Comparison

PlayGlade vs emu

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PlayGlade

Stream a vast library of PC and console games directly to your mobile device without downloads or hardware. Enjoy instant play, cloud saves, and support for touch or controllers with a single subscription.

Highlights
  • Instant game streaming
  • No downloads or installs
  • Extensive game library
  • Cloud save synchronization
  • Touch and controller support
  • Weekly and monthly subscriptions
Features
Read full description

Thousands of hours of gameplay. Zero downloads. PlayGlade streams a full library of PC and console games straight to your phone and tablet. No console to buy, no gaming rig, no waiting for a 100 GB install to finish. Pick a title, press play, and you are in. TAP AND PLAY IN SECONDS Everything runs on our servers and streams to your screen, so even the most demanding games start instantly and take up no space on your device. HUNDREDS OF GAMES, ONE SUBSCRIPTION Browse a deep library spanning action, racing, strategy, role-playing, adventure and more — from big-name blockbusters to indie favorites. New titles are added every week, and they are all included. BUILT FOR TOUCH AND FOR CONTROLLERS Play with on-screen controls tuned for each title. Most Bluetooth game controllers are also supported. YOUR PROGRESS FOLLOWS YOU Saves live in the cloud. Start on your smartphone during a commute, pick up on your tablet at home, exactly where you stopped. SIGN IN WITHOUT THE HEADACHE Enter your email and we send you a code. No password to invent, no password to forget, no long registration form. WHAT YOU NEED A stable connection of 15 Mbps or faster — Wi-Fi or 5G recommended — and iOS 17 or later. Terms of Use: https://playglade.games/terms Privacy Policy: https://playglade.games/privacy

About

emu

Play classic games from seventeen different systems on your iPhone without complex setup. Simply add your game backups and start playing. Enjoy features like a unified library, customizable controls, and automatic saves.

Highlights
  • Supports seventeen classic game systems
  • No core downloads or configuration needed
  • Unified game library with search and favorites
  • Customizable on-screen and gamepad controls
  • Automatic saves and rewind functionality
  • Two-player local and online multiplayer
Features
Read full description

emu runs seventeen game systems on one iPhone, from 8-bit cartridges to the disc-based 3D era. There are no cores to download and no configuration files to write. GETTING STARTED TAKES THREE STEPS 1. Pick a backup of a game you own from the Files app. 2. The system is identified from the file's contents, so you never choose one. 3. Tap it in your library and play. Files can stay inside a ZIP or 7z archive, and a CUE and its BIN files can be selected together. If a CUE points at a filename that no longer matches, emu repairs it on import. Large disc images are streamed into place rather than expanded in memory. ONE LIBRARY FOR EVERYTHING Search by name, star what you keep coming back to, and resume from the recent row. Import the same game under a different filename, or as both an archive and its extracted copy, and the CRC-and-size fingerprint still leaves you with a single entry. THE LAYOUT MOVES TO YOUR THUMBS The on-screen pad is multi-touch, with true diagonals and slide-to-change between buttons. Move the pad up or down, and pull the landscape buttons inward or outward. ANY GAMEPAD, MAPPED YOUR WAY Bluetooth and USB controllers connect on their own. Buttons are matched by position rather than by the vendor's printed labels, so a different controller still plays the same way. Reassign a button by pressing it, keep sticky 1P/2P assignment, and tune the stick dead zone. Touch input stays live alongside the gamepad. SAVES HAPPEN QUIETLY, MISTAKES ROLL BACK In-game and memory-card saves are written every 30 seconds, and again when you leave the player. SAVE and LOAD give you a quick state at any moment, and holding REWIND rolls the last seconds back for one more attempt at the jump you just missed. TWO IPHONES, TWO PLAYERS One player hosts and a code appears; the other types it in and joins as player 2. The player joining does not need a copy of the game. The two devices connect directly — gameplay never passes through a server, and a relayed route is detected after connecting and torn down. Two-player games for NES, SNES, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Mega Drive, Master System and PC Engine can be hosted. BRING YOUR OWN GAMES — REQUIREMENTS DIFFER BY SYSTEM No games and no BIOS files are bundled, and nothing can be obtained from inside the app. Use backups of software you are legally entitled to use. Runs with just your game file: NES, SNES, Game Boy / Color, Mega Drive / Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16, WonderSwan / Color, Nintendo 64, GameCube, PlayStation 2, PSP Also needs a BIOS you dumped from your own console: PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Game Boy Advance, Neo Geo Pocket / Color If you are here for Xbox: It needs three files you supply yourself — an MCPX ROM, a compatible Flash BIOS, and a hard-disk image. An unmodified retail Flash BIOS will not boot. Treat Xbox as experimental and for advanced users. ABOUT SPEED GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Sega Saturn support is experimental. The App Store build runs without a JIT, so how well a game plays depends on the title and your device. Please don't buy on the assumption that a particular game will run smoothly. FREE TO START The free version shows one banner and needs an internet connection. That banner only ever promotes the developer's own apps; there is no tracking-based advertising. A one-time in-app purchase hides it on every device signed in to your Apple Account. iPhone, iOS 17 or later. English and Japanese. emu is built on open-source emulators including ares, PPSSPP, Mupen64Plus, Dolphin, xemu, Play! and Yaba Sanshiro. Licenses and corresponding source links are under Settings > Licenses. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. emu is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any hardware manufacturer.

Screenshots

PlayGlade4 screens
emu4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: emu at 100% against PlayGlade's 50%. emu also leads on monetization model (free vs subscription) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 weeks). PlayGlade's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PlayGlade sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per 7 days and emu sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PlayGlade holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: emu has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of PlayGlade's written reviews are positive against 100% of emu's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PlayGlade ships an update every 5 weeks, emu every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PlayGlade versus emu: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlayGladeemu
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.8 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size73 MB146 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMykhailo SerhiienkoCode and DESIGN inc.

Customer experience

PlayGlade

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

emu

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PlayGlade

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly Premium$8.997 Days
  • Monthly Premium$29.991 Month
1 purchases

emu

One-time1
  • Hide Ads$4.99

Questions

Is PlayGlade free?
PlayGlade is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is emu free?
emu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PlayGlade or emu?
PlayGlade is rated higher. PlayGlade averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while emu averages 4.8 from 5 ratings.
Do PlayGlade or emu have ads?
Neither PlayGlade nor emu shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PlayGlade or emu?
PlayGlade ships an update every 5 weeks, and emu every 2 days. Most recently, PlayGlade was updated on November 8, 2026 and emu on November 6, 2026.

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