Comparison

Nakama (Heroic Labs) vs Photon Engine

	Nakama (Heroic Labs)	Photon Engine
What it says it does	Nakama (Heroic Labs)Scalable game backend and LiveOps stack for multiplayer games. Nakama from Heroic Labs handles accounts, matchmaking, leaderboards, chat and realtime multiplayer, open source or on managed Heroic Cloud.	Photon EngineBuild and scale real-time multiplayer games with Photon Fusion, Quantum, Realtime, Voice and Chat. Trusted by thousands of studios. Start free.
Pricing	Nakama (Heroic Labs)Nakama open source: free to self-host; Heroic Cloud (managed, includes Nakama Enterprise, no DAU/MAU/CCU limits): $400 per Nakama CPU + $200 per database CPU per month (about $600/mo for the smallest 1+1 production setup); smaller development tier available; Satori LiveOps from $600/mo (official)	Photon EngineFusion: free 20 CCU for development; free 100 CCU for one launched app; 100 CCU $95 one-time for 12 months; 500 CCU $125/mo; 1,000 CCU $250/mo; 2,000 CCU $500/mo; Premium $0.50 per CCU ($1,000/mo minimum); extra traffic $0.05-$0.10/GB (official)
Website	Nakama (Heroic Labs)https://heroiclabs.com/	Photon Enginehttps://www.photonengine.com/

Which tool for which job

Nakama (Heroic Labs) wins when you want an open-source backend you control, or predictable CPU-based pricing with no per-player fees.

Photon Engine wins when you want managed multiplayer networking with a free tier to prototype and launch small.