Looking For A Version Control Solution?
Perforce P4 (formerly Helix Core) is the industry-leading version control system. Designed for scalability, it offers teams of any size a single source of truth for all digital assets, from source code to binary files to IPs and more. It integrates seamlessly with the most popular game engines and DCC tools, allowing you to keep version control in the background. Perforce P4 can be extended with a suite of add-ons to streamline collaboration across developers and creatives.
Compare Perforce vs. other popular version control tools.
Subversion (SVN)
Subversion (SVN) is used for maintaining current and historical versions of small projects. It’s an open source centralized VCS.
Compare SVN With…
Unity Version Control
Unity Version Control (formerly Plastic SCM) is a popular version control tool for Unity game engine users, but it lacks scalability.
Compare Unity Version Control With…
Git
Git is popular for a reason. Developers know it. It’s open source (and free). But enterprise customers can struggle to scale and secure.
Compare Git With…
Plastic SCM vs. Perforce P4
Plastic SCM version control — now acquired by Unity — has been used by mobile and indie game dev studios. But before you get started… see how they stack up to the game dev standard.
"In working with Unreal Engine, Perforce was the obvious choice for us over other solutions like Plastic SCM."
What Version Control Solution Works For You
Check out our comparison chart on Perforce vs. other version control systems.
How do teams work?
| Unity Version Control (formerly Plastic SCM) | Git | Subversion (SVN) | ClearCase | Perforce P4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralized (check files in and out from a central repo) | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Distributed (push and pull between repos) | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ Perforce P4 offers DVCS functionality, giving your teams added flexibility. |
Does it scale to manage…?
| Unity Version Control (formerly Plastic SCM) | Git | Subversion (SVN) | ClearCase | Perforce P4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large repos | ❌ Not really… testing was only done on a repo with less than 8 GB. | ❌ Most Git teams split up their repos, complicating pipelines. | ❌ Performance suffers at scale, delaying teams. | ❌ ClearCase slows down as the codebase and history grows. | ✅ Perforce P4 is known for its high performance at scale, no matter how big your projects and repos grow. |
| Large files (including binaries) | ❌ Plastic can handle large binaries, but repo sizes tap out at 1 TB files. | ❌ Some teams use Git LFS to manage large files, but it’s complicated to maintain. | ✅ Depends on the file type. | ❌ | ✅ Perforce P4 stores all your digital assets — including large binary files — and more. |
How does it manage files and branching?
| Unity Version Control (formerly Plastic SCM) | Git | Subversion (SVN) | ClearCase | PerforceP4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File locking | ✅ | ❌ Only works if you include LFS locking. And it only supports files using Git LFS, not your other files | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Perforce P4 takes file locking a step further offering exclusive checkouts to avoid duplicating efforts. |
| Visualization into how code flows | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Perforce Streams helps teams see how code should flow. Developers can quickly tell what branches have changes available. |
| Tracks relationships between branches | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Streams guides developers as they branch and merge. |
| Built-in code review | ❌ Plastic code review is a diff window with some extra features. | ❌ Requires 3rd party options. | ❌ Requires 3rd party options. | ❌ Requires 3rd party options. | ✅ P4 Code Review (formerly Helix Swarm) is the code review solution for Perforce P4 (and it’s free). |
| Offers integrations with tools teams use | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ Legacy for a reason… | ❌ ClearCase is no longer actively developed. | ✅ Perforce P4 has plugins and integrations to the tools teams already use. Plus you can use Perforce P4 Sync (formerly Helix Sync) to version any digital asset. |
| Works with Git | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ P4 Git Connector allows you to solve development challenges that can happen as Git teams grow, and it offers faster builds. |
How does it protect your assets?
| Unity Version Control (formerly Plastic SCM) | Git | Subversion (SVN) | ClearCase | Perforce P4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secures valuable IP | ❌ You can only secure Plastic based on paths, not down to the individual file. | ❌ Not really, you can use other 3rd party tools to secure Git. But it’s difficult to implement. Read-level security is per repo, requiring even further break down of repos. | ❌ Nothing available out-of-the-box. | ✅ ClearCase offers a file/directory level permission structure, similar to a filesystem. It’s complex to administer. | ✅ Perforce P4 protects IP down to the individual file and supports fine-grained security rules. |
How does it support teams as they scale?
| Unity Version Control (formerly Plastic SCM) | Git | Subversion (SVN) | ClearCase | Perforce P4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can be hosted in the cloud | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Learn more about SVN hosting. | ❌ | ✅ Perforce P4 can be hosted in your preferred cloud provider. Get Perforce on the cloud. |
| Global replication | ❌ Replication modes are limited with no ability to truly scale. | ❌ Not really, DVCS by definition works in a replicated mode. But it requires copying whole repo(s), which can be painful over long distances. | ❌ Only works if you install costly 3rd party add-ons. | ✅ ClearCase MultiSite is required to replicate, but also expensive to purchase and maintain. | ✅ Perforce Distributed Architecture’s advanced replication technology delivers files around the globe, fast. |
| Offers world-class support | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Support is available around the clock to ensure your teams always have the access they need. |
Industry-Leading Features of Perforce P4
These latest features and add-ons enable your team to collaborate even more efficiently and accelerate development.
Virtual File Sync
Virtual File Sync accelerates sync times for large assets across remote and distributed environments. It works by syncing only the file metadata on the initial request.
Resource Pressure Awareness
Resource Pressure Awareness prevents unplanned downtime by allowing teams to ensure that a server does not run out of available memory or CPU.
Content Distribution Server
The Content Distribution Server adds a data exchange layer between your primary server and any third-party partners so you can securely share source code with outside collaborators.
P4 DAM
P4 DAM (formerly Helix DAM), digital asset management for Perforce P4 users, enables your creative team to quickly find and reuse art assets, as well as collaborate more efficiently.
Perforce Perforce P4 — Ready to Migrate?
It's easier than you think. Perforce P4 has helped thousands of companies…
Scale
Perforce P4 supports your distributed teams and remote contributors.
Accelerate
Perforce P4 offers faster performance and response times.
Increase Productivity
Perforce P4 streamlines development workflows.
Track Every Change
Perforce P4 increases visibility into how your codebase evolves.
Get Free Version Control
Perforce P4 is free for teams up to 5 users.
Perforce vs. Subversion
Merge conflicts, poor scalability, and outdated functionality leave users feeling stuck. Perforce P4 helps users regain productivity and improve collaboration.
Perforce vs. ClearCase
Don’t let ClearCase’s gradual decline into obsolescence stifle innovation and wreak havoc. Perforce P4 is significantly faster at builds and file transfers and so much easier to administer.
"Everyone loves [P4]. Using it significantly simplified our workflows and reduced delivery times by at least 50–60%."
See Perforce P4 in Action
Watch our 20-minute demo to see why so many customers switch to Perforce P4.