Needle vs. PlayCanvas vs. Unreal Engine

See how Needle, PlayCanvas, and Unreal Engine compare across key features and capabilities for usage on the web and creating XR experiences for designers, developers and teams.

View all platform comparisons
Web-first runtime integrated with Unity and Blender plugins, complemented by Needle Cloud for optimization and hosting.
Needle
Combines an open-source engine with a proprietary cloud-based visual editor focused on collaborative game and interactive web app development.
PlayCanvas
High-fidelity engine primarily for native games/apps. Web strategy focuses on Pixel Streaming (server-side rendering) or exporting assets (glTF) for use in other web engines.
Unreal Engine
Core Platform & Workflow
Solution Type
3D Engine
Cloud Platform
Authoring Tool
Optimization Tool
Web Component
Needle
Solution Type: 3d-engine, cloud-platform, authoring-tool, optimization-tool, web-component
A comprehensive suite including a runtime engine, cloud services for optimization/hosting, authoring via Unity/Blender plugins, and embeddable web component output.
3D Engine
Cloud Platform
Authoring Tool
PlayCanvas
Solution Type: 3d-engine, cloud-platform, authoring-tool
An open-source runtime engine coupled with a proprietary, web-based collaborative visual editor platform.
Authoring Tool
Unreal Engine
Solution Type: authoring-tool
Primarily an authoring tool for creating experiences delivered via Pixel Streaming. No longer supports direct WebGL/Wasm client export.
Made for the web
Needle
Made for the web: Yes
Built from the ground up for the web, focusing on fast loading, efficient rendering, and cross-platform web deployment.
PlayCanvas
Made for the web: Yes
Designed and optimized for web deployment, particularly for games and interactive ads.
Unreal Engine
Made for the web: No
A high-end engine designed for native performance. Web deployment relies on asset export or streaming.
Typical Workflows
Unity Editor
Blender Editor
Code
HTML
Asset Upload
Needle
Typical Workflows: Unity Editor, Blender Editor, Code, HTML, Asset Upload
Primary workflow involves using Unity or Blender as the authoring environment, exporting scenes and logic. Custom scripts (TypeScript/JavaScript) extend functionality.
Web Editor
Code
PlayCanvas
Typical Workflows: Web Editor, Code
Primarily authored using the web-based visual editor, with scripting in JavaScript for custom logic.
Standalone Editor
Visual Scripting
Code
Unreal Engine
Typical Workflows: Standalone Editor, Visual Scripting, Code
Content creation uses the Unreal Editor with Blueprints (visual scripting) or C++.
Use with Unity
Needle
Use with Unity: Yes
Deep integration with Unity Editor via dedicated plugin, allowing export of scenes, C# scripts (transpiled), materials (Shader Graph), animations, and components.
PlayCanvas
Use with Unity: No
No direct integration; assets are imported in standard formats (glTF, FBX).
Unreal Engine
Use with Unity: No
Separate engine.
Use with Blender
Needle
Use with Blender: Yes
Integration with Blender via addon, supporting export of scenes, materials, animations, and custom logic nodes.
PlayCanvas
Use with Blender: No
No direct integration; assets are imported in standard formats (glTF, FBX).
Unreal Engine
Use with Blender: No
Separate engine.
Interactivity Building Blocks
Needle
Interactivity Building Blocks: Yes
Includes a rich set of components for common interactions, animations, and UI elements.
PlayCanvas
Interactivity Building Blocks: Yes
Provides a component-based architecture with pre-built components for common interactions and behaviors.
Unreal Engine
Interactivity Building Blocks: No
Components can be created via scripting, but there is no built-in library of interactivity components.
Extensible with Coding
Needle
Extensible with Coding: Yes
Uses TypeScript with full IDE support in both Unity and standalone projects.
PlayCanvas
Extensible with Coding: Yes
JavaScript scripting system with component-based architecture.
Unreal Engine
Extensible with Coding: Yes
Blueprints visual scripting and C++.
Engine Capabilities
Physically-Based Rendering
Needle
Physically-Based Rendering: Yes
Supports Physically Based Rendering (PBR), custom shaders (via Unity Shader Graph export), lighting, and post-processing effects.
PlayCanvas
Physically-Based Rendering: Yes
Supports PBR materials, shadows, post-processing effects.
Unreal Engine
Physically-Based Rendering: Yes
High-end rendering capabilities (Nanite, Lumen, PBR) for desktop and high-performance mobile devices.
Component System
Needle
Component System: Yes
Leverages the component-based architecture of Unity/Blender, extended with custom web-specific components.
PlayCanvas
Component System: Yes
Built around an Entity-Component system architecture.
Unreal Engine
Component System: Yes
Uses the Actor-Component model.
Built-in Networking
Needle
Built-in Networking: Yes
Built-in real-time networking for multiplayer and collaborative applications.
PlayCanvas
Built-in Networking: No
Requires external libraries or custom implementation for real-time networking, though collaborative editor uses networking tech.
Unreal Engine
Built-in Networking: Yes
Pixel Streaming is fundamentally a networking solution. Unreal Engine has robust native networking.
Timelines and Sequencing
Needle
Timelines and Sequencing: Yes
Supports timeline-based sequencing, complex animations, animator state machines, blending, and more.
Limited
PlayCanvas
Timelines and Sequencing: Limited
Basic animation system but no comprehensive timeline or sequencing tool.
Unreal Engine
Timelines and Sequencing: Yes
Comprehensive Sequencer timeline system for cinematic sequences and complex animation control.
Animation Controls
Needle
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports complex animations authored in Unity (Animator, Timeline) or Blender and exports them for the web.
PlayCanvas
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports skeletal animation and state graph animations.
Unreal Engine
Animation Controls: Yes
Supports complex animations.
Animated Materials
Needle
Animated Materials: Yes
Supports material animations, shader graph, and procedural material effects.
PlayCanvas
Animated Materials: Yes
Supports material animation and shader-based effects.
Unreal Engine
Animated Materials: Yes
Advanced material system with dynamic parameters, material instances, and material functions.
Audio Playback
Needle
Audio Playback: Yes
Supports spatial audio configured via Unity/Blender components.
PlayCanvas
Audio Playback: Yes
Includes features for playing audio sources, including positional audio.
Unreal Engine
Audio Playback: Yes
Audio features are part of the engine.
Video Playback
Needle
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures and playback controlled via components.
PlayCanvas
Video Playback: Yes
Supports video textures.
Unreal Engine
Video Playback: Yes
Supported within the streamed Unreal application.
Physics Integration
Needle
Physics Integration: Yes
Integrates with physics engines, configured via Unity/Blender components.
PlayCanvas
Physics Integration: Yes
Integrates the ammo.js physics engine (Wasm port of Bullet).
Unreal Engine
Physics Integration: Yes
Physics simulation is part of the engine but not exported via glTF.
glTF 3D Support
Excellent
Needle
glTF 3D Support: Excellent
Uses glTF as its core runtime format and supports import of various formats (FBX, USD, VRM etc.) which are converted.
PlayCanvas
glTF 3D Support: Yes
Supports import and use of the glTF 2.0 standard.
Unreal Engine
glTF 3D Support: Yes
Provides an official importer and exporter for glTF assets.
Custom User Interfaces
Needle
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Facilitates creation of UI using standard HTML/CSS and frontend frameworks, integrated with the 3D scene.
PlayCanvas
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Includes a built-in UI system for creating screen space or world space interfaces.
Unreal Engine
Custom User Interfaces: Yes
Features the UMG UI Designer.
Web Integration & Deployment
Web Component
Needle
Web Component: Yes
Exports projects as standard web components (<needle-engine> tag) for easy embedding into any HTML page or web application.
PlayCanvas
Web Component: No
Embedding typically done via iframe, not as a custom web component.
Unreal Engine
Web Component: No
Pixel Streaming requires a custom client player.
PWA Support
Needle
PWA Support: Yes
Being web-native, Needle Engine projects can be easily included in Progressive Web Apps for offline capabilities and installation.
PlayCanvas
PWA Support: No
Web builds can be packaged as PWAs, though no specific PWA features are provided by the engine itself.
Unreal Engine
PWA Support: No
Not supported.
HTML/CSS Integration
Excellent
Needle
HTML/CSS Integration: Excellent
Designed to seamlessly integrate with HTML, CSS, and frontend frameworks (React, Vue, Svelte etc.), allowing blending of 2D UI and 3D content.
PlayCanvas
HTML/CSS Integration: Yes
Allows interaction with HTML/CSS, often used for UI overlays.
Unreal Engine
HTML/CSS Integration: No
Pixel Streaming client allows some UI customization and JS interaction, but doesn't contain features to make this easy.
Host Anywhere
Needle
Host Anywhere: Yes
The core runtime can be self-hosted on any static server. Needle Cloud features (optimization, hosting, analytics) require the cloud service.
Limited
PlayCanvas
Host Anywhere: Limited
Builds run on static hosting. The visual editor is a cloud service.
Unreal Engine
Host Anywhere: No
Pixel Streaming requires significant server infrastructure (GPU instances). glTF export requires only static hosting for assets.
Asset Hosting
Needle
Asset Hosting: Yes
Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized assets.
PlayCanvas
Asset Hosting: Yes
Assets are hosted as part of the PlayCanvas cloud platform.
Unreal Engine
Asset Hosting: No
Requires external hosting.
App Hosting
Needle
App Hosting: Yes
Needle Cloud provides managed hosting and CDN delivery for optimized applications.
PlayCanvas
App Hosting: Yes
When using the PlayCanvas cloud services, apps can be hosted on PlayCanvas servers.
Unreal Engine
App Hosting: No
Requires external hosting.
Performance & Optimization
Engine Size
Medium
Needle
Engine Size: Medium
Optimized runtime aims for minimal footprint, size depends on included features.
Small/Medium
PlayCanvas
Engine Size: Small/Medium
Engine core is relatively lightweight, focusing on web performance.
Large
Unreal Engine
Engine Size: Large
Not applicable for client-side web builds.
Loading Performance
Excellent
Needle
Loading Performance: Excellent
Rapid development cycles and fast loading times through optimized runtime and asset handling.
Fast/Moderate
PlayCanvas
Loading Performance: Fast/Moderate
Generally offers good loading performance, optimized for web delivery.
Low
Unreal Engine
Loading Performance: Low
Pixel Streaming load time involves connecting to the server.
Runtime Performance
Excellent
Needle
Runtime Performance: Excellent
Designed for efficient rendering performance across desktop, mobile, and XR devices.
High
PlayCanvas
Runtime Performance: High
Optimized for efficient runtime performance on web platforms.
High (Streaming)
Unreal Engine
Runtime Performance: High (Streaming)
glTF performance depends on target engine. Pixel Streaming performance is high (server-rendered) but subject to network latency.
Smart Asset Optimization
Excellent
Needle
Smart Asset Optimization: Excellent
Needle Cloud provides significant automated optimization: LOD generation, mesh optimization, extensive texture compression (Basis Universal, WebP, JPG, PNG) and resizing options.
PlayCanvas
Smart Asset Optimization: Yes
Editor provides options for texture compression (Basis, DXT, PVRTC, ETC) and model optimization settings.
Unreal Engine
Smart Asset Optimization: Yes
Features like Nanite/Lumen can pre-process assets. glTF exporter offers texture control.
Mesh and Texture LODs
Excellent
Needle
Mesh and Texture LODs: Excellent
Supports automatic mesh simplification, level-of-detail generation and automatic texture compression with multiple quality levels.
PlayCanvas
Mesh and Texture LODs: Yes
Supports mesh LODs and offers texture compression options during asset imports.
Unreal Engine
Mesh and Texture LODs: Yes
Robust LOD system for both meshes and textures with automatic generation options.
XR Support (AR/VR/Spatial)
VR Support (WebXR)
Needle
VR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports VR headsets via the WebXR standard.
PlayCanvas
VR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports VR experiences via WebXR.
Unreal Engine
VR Support (WebXR): No
Very limited experimental support.
AR Support (WebXR)
Needle
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports markerless WebAR on compatible Android devices via the WebXR standard.
PlayCanvas
AR Support (WebXR): Yes
Supports AR experiences via WebXR.
Unreal Engine
AR Support (WebXR): No
Not supported.
AR Support (iOS)
Needle
AR Support (iOS): Yes
Supports interactive markerless WebAR on iOS devices via WebXR.
PlayCanvas
AR Support (iOS): No
Claims USDZ export but no documentation exists.
Unreal Engine
AR Support (iOS): No
Not supported.
AR Support (visionOS)
Needle
AR Support (visionOS): Yes
Explicit support for creating spatial computing experiences deployable on visionOS.
PlayCanvas
AR Support (visionOS): No
Claims USDZ export but no documentation exists.
Unreal Engine
AR Support (visionOS): No
Pixel Streaming is a potential path. Native visionOS support exists.
AR Tracking Types
Surface
Image
Needle
AR Tracking Types: Surface, Image
Supports World Tracking via the WebXR standard on compatible devices. Image tracking is supported on iOS AR but requires a device-specific flag for Android AR.
Surface
PlayCanvas
AR Tracking Types: Surface
Supports World Tracking via WebXR.
Unreal Engine
AR Tracking Types: No
AR tracking would need to be handled by the custom Pixel Streaming client application.
Ecosystem & Support
Official Support Availability
Needle
Official Support Availability: Yes
Dedicated support available for licensed users.
PlayCanvas
Official Support Availability: Yes
Support is included with paid subscription plans.
Unreal Engine
Official Support Availability: Yes
Paid support and enterprise options available.
Learning Resources
Needle
Learning Resources: Yes
Extensive documentation, tutorials, live samples, and active community support.
Good
PlayCanvas
Learning Resources: Good
Offers tutorials, example projects, and documentation.
Unreal Engine
Learning Resources: Yes
Vast library of learning content on the Epic Developer Community and elsewhere.
License
Commercial
Needle
License: Commercial
Commercial license required for full features and deployment. Free evaluation available.
Open Source, Commercial
PlayCanvas
License: Open Source, Commercial
The runtime engine is MIT licensed, but the collaborative editor platform requires a subscription for private projects and advanced features.
Commercial
Unreal Engine
License: Commercial
Free to use up to a revenue threshold, then royalty-based or custom licensing.

FAQ – frequently asked questions

Needle Cloud arrow_upward

Needle Engine arrow_upward

Usecases arrow_upward

Licensing and Compliance arrow_upward

Company Roadmap FAQ Compare Solutions Report Problem

Send us a message

Send a message to the Needle team. Please describe any feedback you have, if you encountered any problem on the website or send us a feature request. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Contact

Send us a message

Send a message to the Needle team. Please describe any feedback you have, if you encountered any problem on the website or send us a feature request. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Imprint