shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use OpenCritic?

The top critics in gaming. All in one place. - opencritic.com

Worth it. If you play games, this free review aggregator is an easy yes for checking critic consensus before you buy. Skip it if you need Metacritic's industry weight or large-scale user review volume.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~20 public sources including Reddit, Wikipedia, Patreon, and press coverage.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security postureNo security disclosures found

Pricing

$0

Free site

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Gamers vetting purchases before launch day
  • Avoiding overhyped or mediocre releases
  • Review-score readers who want transparent math
  • Analysts wanting open ratings data

Not for

  • Studios with Metacritic bonus clauses — the industry tracks Metacritic, not OpenCritic
  • Buyers wanting owner/user review volume — this is critic consensus first
  • Enterprise data buyers — no sales team, contracts, or SLAs exist

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Business model was still being figured out; longevity rests on donations and ads

low

Owned by Valnet, a large digital media network — watch for ad-heavy changes

low

No formal security page or posture disclosures published

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free to use; supported by optional Patreon donations
  • Publishes its scoring method, unlike Metacritic's secret weights
  • Ratings for 13,111 games across all platforms
  • Many players consider it more accurate than Metacritic
  • Public API plus exportable data for analysts

Cons

  • Smaller industry pull; press coverage still leads with Metacritic scores
  • Rating labels criticized as too generous for mediocre games
  • Tiny operation funded by roughly $184/month in donations
  • Critic consensus first; player reviews are secondary

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 12 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x5review x4news x3

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Completely free, no paywall
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Simple ratings, tiers, and filters
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Ratings, percentiles, top lists, API
  • Support quality: 3/5. Bug and factcheck emails only
  • Security posture. No security disclosures found
  • $0 Price Free site, donation-funded
  • 13,111 Games rated All platforms, per public dataset
  • $183.6/mo Patreon backing From 291 members
  • 2015 Founded Launched as a Metacritic alternative

Pricing

Free site

$0

  • Full critic aggregation and ratings
  • Percentiles and top-10% lists
  • Optional Patreon supporter membership

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Forum users broadly rate OpenCritic as more transparent and accurate than Metacritic.

“I've always been a fan of OpenCritic and find them the best review aggregate (besides Reddit)”
Reddit, r/Games
“I agree. That's what OpenCritic does. Far better than Metacritic in my opinion.”
Threads
“Reminder: OpenCritic is a little more accurate than Metacritic”
Reddit, r/Borderlands
Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources including Reddit, Wikipedia, Patreon, and press coverage.

Free, transparent game review aggregator. Great for vetting purchases; no industry pull of Metacritic.

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources including Reddit, Wikipedia, Patreon, and press coverage.

Sources

  1. OpenCritic homepageopencritic.com
    official
  2. OpenCritic - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    news
  3. OpenCritic Patreonpatreon.com
    official
  4. Metacritic vs OpenCritic vs Steam Reviews 2026tech-insider.org
    review
  5. Reddit, r/Borderlands: reviews live on OpenCriticreddit.com
    review
  6. OpenCritic ratings dataset on Kagglekaggle.com
    review
  7. PC Gamer: OpenCritic launches as Metacritic alternativepcgamer.com
    news
  8. OpenCritic - A Valnet Publicationvalnetinc.com
    official
  9. OpenCritic API on RapidAPIrapidapi.com
    official
  10. NeoGaf poll: Metacritic vs OpenCriticneogaf.com
    review
  11. KitGuru: BG3 highest rated on OpenCritickitguru.net
    news
  12. OpenCritic contact pageopencritic.com
    official

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