itch.io
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 6 game stores by recommenders
People recommend itch.io as a DRM-free indie game store and a source of cheap game and art assets, and developers can publish there without setting up their own site or payments.
People recommend itch.io as a DRM-free indie game store and a source of cheap game and art assets, and developers can publish there without setting up their own site or payments.
41 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 39
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 95%
Recommended in 12 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 39 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 20 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 12 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
DRM-free games store
“GOG, Zoom Platform (not related to the Zoom telething) and itch.io, all of which are DRM-free stores”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine” “Among all gaming platforms, it's only behind DRM free storefronts like itch.io and GOG.”
Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “Jailbreaking the Switch 2” “GOG, Humble and Itch are the last big players holding the line on DRM free stuff.”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “GOG confirm they are working towards GOG Galaxy on Linux” - Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Stop Killing Games update says EU petition advances”
- Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation”
Go-to place to find indie games
“I usually look for games on websites like Itch.io.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Kaiju – General purpose 3D/2D game engine in Go and Vulkan with built in editor” “Itch.io is the only place I look for games anymore”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “How to Make a Nintendo 64 Game in 2026” “I try to buy from itch.io whenever its an option.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine” - Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Making Video Games in 2025 (without an engine)”
Cheap or free game and art assets
“On Itch.io I bought a ridiculous 400 games pack for a few dollars a few years back.”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Pirating the Pirates” “I've also found some great cheap pixel assets to get started from itch.io.”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “TinyWind: A pixel pirate sailing game with real wind physics (380k+ kms sailed)” “itch.io is good for sprite assets and fonts I find.”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Making Video Games in 2025 (without an engine)” - Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”
Easy publishing with no site setup
“Itch.io is an option for people who don't want to set up a site or handle payments”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week” “deploy it straight to itch without me touching the code”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Building more with GPT-5.1-Codex-Max” “With itch I just need a paypal/stripe account.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Kiki – a tiny homepage construction kit with a small footprint” - Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Half-Life 2 in a Browser”
Other game stores people recommend
The four most recommended other game stores, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | 716 | 384 | 65% | 13 | 20 yrs45 owners | — |
| GOG | 250 | 49 | 84% | 12 | — | Approved |
| itch.ioThis page | 39 | 2 | 95% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Epic Games Store | 37 | 155 | 19% | 12 | — | — |
| Humble Bundle | 20 | 6 | 77% | 11 | — | Approved |
What people said
35 of the 43 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Among all gaming platforms, it's only behind DRM free storefronts like itch.io and GOG.”
“It needs to be a more open platform like itch.io”
“On Itch.io I bought a ridiculous 400 games pack for a few dollars a few years back.”
“Itch.io is an option for people who don't want to set up a site or handle payments”
“Itch.io is the only place I look for games anymore”
“GOG, Humble and Itch are the last big players holding the line on DRM free stuff.”
“Both Itch.io and GOG are alternative platforms”
“much free-er and more accessible options for indie developers, like itch.io”
“If it’s not on GOG or Itch.io free of DRM”
“games using low end frameworks like that are already plentiful on the web, such as on itch.io.”
“you can host it on Itch.io”
“I've also found some great cheap pixel assets to get started from itch.io.”
“people bang out HTML5 games at a rate that will stagger your eyeballs”
“that's a lot more work than just using itch.io”
“With itch I just need a paypal/stripe account.”
“as well as itch.io from flatpak”
“itch.io does not so you don't get the lying scarewall”
“it doesn't make a ton of sense to use Itch.io”
“GOG and Itch are very different beasts.”
“Itch.io allows for browser-based app distribution and is probably a better path to a large audience”
“Epic, Steam, Itch.io, GOG and of course Xbox”
“Steam/Itch haven't fallen into the trap”
“Itch by default only takes a 10% cut instead of 30%”
“itch.io is good for sprite assets and fonts I find.”
“I've used itch.io before, it's great!”
“make them accessible without DRM on platforms like GOG and itch.io”
“even that requires more technical overhead than dragging frames onto a Flash timeline”
“also has a lot of free assets as well”
“I usually look for games on websites like Itch.io.”
“Personally, I believe it is appalling for Itch.io to benefit - from hard work submitted at GBCOMPO (Game Boy Competition) 23”
“deploy it straight to itch without me touching the code”
“Sometimes it's good to visit a cottage industry to see what's passing under the radar of the big guys.”
“GOG, Zoom Platform (not related to the Zoom telething) and itch.io, all of which are DRM-free stores”
“I try to buy from itch.io whenever its an option.”
“which, by default, only takes a 10%, despite doing all the work you mention”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.