See how Persistent Asset holds up against the other save solutions on the store.

Legend: ✅ yes · ⚠️ partly / manual or unclear · ➖ deliberately not · ❌ no · ⏳ coming

  Persistent Asset Easy Save 3 Bayat Save System
Setup & workflow      
Saves & loads automatically, no code ✅ Runs on its own ⚠️ Auto Save component ⚠️ Auto Save component
Set up entirely in the Inspector ✅ No C# needed ⚠️ Mostly code ⚠️ Mostly code
Drop Save / Load onto a button ✅ Ready for UnityEvents ⚠️ Small script ❌ Needs scripting
Save or wipe everything in one call ✅ One call, every object ⚠️ Auto Save / DeleteFile ⚠️ Auto Save Manager
Change where saves go without rewriting code ✅ Dropdown on the asset ⚠️ Default in Settings window ❌ Set in code
Where it saves      
Local files & PlayerPrefs ✅ Built in ✅ Built in ✅ Built in
Multiple save slots ✅ Built in ✅ Multiple files ✅ Catalog API
Screenshot thumbnails for save slots ✅ Built-in per-slot capture ⚠️ Save a Texture2D yourself ⚠️ Save images yourself
Cloud saves across devices, built-in ✅ Unity Cloud Save ✅ ES3Cloud (self-host) ⚠️ Firebase / PlayFab add-ons
Keeps working offline, syncs later ✅ Auto-uploads later ⚠️ Saves locally, manual ES3Cloud.Sync ⚠️ Manual
Database storage (SQL / NoSQL) ➖ By design: your backend ✅ MySQL (SQL) via ES3Cloud ⚠️ Firebase add-on (NoSQL)
PC, mobile & WebGL ✅ Fully supported ✅ Fully supported ✅ Fully supported
Consoles ⚠️ Custom code, integrated ❌ Fully custom, no integration ❌ Fully custom, no integration
Reliability & data safety      
Saves can’t corrupt on crash or power loss ✅ Atomic write-then-swap ⚠️ Atomic move, manual recovery ⚠️ Backup-based
Automatic backup copy ✅ Automatic fallback ⚠️ Manual backup/restore ⚠️ Manual backup API
Never overwrites good progress with defaults ✅ Won’t wipe a real save ⚠️ Up to your code ⚠️ Up to your code
Knows when async/cloud data is ready to use ✅ Built-in ready signal ⚠️ You track it ⚠️ You track it
Upgrades old saves after a game update ✅ Versioning built in ⚠️ Migrate yourself ⚠️ Migrate yourself
Change save format or location without losing player saves ✅ Auto-migrates old saves ⚠️ Up to your code ⚠️ Up to your code
Reset to defaults or restore a checkpoint ✅ Built-in reset & checkpoints ⚠️ Manual ⚠️ Manual
Finishes saving before the game closes ✅ Waits for in-flight saves ➖ Synchronous, no wait needed ⚠️ No async drain
Security      
Save encryption ✅ AES-256 ✅ AES-128 ✅ AES-128
Tamper-proofing & anti-cheat ✅ Edit-detection + device locks ⚠️ Encryption only ⚠️ Encryption only
Performance      
Smooth saving, no frame stutter ✅ Heavy work in the background ⚠️ Mostly main thread ⚠️ Async API only
Compress saves to shrink file size ✅ gzip (Fast or Optimal) ✅ gzip ❌ Not built in
Skips saving when nothing changed ✅ Optional dirty-check ⚠️ Manual / cache ⚠️ Manual
What you can save      
Deep object graphs & polymorphism out of the box ⏳ [SerializeReference] now, full serializers coming ✅ Reflection serializer ✅ Json.NET-based
Save any object from anywhere in code ➖ By design: one clear asset ✅ Save anything, anywhere ✅ Save anything, anywhere
Reach saved data anywhere, no string keys ✅ Find by type, no refs ⚠️ Via string keys ⚠️ Via string keys
Save entire scenes & GameObjects ➖ By design: we save data ✅ Snapshots scene objects ✅ Unity objects & components
Save references between objects ⏳ Asset refs planned ✅ Unity & shared refs ✅ Resolvers + shared refs
Save individual values / keys ✅ Via Persistent Variables bag ✅ Per-key partial saves ✅ Per-key
Editor & debugging tools      
Live save status right in the Inspector ✅ Load state & last result ❌ No live panel ❌ None
Edit your data live while playing ✅ Tweak in the Inspector mid-play ⚠️ Your component fields ⚠️ Your component fields
Run Save / Load / Clear by hand while playing ✅ Inspector buttons ⚠️ From code ⚠️ From code
Running log of every save & load ✅ Built-in log ❌ Not built in ❌ Not built in
On-device log viewer (debug on real builds) ✅ In-game overlay ❌ Not built in ❌ Not built in
Simulate failures & slow/cancelled saves ✅ Built-in test mode ❌ Not built in ❌ Not built in
One-click wipe of local saves for re-testing ✅ Dev tool included ⚠️ Editor tools ⚠️ Via code
No-code for designers      
Save options & settings, no code ✅ Ready-made workflow ➖ Code-first by design ➖ Code-first by design
Bind values to UI without code ✅ Binder components ➖ Code-first by design ➖ Code-first by design
Values notify your UI when they change ✅ Observable values ➖ Code-first by design ➖ Code-first by design
Extending & integrations      
Add your own save destination ✅ Custom manager (+ cloud base) ⚠️ Manual, no provider API ✅ Modular Storage API
Swap in your own save format / serializer ✅ Serializer is a slot ⚠️ No serializer slot ✅ Modular Serialization API
Teach it your own custom data types ✅ Custom codecs ✅ Custom ES3 types ✅ Custom converters
React to saves & loads with events / hooks ✅ Global events ⚠️ Limited ✅ Auto Save events
Add advanced behaviour with one small interface ✅ Opt-in interfaces ❌ No equivalent ⚠️ Extensible APIs
Free official serializer add-ons ⏳ Newtonsoft / Odin (coming) ⚠️ Community ❌ Json.NET only
Third-party integrations (Steam, PlayFab, Firebase…) ⏳ On the roadmap ⚠️ Some / community ✅ Firebase, PlayFab
Visual scripting (PlayMaker) ❌ Under consideration ✅ PlayMaker actions ⚠️ PlayMaker add-on; Bolt legacy
Spreadsheet / CSV export ❌ Not our focus ✅ Built in ❌ Not offered
Compatibility & ownership      
Full C# source included ✅ Editable source ✅ Editable source ✅ Editable source
No mandatory dependencies ✅ Standalone ✅ Standalone ✅ Standalone
IL2CPP / AOT ready ✅ Mono & IL2CPP ✅ Mono & IL2CPP ✅ Mono & IL2CPP
Human-readable saves (unencrypted) ✅ Plain JSON ✅ Plain JSON ✅ Plain JSON
Save to a custom file path ✅ Configurable ✅ Configurable ✅ Configurable
Track record      
Years of proven track record ❌ New release ✅ Long-established ✅ Established
Actively developed (new features) ✅ Active ✅ Frequent updates ❌ No release since Dec 2024
Big community, tutorials & integrations ❌ New ✅ Large ecosystem ⚠️ Smaller
Tested ✅ 1,300+ automated tests (EditMode & PlayMode) ✅ Field-proven over years ⚠️ Platform-tested
Thorough documentation ✅ Full docs ✅ Full docs ✅ Docs site