itch.io
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if you're an indie dev publishing free or experimental games, or hosting jams . it costs nothing and PCMag rates it well.
Comparison
itch.io lands on Depends, and Steam lands on Worth it.
Buy it if you're an indie dev publishing free or experimental games, or hosting jams . it costs nothing and PCMag rates it well.
If you play PC games, Steam is the default storefront . free to join, with the deepest catalog, community, and hardware ecosystem.
| Compare | itch.io | Steam |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Indie devs releasing free or experimental games | PC gamers |
| Who it's not for | Studios relying on it as their main revenue channel | Non-gamers . it's a game store, not work software |
| Privacy | Solid posture: CyStack scores 88.8/100, 2FA and upload malware scanning available . but fake-update malware campaigns have targeted users.12 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.15 |
| Support quality | Slow responses, payout delay complaints | No evidence found on support quality |
| Public sentiment | Users like as a free, friendly home for indie games but complain about slow payouts, slow support, and weak discoverability.² | User threads mostly welcome newcomers; recurring gripes are low-quality reviews and account theft, not the store itself. |
| Biggest gotcha | Payout delays documented . one dev waited over 100 days³ | Wallet funds and refund credits keep money locked inside the store |