my handicapped grandson.
    If you want to piece meal and customize it RetroArch and Emulation Station is the way to go. Also have a robust wiki. Source: about 1 year ago
  • First ever “setup” im very poor
    Helpful link https://emulationstation.org/. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

Playnite mentions (286)

  • I wrote an app for myself to filter my library by HLTB
    I've done something similar before with Playnite (an open-source PC game library manager), which has an HLTB plugin. Source: 3 months ago
  • Tags no longer register and i've finally had it with galaxy 2.0. Any recommended alternatives?
    Playnite: The one with the most features and libraries available via addons and has a lot of options for customization. In my opinion the best one available for this purpose. Source: 3 months ago
  • What tools do I install?
    As for my LGO, the only other app I've installed outside of the standard launcher was Playnite to consolidate all games into one place as Legion Space doesn't detect everything I have installed and I don't want to manage manually adding games to their launcher. Source: 3 months ago
  • Login in to various stores when launching games
    Use playnite instead of the individual launchers. Source: 3 months ago
  • Steam Deck OLED
    Here is where I come in and recommend everyone check out Playnite: https://playnite.link/ When I care about supporting a developer or publisher and they offer their product on their own storefront DRM-free, I will often go there to buy. Or I buy from GoG which takes a smaller cut. Playnite lets me launch my Steam and non-Steam games in a seamless fashion. Steam still does a great job as a game installer/patch... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing EmulationStation and Playnite, you can also consider the following products

RetroArch - RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players.

LaunchBox - LaunchBox is a portable, box-art-based games database and launcher for DOSBox, emulators, arcade cabinets, and PC Games. Download it free!

Batocera.linux - Batocera.linux is an open-source and completely free retro-gaming distribution that can be copied to a USB stick or an SD card with the aim of turning any computer/nano computer into a gaming console during a game or permanently.

Lutris - Lutris is an open source gaming platform for GNU/Linux.

RetroBat - RETROBAT RetroBat is a software distribution designed for emulation and to be the easiest way to enjoy your game collection on your Windows computer.

HyperSpin - HyperSpin is an animated arcade frontend for Windows for use on Home Arcade Machines.