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Defold

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Free cross-platform game engine

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Reviews onG2
2 reviews tracked

The Bottom Line

Entry price

Free, no paid tier

Biggest pro

Completely free

Biggest con

Smaller community

What is Defold?

Editorial review
Defold is a free, source-available game engine for creating 2D and 3D games. Owned by the Defold Foundation, known for small build sizes and Lua scripting.

Available on: Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, iOS, Android

how we evaluateSourcedefold.com ↗

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Completely free
  • Tiny builds
  • Good for mobile

Cons

  • Smaller community
  • Lua learning curve

Ratings Across the Web

5(2 reviews)
G22 reviews
5/5

Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more

Preview

Key Features

2D and 3DLua scriptingSmall buildsCross-platformOpen sourceEditor

Pricing Plans

Pricing checked Aug 10, 2026

Most Popular

Free

  • No licensing fees
  • No royalties
  • All platforms
  • Source available
Calculate your costView full pricing

Is Defold worth the price?

100/100

Defold's pricing is exceptionally generous, being entirely free with no hidden costs or royalties.

This makes it an incredibly fair and accessible option compared to any paid engine. It's best for indie developers, hobbyists, and small studios looking for a powerful, no-cost game development solution.

Hidden Costs & Gotchas

No licensing fees ever

No royalties on revenue

No platform restrictions

Source code is available

How Defold Compares to Competitors

Compared to Unity, which has a free tier but charges royalties or subscription fees for higher revenue, or Unreal Engine, which charges a 5% royalty after a certain revenue threshold, Defold stands out by being completely free forever. There are no revenue-based charges, making it a more financially predictable choice than its major competitors.

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Best Defold Alternatives

Top alternatives based on features, pricing, and user needs.

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Still deciding?

Most buyers shortlist 2 or 3 tools before committing. Pull a side-by-side comparison or browse the full alternatives shortlist below.

Defold vs Unreal EngineHead-to-head: features, pricing, who winsDefold vs UnityHead-to-head: features, pricing, who winsDefold vs PhaserHead-to-head: features, pricing, who wins

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Defold FAQ

What specific animation capabilities does Defold offer for both 2D and 3D elements?

Defold provides a robust animation system supporting flipbook animations for sprites, GUI nodes, and particles. It also includes bone animations for Spine models with blending and inverse kinematics, alongside property animations for movement, rotation, and custom script properties with various easing functions.

How does Defold facilitate cross-platform deployment without requiring external tools like Xcode or Android Studio?

Defold is a turn-key solution that enables one-click deployment to all target platforms from a single codebase and content. Its APIs are consistent across platforms, eliminating the need for platform-specific configurations or external development environments for mobile deployment.

What level of customization is available for the rendering pipeline in Defold?

Defold features a fully scriptable rendering pipeline, providing low-level access for developers. This allows for extensive customization of how graphics are rendered within the engine.

Which third-party tools and integrations are supported for extending Defold's functionality?

Defold integrates with various tools such as Atom, VS Code, Rive, Spine, TexturePacker, and Tiled. Additionally, it supports custom configurations, allowing users to add new functionality from the Asset Portal or write their own native code to extend the engine.

How does Defold's engine size compare to other game engines on different platforms?

Defold boasts a remarkably small engine runtime. For example, on Android (arm64-v8a), its engine size is 1.97MB, significantly smaller than Unity (24.33MB) and Godot (24.29MB). Similar size advantages are observed on iOS and HTML5 platforms.

What kind of physics simulations are integrated into Defold, and how can they be controlled?

Defold integrates both 2D (Box2D) and 3D (Bullet) physics engines. It supports static, dynamic, and kinematic (scriptable) physics objects, with shape-based and ray-cast collision detection, robust triggers, and joint and motor support, all of which can be controlled via code.

Source: defold.com

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