---
title: "Other backend providers: PlayFab, Firebase, Epic Online Services, Nakama"
slug: /workflows/backend-providers/
markdown: /workflows/backend-providers.md
section: live-services
tier: 3
summary: "What each non-Unity backend covers, how it reaches a Unity project, and the checks before choosing one over UGS."
sources: ['Microsoft Learn, Firebase docs, Epic developer docs, Heroic Labs docs and GitHub releases, read 15 Oct 2026']
canonical: https://unityworkflowlibrary.dev/workflows/backend-providers/
read_first: /read-first.md
---

> Read first, on every prompt: [non-destructive rules](/read-first.md).

# Other backend providers: PlayFab, Firebase, Epic Online Services, Nakama

> What each non-Unity backend covers, how it reaches a Unity project, and the checks before choosing one over UGS.

A live-service backend holds what must outlive one play session: accounts, saved data, leaderboards, economy, remote configuration and analytics. Unity's own set is covered in [Unity Gaming Services ops](/workflows/ugs-ops/), and Unity's multiplayer connection services in [Unity Multiplayer Services](/workflows/unity-multiplayer-services/). This page covers the main alternatives. Versions are the latest GitHub release tags, read 15 Oct 2026.

| Provider | What it covers (from its own docs) | Unity SDK, version (date) | Hosting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **PlayFab** (Microsoft) | "A complete backend platform for games": authentication, multiplayer servers, chat, LiveOps segments and A/B tests, leaderboards, economy and payments, CloudScript and Azure Functions ([What is PlayFab?](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/playfab/what-is-playfab)) | PlayFab UnitySDK 2.244.260922 (23 Sep 2026) | Managed by Microsoft on Azure |
| **Firebase** (Google) | Analytics, Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Realtime Database, Cloud Functions, Cloud Storage, Remote Config, Crashlytics, Cloud Messaging, App Check and others; Dynamic Links is listed as deprecated ([Add Firebase to your Unity project](https://firebase.google.com/docs/unity/setup)) | Firebase Unity SDK v14.0.0 (15 Oct 2026) | Managed by Google |
| **Epic Online Services (EOS)** | "Free, cross-platform services for multiplayer games": accounts and social features, multiplayer, player and game data, trust and safety ([EOS](https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/epic-online-services)) | EOS C# SDK from the Epic developer portal (version not read) | Managed by Epic |
| **Nakama** (Heroic Labs) | Open-source server for user accounts, friends, groups, chat, notifications, leaderboards, matchmaker and real-time multiplayer, with server runtime code ([About Nakama](https://heroiclabs.com/docs/nakama/getting-started/)) | nakama-unity v3.22.1 (2 Oct 2026); server v3.41.0 (18 Sep 2026) | Self-hosted or Heroic Cloud |

## Firebase on desktop

Firebase's Unity setup page states that desktop support is a beta feature "intended only for workflows during the development of your game, not for publicly shipping code". The setup page lists iOS, tvOS and Android as the supported shipping targets ([Add Firebase to your Unity project](https://firebase.google.com/docs/unity/setup)). Do not plan a Windows, macOS or Linux release on Firebase without checking that page again.

## Rules

- **BACKEND-CHOSEN-BY-NEED — list the services the game needs first, then pick the provider that covers them on every target platform.** Check: the project records a table of needed services (accounts, save data, leaderboards, economy, remote config, analytics, multiplayer) and the provider and platform for each.
- **ONE-SOURCE-OF-TRUTH-PER-RECORD — each kind of player data has one owning backend.** Two providers holding the same save or currency drift apart. Check: the data table names exactly one owner for each record type; any copy elsewhere is marked as a cache.
- **BACKEND-VERSION-RECORDED — record the SDK version and the date its docs were read.** Backend SDKs change fast (the Firebase Unity SDK above was released the day this page was written). Check: the project's dependency notes list the provider SDK version and docs date.
- **CLIENT-IS-NOT-TRUSTED-ON-ANY-BACKEND — rewards, currency and results are granted by server-side logic, whatever the provider.** The same rule for UGS is CLOUDCODE-CLIENT-POINTER on [Unity Gaming Services ops](/workflows/ugs-ops/). Check: no client call writes a balance or a result directly; each goes through the provider's server-side functions or rules.

## Verify an integration

1. Install the provider's Unity SDK from its official source and record the version.
2. Sign in a test player from a development build and log the returned player id.
3. Write and read one record back from a second device or a clean install.
4. Try the cheat: call the write path from a client with a forged value and confirm the backend rejects it.
5. Confirm the configuration files or keys in the project are the non-secret client identifiers the provider documents, and that no server key is in the build.