Two Industry Giants
Unity powers ~50% of all mobile games and many indie titles. Unreal Engine 5 dominates AAA with Nanite, Lumen, and MetaHuman. Both are free to start.
Pricing
Unity: Free (Personal, under $100K revenue), Plus $399/year, Pro $2,040/year. Unreal: Free until $1M revenue, then 5% royalty. For most indie devs, both are effectively free.
For more on this topic, see our guide on how to publish your first game on steam: complete guide.Graphics
UE5 wins with Nanite (virtualized geometry) and Lumen (global illumination). Unity URP/HDRP are capable but require more manual optimization for similar visual quality.
Learning Curve
Unity with C# is more beginner-friendly. Unreal Blueprints (visual scripting) lower the barrier but C++ is needed for advanced work.
Best For
Unity: mobile games, 2D games, AR/VR, rapid prototyping. Unreal: open-world 3D, photorealistic visuals, AAA-quality projects. Both: multiplayer, cross-platform deployment.