When it comes to cloud gaming there’s a variety of services available and many that have come and go. Cloud gaming’s biggest advantage is that any PC with a good (not decent, but good) internet connection can play with beefy hardware. This means even a Chromebook or entry-level PC can play 60 FPS at high settings, thanks to the power of cloud gaming.
We’re looking at the best cloud gaming service providers below, some mid-tier providers and then honorable mentions and ones we’ve said goodbye too here at Gaming Tier List.
S Tier
- GeForce Now: You get an hour a session just absolutely free (can’t get better economy than that). The first tier is $9.99 and then the highest tier is $19.99 and gets you access to 4090 rigs (or better). The service, just as it is for free, is amazing and buttery smooth but the pricing is paletable giving you 60 fps cloud gaming for just $10 a month or the ability to just even enjoy games for free. Its game library is massive as well, including over 1,500+ games. Great for PC gamers.
- Playstation Plus Premium: PS+ Premium, formally Playstation Now, offers a huge variety of Playstation games for $17.99. The service provides smooth buttery streaming and the game library is absolutely massive, along with the other PS+ benefits. This is available also on PC. Great for Playstation fans.
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: Whereas the PS+ Premium tier gives you 1,000+ games, Game Pass only includes roughly 450ish. While the ultimate plan allows you to play on both PC and Xbox, it costs $16.99 a month. There is a native mobile app, like with Playstation, that allows streaming to your phone and controller support as well. Great for Xbox fans.
A Tier
- Amazon Luna: This service is the best cost wise. You get free games with prime that rotate in and out and some of these can be absolute AAA games like DMC5. If you own an Ubisoft game, you can stream it with Prime for free (with Prime) on Amazon Luna. A costly controller is encouraged, but not required. It’s $49.99 without any discounts with a free month of Luna+ subscription (which is $9.99 a month). The quality isn’t as good as the S tier, as you can see below, but the pricing is much more competitive if you’re looking to just waste time or play a plethora of games easily in your browser.
B Tier
- All Other Providers: Utomik, Antsream and Blacknut are all good providers that provide okay service. While often sometimes cheaper and with niche games, like Antstream’s classics from the 80s and 90s, they’re nice. Blacknut’s catalog barely has the amount of games game pass has and Utomik suffers the same lack of powerful gaming juggernauts on their platform. They’re great, they work and they serve a niche but we wouldn’t rate them B Tier.
Honorable Mentions
- Nintendo Switch Cloud Versions: Many Nintendo Switch games require the Internet to play for a reason. They leverage the cloud to enhance the performance of the Switch and allow games like Kingdom Hearts III to be playable on the aging console. While not an outright service, it’s free witch the purchase of the game.
Previous Services
- Google Stadia: Discontinued by Google. It failed due to trying to force an ecosystem that required you to use Chromecast and the Stadia controller. The cost of entry was high (when they weren’t heavily discounted) and the gameplay confusing.
- OnLive: No longer existing, they tried but overall were never able to make a sustainable business model.
