Warframe vs RetroArch
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Warframe
Become a powerful warrior and battle alongside friends in a sprawling interplanetary system. Customize your bio-metal suit, wield devastating weaponry, and explore massive open worlds in this story-driven action game. Experience an epic narrative and master your arsenal across platforms.
- Become a powerful bio-metal suit warrior
- Battle alongside friends in co-op missions
- Explore a massive interplanetary system
- Experience an epic cinematic story
- Master and customize a vast arsenal
- Cross-platform save and play support
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Awaken as an unstoppable warrior and battle alongside your friends in this story-driven free-to-play online action game Confront warring factions throughout a sprawling interplanetary system as you follow the guidance of the mysterious Lotus and level up your Warframe, build an Arsenal of destructive firepower, and realize your true potential across massive open worlds in this thrilling, genre-defining third-person combat experience. Carry your progression through the expansive Origin System across platforms with Cross Platform Save. BECOME A POWERFUL WARRIOR Enter your Warframe: a bio-metal suit of untold power. Unleash its Abilities and wield a vast array of devastating weaponry to effortlessly annihilate hordes of enemies on sight. And when the slaughter is over, you can earn or instantly unlock 50+ different Warframes - each with a unique suite of powers - to re-experience the mayhem any way you want. BATTLE ALONGSIDE FRIENDS Form a Squad with your friends and earn valuable bonus Rewards when you complete Missions together via highly collaborative, co-op gameplay. Utilize your Warframe’s Abilities to heal allies, redirect enemy fire, and achieve your objectives. Stuck on a particular challenge? In-game matchmaking makes it easy to connect with friendly Tenno whenever you need an extra hand. EXPLORE A MASSIVE SYSTEM Deftly maneuver through ground-based Missions with your Warframe’s mesmerizing parkour skills or take to the stars and engage in massive ship-to-ship battles in your very own customizable spacecraft. Lose yourself within mysterious open-world landscapes and discover a system teeming with fascinating lifeforms - both friendly and hostile. DISCOVER AN EPIC STORY Marvel at the sweeping history of the Origin System as you experience Warframe’s massive cinematic narrative spanning 5 separate expansions and 30+ story-based Quests. Discover the power within and experience your first taste of invincibility with one of three original Warframes before you begin your journey, develop your skills and seek out the truth behind your awakening. MASTER YOUR ARSENAL Your starter Weapons are just the beginning. Craft hundreds of destructive armaments, plus vehicles, Companions and more. Level them up and experiment until you find the right combination of gear that suits your unique playstyle. Fashion your weaponry for a fearsome look to compliment your custom-designed loadout. CUSTOMIZE ENDLESSLY Entering the Origin System means joining legions of friendly Tenno, each with their own personalized Warframes, Weapons and gear. With a staggering number of Customization options available to enhance your Loadout, designing the perfect look for your Warframe makes for an endlessly rewarding challenge for you and your Squad. IGRS: 18+
RetroArch
This application serves as a versatile frontend for emulators and game engines, supporting a vast array of systems through downloadable cores. It offers advanced features like netplay, save states, and customizable controls for an enhanced gaming experience.
- Supports numerous gaming systems via libretro cores
- Netplay for multiplayer gaming
- Save states and fast forward/rewind
- Controller support and key remapping
- Customizable shaders and overlays
- RetroAchievements integration
- AI translations for games
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RetroArch is a free, ad-free, open source, and cross platform frontend/framework for emulators, game engines, video games, media players, and other applications. Supported systems come in the form of libretro cores. The following systems are supported through various cores: * 2048 * Acorn - BBC Micro * Amstrad - CPC/GX4000 * Anarch * Arcade * Arduboy * Atari - 2600 * Atari - 5200 * Atari - 7800 * Atari - Jaguar * Atari - Lynx * Bandai - WonderSwan/Color * Cave Story * Coleco - ColecoVision * Commodore - Amiga * Commodore - C128 * Commodore - C64 * Commodore - C64 SuperCPU * Commodore - CBM-II 5x0 * Commodore - CBM-II 6x0/7x0 * Commodore - PET * Commodore - PLUS/4 * Commodore - VIC-20 * Dinothawr * Doom * DOS * Fairchild ChannelF * Flashback * GCE - Vectrex * Game Music Emu * Handheld Electronic * MSX/SVI/ColecoVision/SG-1000 * Mattel - Intellivision * Mega Duck / Cougar Boy * Mr.Boom * NEC - PC Engine / SuperGrafx / CD * NEC - PC-FX * NEC - PC-98 * Nintendo - DS * Nintendo - Game Boy / Color * Nintendo - Game Boy Advance * Nintendo - NES / Famicom * Nintendo - Nintendo 64 * Nintendo - Pokemon Mini * Nintendo - SNES / SFC * Nintendo - Virtual Boy * Palm OS * PocketCDG * Quake * Quake II * Rick Dangerous * SNK - Neo Geo AES/MVS * SNK - Neo Geo CD * SNK - Neo Geo Pocket / Color * ScummVM * Sega - MS/GG/MD/CD/32X * Sega - MS/GG/SG-1000 * Sega - Saturn * Sharp - X68000 * Sinclair - ZX Spectrum * Sony - PlayStation * Sony - PlayStation Portable * Texas Instruments TI-83 * The 3DO Company - 3DO * Thomson - MO/TO * Vircon32 * VirtualXT * WASM-4 * Watara - Supervision RetroArch supports a broad range of features, including: * Netplay * Soft patching * RetroAchievements * Save states * MFi controller support * Key remapping per core or per game * Gyro * Cheats * Custom overlays * Shaders * Fast forward and rewind * Game artwork * AI translations * Advanced latency management **RetroArch and Libretro are in no way affiliated with Nintendo. The name "Nintendo" and all associated game console names are registered trademarks of Nintendo Co., Ltd.**
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Warframe at 4.9 against RetroArch's 4.3. Warframe also leads on ratings volume (27K vs 1.9K) and chart position (#115 vs unranked). RetroArch's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). On price, review sentiment, ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Warframe sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. RetroArch asks for nothing beyond the download.
Warframe holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Warframe has 27K ratings behind it against 1.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Warframe's written reviews are positive against 69% of RetroArch's.
Warframe ships an update every 2 weeks, RetroArch weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Warframe | RetroArch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (27K ratings) — better | 4.3 (1.9K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 70.5% of reviews — better | 69.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 27K — better | 1.9K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #115 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3.7 GB | 652 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Digital Extremes | Libretro |
Customer experience
Warframe
RetroArch
User reviews
Warframe
From 27K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Entire game ported to mobile
- 🚀 Cross-play and cross-save support
- 🚀 Impressive graphics and performance
- 👍 Faithful to the original PC/console experience
- 👍 Customizable controls and UI
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches, especially with UI and controls
- 🔋 Overheating and battery drain issues
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate menus and access certain features
- 👎 Clunky touch controls, better with a controller
- 🔍 Lack of keyboard and mouse support
RetroArch
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth emulation performance
- 🎮 Wide range of supported systems
- 🕹️ Controller support
- 💯 Comprehensive emulation features
- 🔓 No ads or tracking
Room to improve
- 🤯 Steep learning curve
- 🤖 Unintuitive user interface
- 🐛 Stability issues and crashes
- 🔌 Slow loading times
- 🤷♂️ Inconsistent core support
Bugs and requests
Warframe
Reported bugs
5 issues- Initialization loop and download issues
- Inability to access certain features like decorating the Orbiter
- Bugs with the chat system and squad management
- Quests and objectives not functioning properly
- Performance issues in open-world areas and during intense combat
Requested features
5 requests- Gyroscope support for aiming
- Customizable button placement and size
- Improved optimization for older devices
- Ability to disable auto-fire and auto-melee
- Separate buttons for actions like jumping, rolling, and sliding
RetroArch
Reported bugs
5 issues- N64 games not loading textures properly
- Crashes when changing settings or cores
- Bios files not being recognized
- Inconsistent performance across devices
- Saved settings not persisting
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for PS2, GameCube, and 3DS emulation
- Improve iCloud/cloud storage integration
- Implement customizable button layouts
- Add a more user-friendly setup wizard
- Provide better documentation and tutorials
In-app purchases
Warframe
- Glaxion Battlekit$2.99
- Starter Weapon Pack$4.99
- 75 Platinum$4.99
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- 175 Platinum$9.99
- 3 Regal Aya: Prime Resurgence$19.99
- 380 Platinum$19.99
- 7 Regal Aya: Prime Resurgence$39.99
- 1025 Platinum$49.99
- 15 Regal Aya: Prime Resurgence$79.99
- 2200 Platinum$99.99
RetroArch
No in-app purchases









