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Steam vs Playnite: catalog facts
Steam	Playnite
Freemium The client is free; games and other content are bought individually.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence, with no paid features.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows
Native client for Windows, macOS and Linux Large store with free and paid games	Links Steam, Epic, EA App, GOG, Battle.net and Ubisoft Connect libraries, installed or not Console emulator support, so retro and modern games share one library
Requires a Steam account Closed source	Windows 10 or 11 only Metadata comes from IGDB, so obscure titles may need manual editing
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
Account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 20, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.