The Gaming Nest vs itch.io — an alternative for hosting web games, not for the storefront
itch.io is a large indie storefront and publishing platform — and it is clearly the better choice if your goal is to **sell** your game to an audience that is already there. The Gaming Nest is a different thing: a developer identity and career layer — profile, playable portfolio, teams and studios, judged game jams, jobs, and training — on top of free WebGL hosting with 300 MB per account, versioning, and one-click rollback. The two are not competing for the same job. For most developers the right answer is both: publish on itch.io to sell, host on The Gaming Nest for an instant play link and a developer page studios can actually find.
When itch.io is the better choice — plainly
- You want to **sell** your game, or run pay-what-you-want. itch.io has payments built in and handles EU VAT; The Gaming Nest has no storefront at all.
- You want an **audience that is already browsing**. itch.io is a storefront with hundreds of thousands of games and heavy internal search traffic. We are a smaller, growing community and we are not going to claim otherwise.
- You want **game jam infrastructure at scale**, with thousands of entrants. Their jam system is far older and far larger than ours.
- You need to distribute **downloadable executables** (Windows/Mac/Linux builds). We host static web assets only — executables are rejected by design.
When The Gaming Nest is the better choice
- You want a **developer portfolio**, not a product page: one public profile carrying your playable games, skills, art, and team — and it is the same profile you apply to jobs with.
- You want **versioning and rollback as part of hosting**: 10 versions kept per project, and you can activate any of them in one click without re-uploading.
- You deploy **often, from the terminal**, during development: `tgn deploy ./Builds/WebGL --precompress` packages, uploads, extracts, and activates in a single command.
- You want **game-industry jobs, teams, studios, and training** in the same place your game lives — instead of stitching a CV, a play link, and a profile together across three sites.
- You work **in Arabic**: the entire platform is bilingual with full RTL support, from the UI to notifications to game pages.
The comparison, line by line
Every itch.io figure is taken from their public documentation (sources at the bottom). Anything we could not source says "Not documented" — we don't guess.
| Feature | The Gaming Nest | itch.io |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Developer community + WebGL hosting | Indie storefront & publishing platform |
| Plays instantly in the browser (HTML5/WebGL) | Yes | Yes |
| Hosting cost | Free — 300 MB per account | Free |
| Web build size after extraction | 1 GB per build | 500 MB per HTML5 game |
| Max files after extraction | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Max single file | 500 MB upload archive | 200 MB per extracted file |
| Entry point | index.html at root (overridable) | index.html at root |
| Brotli compression | --precompress flag in the CLI | .br extension + automatic gzip |
| Built-in versioning & rollback | Yes — 10 versions, one-click activate | Not documented |
| Command-line deploy | tgn deploy | butler |
| Selling your game / payments | No — there is no storefront | Yes, with EU VAT handling |
| Revenue share | N/A (no sales) | The creator sets the percentage |
| Downloadable executables | No — static web assets only | Yes |
| Exclusivity | No | No |
| Curation or approval before publishing | No | No |
| Embeddable in your own site (iframe) | Yes — separate storage origin | Yes — official widget |
| Developer profile, skills & portfolio | Yes | Creator page + devlogs |
| Game-industry job board | Yes — listings and direct apply | No |
| Teams & studios | Yes | No |
| Game jams | Yes — jury + public judging, prizes | Yes — far larger and older |
| Training & courses | Yes | No |
| Full Arabic + RTL | Yes | English-first |
| Audience size | Small and growing | Very large |
How to add The Gaming Nest to a game you already ship on itch.io
- 1
Take the exact web build folder you uploaded to itch.io — unchanged. Both require `index.html` at the root, so the same zip works.
- 2
Create a project on The Gaming Nest and upload the archive from the WebGL manage screen, or run `tgn deploy ./Builds/WebGL` from the CLI.
- 3
Activate the version and hit Publish — you get an instant play link and a public project page.
- 4
Keep your itch.io page exactly as it is. Neither platform asks for exclusivity, so the game can live in both places and your purchase link stays with them.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Gaming Nest an alternative to itch.io?
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Partly. If you use itch.io to host an HTML5/WebGL game and share a play link, The Gaming Nest does that job for free, with versioning and rollback on top. If you use it to **sell** your game, it is not an alternative — we have no storefront and no payments, and itch.io remains the right tool for that.
Can I publish my game on both at the same time?
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Yes. Neither platform asks for exclusivity, and the same web build works on both without modification. The common setup is to sell on itch.io and host on The Gaming Nest for an instant play link and a developer page studios can find.
How do the size limits compare?
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For HTML5 games itch.io documents a limit of 1,000 files after extraction, 500 MB of total extracted content, and 200 MB for any single file. The Gaming Nest gives each account a 300 MB quota, accepts an upload archive up to 500 MB, and allows up to 1,000 files and 1 GB after extraction. The itch.io figures are taken from their own documentation as of 2026-08-02.
Do you take a revenue share?
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No — there are no sales on The Gaming Nest, so there is no cut to take. On itch.io the creator chooses what percentage goes to the platform. If you are selling, weigh that against your other selling options, not against us.
Can I upload a Windows or Mac build for download?
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No. The Gaming Nest hosts static web assets only, and executables (.exe, .dll, .bat …) are rejected at upload. If you need to distribute a downloadable build, itch.io supports that and we do not.
Is this page affiliated with itch.io?
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No. This comparison was written by the team behind The Gaming Nest. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by itch.io. Every itch.io figure here is taken from their published public documentation and was last verified on 2026-08-02; see the sources at the bottom of the page, and note their terms can change at any time.
Sources
"itch.io" is a trademark of its owner and is used here for identification only. The Gaming Nest is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by itch.io. Every itch.io detail on this page comes from their public documentation, last verified 2026-08-02 — and it can change. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.
Try it with the build you already have
300 MB of free hosting on every account — no credit card, no exclusivity, and your itch.io page stays exactly where it is.
Further reading
- Game Developmentتاريخ العاب العربيةهذا مقال عن تاريخ العاب العربية
- Tools & ResourcesUpload Your WebGL Game With the TGN CLIShip faster from the terminal. Learn to package and upload your WebGL build to The Gaming Nest with the TGN CLI, plus versioning and update tips.
- Game DevelopmentFix Unity WebGL Not Loading: Common ErrorsYour Unity WebGL game won't load? Fix black screens, memory errors, compression and CORS issues with this practical checklist to get your browser build running.
- Game DevelopmentUnity vs Godot: Which to Learn as a BeginnerUnity or Godot for your first game? Compare cost, learning curve, 2D vs 3D, jobs, and WebGL export to pick the right beginner engine in 2026.
- Game DevelopmentReduce Unity WebGL Build Size & Load TimeBig WebGL builds scare players off. Learn to reduce Unity WebGL build size and load time with compression, texture and audio settings, and code stripping.
- Game DevelopmentHow to Publish Your Game Online as WebGLTurn your Unity or Godot project into a playable web link. Learn to build, upload, and publish your game as WebGL that players open in one click.