Steam with Proton
Shares rank 14 of 27 compatibility layers by recommenders
People recommend it for running Windows-only games on Linux with little or no tweaking, and for letting one build run on both Windows and Linux.
People recommend it for running Windows-only games on Linux with little or no tweaking, and for letting one build run on both Windows and Linux.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 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
Windows-only games run well
“thanks to Steam with Proton, I no longer have Windows and have been happily playing Windows-only games without major issues”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” “Every game I cared about in my Steam library worked too, way more than when I tried in 2020, also without any tweaking.”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop” “Gaming works astonishingly well on Linux these days with Steam+Proton.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Microsoft confirms Windows 11 is about to change” - Comment from 3 May 2026 in “Windows quality update: Progress we've made since March”
Works without tweaking
“Every game I cared about in my Steam library worked too, way more than when I tried in 2020, also without any tweaking.”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop” “Steam+Proton makes everything I play just work”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Linux gaming is faster because Windows APIs are becoming Linux kernel features” Single build runs everywhere
“It works. It works great. It's actually the only sensible solution if you want something compiled today to work without changes on both Windows and Linux in 10 years.”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “I hate packaging my software for Linux” “Steam with Proton has pushed a single stable platform where you can publish a single build and it works everywhere”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine” Smooth, easy gaming on Linux
“Gaming works astonishingly well on Linux these days with Steam+Proton.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Microsoft confirms Windows 11 is about to change” “Games in Steam with Proton are buttery smooth.”
Comment from 3 May 2026 in “Windows quality update: Progress we've made since March” “Steam+Proton makes everything I play just work”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Linux gaming is faster because Windows APIs are becoming Linux kernel features” - Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client”
Other compatibility layers people recommend
The four most recommended other compatibility layers, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton by Valve | 451 | 189 | 70% | 13 | 2 yrs31 owners | Approved |
| Wine | 329 | 88 | 79% | 13 | 10 yrs11 owners | Approved |
| Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) | 159 | 101 | 61% | 12 | 3 yrs9 owners | — |
| WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) | 115 | 55 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Steam with ProtonThis page | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It works. It works great. It's actually the only sensible solution if you want something compiled today to work without changes on both Windows and Linux in 10 years.”
“Steam+Proton makes everything I play just work”
“I would encourage everyone to give Steam/Proton on Linux a shot”
“Games in Steam with Proton are buttery smooth.”
“Steam with Proton is simply incredible.”
“thanks to Steam with Proton, I no longer have Windows and have been happily playing Windows-only games without major issues”
“Every game I cared about in my Steam library worked too, way more than when I tried in 2020, also without any tweaking.”
“Gaming works astonishingly well on Linux these days with Steam+Proton.”
“Steam with Proton has pushed a single stable platform where you can publish a single build and it works everywhere”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.