Gameplay Programming — hobby stack.
For each requirement below, pick the option that fits your build — recommended first, then free and cheaper alternatives — or skip what your project doesn't need. Tap the info icon next to any requirement to see why it matters.
Version Control (Gameplay Code Source)
Where your source code lives and is collaborated on. Non-negotiable for any team or serious project.Pricing & free-tier limitsGitHub Free: 2000 Actions mins/mo Linux, $0.008/min over (Windows $0.016, macOS $0.08), 500MB Packages free. GitLab Free: 400 CI mins/mo, $0.01/min over. Perforce Free: 5 users + 20 workspaces free, then $39/user/mo + $23 per extra client license. Bitbucket Free: 5 users free.
Build Farm for Gameplay Logic Builds
Automates testing and deploying your code. Saves enormous time and prevents “works on my machine” releases.Pricing & free-tier limitsGitHub Actions Free: 2000 mins/mo, $0.008/min over, 500MB cache free $0.25/GB over. Jenkins Free: MIT OSS, infra $10-30/mo VPS self-cost. TeamCity Free: up to 3 build agents free, then Cloud $45/agent/mo + $0.10/GB cache. Buildkite Free: 1 agent free then $15/agent/mo.
Artifact Storage for Gameplay Builds (Binaries)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsS3: First 5GB free (12mo promo), then $0.023/GB-mo storage + $0.09/GB egress + $0.005/1k PUT. GitHub Packages Free: 500MB storage + 1GB transfer, $0.008/GB-mo + $0.08/GB over. Artifactory Free: 2GB storage, 10GB transfer, Pro $35/mo 5TB transfer $0.10/GB over. R2 Free: 10GB storage, 10M Class A ops, then $0.015/GB-mo.
Crash Reporting (Client Gameplay Crashes)
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSentry Free: 5k errors/mo, 1 project, 30d retention, 10k replays. Team $26/mo: 50k errors/mo included, $0.00036 per extra error ($0.36/1k). Business $80/mo: 100k errors. Crashlytics Free: unlimited crashes/logs (Firebase required). Bugsnag Free: 7.5k sessions/mo, $19/mo Essentials 25k. Backtrace Free trial then $1000/mo 500k object frames.
Error Tracking & Exception Pipeline
Tells you when things break and why. You cannot fix what you cannot see — this is how you keep downtime short.Pricing & free-tier limitsRollbar Free: 5k events/mo, 30d retention, then Essentials $19/mo 25k events, $0.001/event over. Sentry Team $26/mo 50k, Business $80/mo 100k errors $0.00045/error over. Datadog Error Tracking $31/host/mo + error retention 15d. GlitchTip OSS Free forever self-host $5-10/mo VPS.
Gameplay Analytics & Telemetry (Player Actions, Quests, Inventory Use)
Understands your users and supports them. Drives product decisions and retention.Pricing & free-tier limitsGameAnalytics Free: 10M events/mo, unlimited MAU, 6 months data, then Pro $500/mo 100M events $0.00001/event over. PostHog Free: 1M events/mo free, then $0.000248/event ($248/1M) Cloud. Amplitude Free: 50k MTU/mo, Growth $995/mo 300k MTU. Mixpanel Free: 20k MTU then Growth $28k/yr.
Feature Flags for Gameplay Toggles & A/B
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsLaunchDarkly Free: 1k MAU, 1000 flags, then Team $20/mo (annual $240) includes 1k MAU, $15/mo per extra 2k MAU ($0.0075/MAU). Unleash OSS Free forever. Flagsmith Free: 50k requests/mo, StartUp $39/mo 250k req $0.00012/req over. GrowthBook Cloud Free 1k users then $49/mo 10k MAU.
Database for Player State / Save Data (Hot State)
Persistent storage for your app’s data — users, products, orders. The single most important architectural decision for most projects.Pricing & free-tier limitsUpstash Redis Free: 10k requests/day, 256MB, then $0.20 per 100k commands + $0.12/GB-mo. Neon Free: 0.5GB storage, 1 branched DB, 190 compute hrs, then Launch $19/mo 10GB included $24 per extra 10GB $0.04/compute-hr. Redis Cloud Free: 30MB fixed, Essential $5/mo 100MB. MongoDB Atlas M0 Free 512MB, then M10 $57/mo.
CI/CD Pipeline Orchestration for Gameplay
Automates testing and deploying your code. Saves enormous time and prevents “works on my machine” releases.Pricing & free-tier limitsGitHub Actions Free: 2000 mins Linux $0.008/min over (Windows $0.016/min, macOS $0.08/min), 500MB artifacts free $0.25/GB over. GitLab Free 400 mins then $10 per 1k mins ($0.01/min). CircleCI Free 6k mins/mo Linux then Performance $15/mo + $8/credit pack (25k credits) $0.008/min over.
Secrets Management for Gameplay Builds
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsInfisical Free: 10k secret ops/mo, 14d audit, self-host free unlimited. Doppler Free: 5 users, 50 secrets, then Starter $10/user/mo unlimited secrets + $5 per 10k API calls. Vault Cloud HCP: $0.03/hr per cluster (~$21.60/mo) + $0.03 per 10k requests. AWS Secrets Manager $0.40/secret/mo + $0.05 per 10k API calls. 1Password Secrets $20/mo for 5 seats.
Monitoring & Logging for Gameplay Services
Tells you when things break and why. You cannot fix what you cannot see — this is how you keep downtime short.Pricing & free-tier limitsGrafana Cloud Free: 50GB logs, 50GB traces, 10k series metrics, 14d retention, then Pro $8/user/mo + logs $0.50/GB overage, metrics $8 per 1k series. Datadog: Infrastructure $15/host/mo, APM $31/host/mo, Logs $0.10/GB ingest + $1.70 per 1M indexed. Better Stack Free 3GB logs 7d then $24/mo 20GB $1.20/GB over.
How this hobby gameplay programming checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a hobby gameplay programming build typically needs. Pick one of the four researched options — recommended, free, cheaper or paid — add your own with "Other", or skip the requirement if your project doesn't need it. Nothing is mandatory; the plan on the right tracks what you've decided so nothing gets forgotten.
Your picks are saved in this browser automatically, so you can come back anytime. Options are researched per build level and refreshed as vendors change their plans — always verify details on the provider's page before committing.