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USourceControl vs Perforce Helix Core
USourceControl is cloud version control for game teams. It saves every change to your game, keeps the whole team in sync, and never loses a file. Perforce gives AAA studios that same control, but only if you run and secure a dedicated server. USourceControl gives you the privacy and the saved history with no server, no IT, and a desktop app artists can use, from $12/mo.
At a glance
Why teams switch
What you get moving off Perforce
Private and safe, without running the box
The reason studios self-host Perforce is control: keep the unreleased game private, keep every version, never lose work. USourceControl gives you that without the server. Private storage in EU data centers that's never public and only your team can reach, every version SHA-256 integrity-verified and recoverable with one click. Private, permanent, verifiable.
No server to operate or secure
Perforce requires you to run (or pay someone to run) a Helix Core server, configure depots, manage backups, lock down access, and handle upgrades. With USourceControl, there's nothing to run. Once you're set up, you start committing, and the infrastructure, access control, and backups are our job.
Predictable per-user pricing
Perforce pricing scales with seats, edge servers, proxy licenses, and Helix Swarm add-ons. USourceControl is flat per-user, includes storage and bandwidth, and starts at $12/mo for solo developers.
Designed for whole-team use
Artists, designers, and producers rarely want to learn P4V workflows. Our desktop app is built for them first. Commit, sync, resolve, and view history without a CLI or a mental model of depot paths.
Works everywhere out of the box
Distributed teams on Perforce often need edge servers or proxies to get reasonable pull speeds. USourceControl ships content through a global CDN. A contractor in Seoul gets the same throughput as your studio in Montreal.
When Perforce is still the right call
We're honest about the fit. Perforce may still be the better choice if:
- You require on-premise deployment for compliance or air-gapped networks.
- Your studio depends on specific Helix features like streams, Swarm code review, or custom triggers.
- You have an existing team deeply fluent in p4 CLI and automation built on top of it.
Moving from Perforce?
Most teams migrate by syncing their current Perforce workspace to USourceControl as an initial commit, keeping their legacy depot read-only for historical reference. Full history migration is available on Studio and Enterprise plans.
FAQ
Common questions
Is USourceControl really a Perforce replacement for game projects?
Yes. It supports the two things Perforce is famous for in game dev, very large files and many small binary assets, without the operational overhead. If your studio uses Perforce primarily for its locking and large-file workflows, USourceControl covers that ground with no server to run and nothing to set up. You also keep the reason many studios chose Perforce in the first place: your unreleased game stays private, on storage only your team can reach, with every version saved.
If it's a cloud service, how private is my unreleased game?
Your project lives in private storage in EU data centers. Nothing is public. There are no public URLs to your assets. Access is gated by org roles and per-project membership, downloads use short-lived signed links scoped to the project, and API keys are SHA-256-hashed and revocable. Traffic is encrypted in transit over TLS 1.2+ and data is encrypted at rest on our provider's volumes. SOC 2 is on our roadmap; data residency guarantees are available on Enterprise.
Can I migrate my existing Perforce depot to USourceControl?
You can bring your current working copy into USourceControl as a first commit, which is how most studios migrate. Full historical migration with preserved Perforce changelists is available on request for Studio and Enterprise plans.
What about exclusive checkout and file locking?
Locking binary files during edit is a core workflow for game teams. USourceControl supports exclusive-checkout style locking so two artists can't clobber each other's work on the same .uasset.
How does USourceControl handle very large repositories?
Storage scales with your plan, and Enterprise is custom. Multi-gigabyte assets are supported natively, and the sync protocol only transfers what actually changed between versions. Every version is kept and SHA-256 integrity-verified, so nothing gets silently lost or corrupted.
When is Perforce still the right choice?
If you need on-premise deployment for compliance, have an existing team fluent in P4V and p4 CLI, or depend on specific Helix features like streams, Swarm code review, or triggers, Perforce may still be the better fit. We can usually still be used alongside for external collaborators.
Does USourceControl support Unreal Engine source control integration?
We don't ship an in-editor Unreal source control provider today; the workflow is through the desktop app. Most teams find this preferable because artists and designers don't need to use editor-based source control.
The control of self-hosting, none of the upkeep
Private, permanent, verifiable. From $12/mo for solo developers. Spin up a test project alongside your Perforce depot and see how it feels.
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