What is Unity used for?

Unity is a real-time 3D engine and editor for building 2D and 3D games, simulations and interactive applications on many platforms. It is a good fit for building mobile and indie games, creating XR and multiplayer experiences, and developing interactive 3D training and simulations.

Yes. Unity has a free plan, and paid plans start at $210 per seat per month.

Is Unity open source?

No. Unity is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Unity include Godot.

What are some alternatives to Unity?

Unity competes with Unreal Engine. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Unity alternatives.

Unity: features, pricing and alternatives

About Unity

Unity is a real-time engine and editor for creating 2D and 3D experiences. It is used mainly to build games for mobile, PC, console and XR, and its maker also promotes it for non-game work such as 3D collaboration, immersive training, interactive customer experiences and human-machine interfaces.

Unity says its engine can target more than 25 platforms, and the surrounding product line covers collaboration tools, multiplayer development, post-launch live operations, user acquisition, in-app purchase management and advertising and monetization. Industries it names include manufacturing, retail and automotive, and it maintains documentation, a roadmap, demos and a community hub for developers.

Unity is proprietary software that developers download and run locally, with cloud services alongside it. Plans come in tiers, including a free tier for smaller projects, and it suits indie developers, game studios and enterprises building interactive 3D content.

Key features

Real-time 2D and 3D engine and editor
Deployment to more than 25 platforms
Support for mobile, XR and multiplayer games
Collaboration and version control services
Live operations and monetization tools
Documentation, demos and community hub

Good fit for

→Building mobile and indie games
→Creating XR and multiplayer experiences
→Developing interactive 3D training and simulations

Tags: game-engine; 3d; real-time; xr; game-development; simulation; unity

Unity: questions and answers

What is Unity used for?: Unity is a real-time 3D engine and editor for building 2D and 3D games, simulations and interactive applications on many platforms. It is a good fit for building mobile and indie games, creating XR and multiplayer experiences, and developing interactive 3D training and simulations.
Is Unity free?: Yes. Unity has a free plan, and paid plans start at $210 per seat per month.
Is Unity open source?: No. Unity is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Unity include Godot.
What are some alternatives to Unity?: Unity competes with Unreal Engine. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Unity alternatives.