# Glitchless vs Unity Analytics: game observability versus Unity Gaming Services

> Glitchless (glitchless.gg) and Unity Analytics with Unity's Diagnostics compared for game developers: engines, frame times and stutter causes, crashes and ANRs, funnels, retention, revenue, bug reports, alerts, MCP for coding agents, self-hosting and pricing, checked November 2026.

Website: https://www.glitchless.gg/glitchless-vs-unity-analytics.html · The Glitchless team, November 3, 2026 · Checked against Unity's docs and Unity Gaming Services pricing on November 3, 2026

Unity Analytics is the analytics service in Unity Gaming Services (UGS): sessions, funnels, D1 to D30 retention, purchases checked against store receipts, player audiences and SQL queries, free up to 50,000 monthly active players. Unity's Diagnostics, built into Unity 6.2 and later, replaces Cloud Diagnostics. It reports native crashes, C# exceptions and Android ANRs, and alerts Slack, Discord, Teams or email. Both sit next to UGS's remote config, A/B tests, cloud saves and multiplayer services.

Neither measures frame times or stutters on players' devices, and both are built for Unity. Other engines can send analytics events through a REST API, but get no crash reports. The Unity CLI's MCP server drives the Editor, and Unity's docs describe no way for an agent to read Analytics or Diagnostics data.

Glitchless times every frame on every player's device and names each stutter's likely cause, on Unity, Unreal, Godot, GameMaker and the web, and its MCP server gives your coding agent all of it. For a Unity game already on UGS, keep Unity Analytics for business numbers and Diagnostics for native crashes, and add Glitchless for how the game runs and plays.

## Side by side

| | Glitchless | Unity Analytics |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Engines** | | |
| Unreal Engine | 5.7 and 5.8 plugin | REST API for events; you write the sender |
| Unity | 6.3 LTS and later | Analytics 2021.3 and later; crash reports 6.2 and later |
| Godot | 4.5 and later | REST API for events; you write the sender |
| Web games (Three.js, Phaser, Babylon.js, PlayCanvas) | Yes | Unity WebGL builds (Analytics only); other games through the REST API |
| GameMaker | 2024.2 and later | REST API for events; you write the sender |
| **Performance and crashes** | | |
| Frame times from players' devices | Every frame, merged across players | Not collected; Diagnostics shows memory per session |
| Each stutter's likely cause | Shader and PSO compiles, GC, loads, streaming | No |
| Multiplayer: ping, packet loss, matches, dedicated servers | Ping and loss by region, each match from every side, server tick time | Not in Analytics or Diagnostics; Multiplayer Tools shows RTT and packet loss on screen as you test |
| Errors and crashes | With callstacks and the events before | Native crashes, C# exceptions and Android ANRs, with breadcrumbs, on Android, iOS, macOS and Windows |
| Native crash dumps and symbol upload | No | Native stack traces; symbol upload in the dashboard or from CI |
| Deep per-session traces (every function, memory, GPU passes) | No | Unity Profiler, on a device you connect to |
| **Players** | | |
| Custom events and funnels | Yes | Custom events, funnels and SQL queries |
| Retention (D1, D7, D30) | With install mode | D1, D7, D14 and D30 by install date |
| Revenue and purchases | Yes | Purchases checked against store receipts; ad impressions |
| Revenue from RevenueCat or Stripe | Both, read only, on Glitchless Cloud | No; Unity IAP 4.2 and later sends purchases itself |
| Store reviews and store vitals (Steam, Google Play, App Store) | Reviews by build; Play and App Store vitals next to ours | No |
| Level death heatmaps | Yes | Not listed |
| In-game bug reports with a screenshot | Yes | User Reporting package: screenshots, logs and files; you build the form |
| Session replay | Event timeline and positions, not video | Each session's event timeline in Diagnostics; no video |
| Keeps test devices, testers and bots out of player numbers | Yes | Separate environments for test builds; store sandbox purchases left out of revenue |
| Installs by ad network | No | With your attribution provider's data |
| How long detail is kept | 14 days on Free, 90 on Indie, 400 on Studio | Raw analytics events 13 months; dashboard metrics until deleted |
| **The rest of Unity Gaming Services** | | |
| Player accounts, saves and leaderboards | No | Authentication, Cloud Save and Leaderboards |
| Remote config and A/B tests | No | Remote Config and Game Overrides, free |
| Targeting player groups with offers and push notifications | No | Audiences, Game Overrides and push notifications |
| Multiplayer services: relay, lobbies, matchmaking, voice chat | No | Relay, Lobby, Matchmaker and Vivox |
| Server-side game code | No | Cloud Code |
| **Alerts, sharing and export** | | |
| Alerts (Slack, Discord, email) | Discord, Slack or email, counted in players | Crashes and ANRs only: new issues, new versions, 100 or 1,000 hits; Slack, Discord, Teams, email or a webhook |
| Read-only link to a dashboard | One board, no sign-in | Not listed; charts and dashboards export as PNG or CSV |
| Raw data export (CSV, Datadog, OpenTelemetry, warehouse) | CSV; Datadog or OpenTelemetry on paid plans | CSV per chart; raw events in your own Snowflake account (Data Access) |
| **Agents** | | |
| MCP server for coding agents | 25 tools (22 hosted) | The Unity CLI's MCP server drives the Editor (experimental); none for Analytics or Diagnostics |
| Autoplay runs that check a fix | Web games; any build can measure itself | No |
| **Running it** | | |
| Open source | MIT | No |
| Self-host | Docker or Node, no other services | No |
| Free hosted tier | 5,000 play sessions a month, 14 days of data | Analytics up to 50,000 monthly active users; crash reports come with every Unity plan |
| Paid hosted plans from | $19 a month | $3.60 per 1,000 monthly active users above 50,000, down to $2.25 above a million |

## Which one should you choose?

### Choose Unity Analytics if

- Your game is made in Unity and already uses UGS for remote config, A/B tests, cloud saves or multiplayer, so its analytics can target the same players.
- You need native crash reports and Android ANRs, with symbols. Glitchless's Unity SDK catches C# exceptions and engine errors, not native crashes.
- Your project is on a Unity version older than 6.3. Unity Analytics works from 2021.3, and Glitchless's Unity SDK needs 6.3 LTS and later.
- You want a large free allowance: up to 50,000 monthly active players, with raw events kept 13 months.

### Choose Glitchless if

- You want to know why the game stutters: every frame timed on every player's device, with each hitch's likely cause, such as garbage collection, a shader compile or a scene load.
- Your game is made in Unreal, Godot or GameMaker or for the web, or your studio uses more than one engine.
- You want level death heatmaps, multiplayer ping by region with each match seen from every side, and store reviews by build next to what Glitchless measured.
- Your coding agent does the fixing: the MCP server reads everything players' devices measured, and a build run with `--glitchless-measure` checks the change.
- You want to self-host on a small machine: one container with no other services.

### Using both

Keep Unity Analytics for business numbers and live ops, and Unity's Diagnostics for native crashes and ANRs. Add Glitchless for frame times, stutters, levels, multiplayer and bug reports. A purchase can go to both: Unity IAP 4.2 and later sends it to Unity Analytics itself, and in Glitchless it's one `Glitchless.Track("purchase", …)` call.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Unity Analytics show a game's frame rate or stutters?

Not that Unity's docs describe. Its standard events cover sessions, devices, purchases and ads, and Diagnostics shows session length and memory per session. The Unity Profiler times frames on a device you connect to, not on players' devices. Glitchless times every frame on every player's device and names each hitch's likely cause.

### Can I use Unity Analytics with Unreal, Godot or a web game?

Only through its REST API. Unity makes no SDK for other engines, so you write the code that sends events, and Diagnostics' crash reports come from the Unity engine itself. Glitchless has its own SDKs for [Unreal](https://www.glitchless.gg/unreal.md), [Godot](https://www.glitchless.gg/godot.md), GameMaker and [web games](https://www.glitchless.gg/web.md), as well as [Unity](https://www.glitchless.gg/unity.md).

### What happened to Cloud Diagnostics?

Unity has deprecated it. In Unity 6.2 and later, Diagnostics in the Unity Dashboard replaces it for crash and exception reports and debugging symbols, adds Android ANRs, and is on by default in new projects. It collects on Android, iOS, macOS and Windows. User Reporting, for bug reports with screenshots, is now a separate package.

### Which has the bigger free tier?

Unity Analytics: up to 50,000 monthly active players, then $3.60 per 1,000 players a month, less at larger sizes. Glitchless Free: 5,000 play sessions a month, 14 days of data. Paid plans start at $19 a month, and the self-hosted server has no limits. See [pricing](https://www.glitchless.gg/pricing.md).

### Does Unity have an MCP server or an AI assistant?

Both, for the Editor. Unity AI's Assistant works in the Editor and can explain Profiler captures you record. The Unity CLI, which Unity calls experimental, includes an MCP server that lets agents such as Claude Code or Cursor drive the Editor; it replaces the older in-Editor MCP server. Unity's docs describe neither one reading Analytics or Diagnostics data. Glitchless's MCP server has 25 tools (22 hosted) that read what players' devices measured.

## Sources

- [Unity Analytics (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics)
- [Unity Analytics FAQ (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/faq)
- [Unity Analytics standard events (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/events/standard-events)
- [Unity Analytics dashboards (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/dashboards/dashboards)
- [Unity Analytics funnels (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/funnels/funnels)
- [Record transaction events (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/events/record-transaction-events)
- [Unity Analytics environment support (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/get-started/environment-support)
- [Unity Analytics Data Access (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/data-access/data-access)
- [Unity Analytics REST API (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/rest-api/rest-api)
- [Unity Analytics pricing (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/analytics/pricing-and-billing/pricing)
- [Unity Gaming Services pricing](https://unity.com/products/gaming-services/pricing)
- [Unity Diagnostics (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/cloud/developer-data/diagnostics)
- [Unity Diagnostics prerequisites (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/cloud/developer-data/prerequisites)
- [Unity Diagnostics page reference (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/cloud/developer-data/diagnostics-page-reference)
- [Unity Diagnostics notifications (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/cloud/developer-data/diagnostics-notifications)
- [Unity Diagnostics symbol files (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/cloud/developer-data/upload-symbol-files)
- [Migrate from Cloud Diagnostics to Diagnostics (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/cloud-diagnostics/migration)
- [Unity User Reporting (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/cloud-diagnostics/user-reporting/understanding-user-reporting)
- [Unity Profiler (manual)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/engine/current/manual/analysis/profiler)
- [Unity Multiplayer Tools metrics (docs)](https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.multiplayer.tools@2.2/api/Unity.Multiplayer.Tools.MetricTypes.DirectedMetricType.html)
- [Unity multiplayer services (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/multiplayer)
- [Unity Remote Config (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/remote-config)
- [Unity Game Overrides A/B testing (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/game-overrides/ab-testing)
- [Replace the MCP server with the Unity CLI (docs)](https://docs.unity.com/en-us/unity-cli/replace-mcp-server-unity-cli)
- [Unity AI Assistant and the Profiler (docs)](https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.ai.assistant@2.21/manual/analyze/assistant-profiler-integration.html)