Cloud computing has made waves in almost every industry since its inception in the late 90s and mainstream adoption in the 2010s. One of the biggest industries to benefit from cloud computing was the gaming industry with the introduction of cloud gaming.
One of the most prominent players in the cloud gaming industry is Shadow PC. Shadow PC offers a fully-fledged Windows operating system in a cloud environment. Shadow PC’s rigs offer specs as powerful as 6-core Intel Xeon or AMD EPYC, Nvidia RTX Titan or RTX 3080 equivalent, 32 GB DDR4 RAM, and 4K at 144Hz, 1080p or 1440p at higher refresh rates.
That said, Shadow PC has its fair share of issues that have led many to opt for Shadow PC alternatives. One of the biggest issues with Shadow PC is its significantly high pricing compared to Shadow PC alternatives.
This one issue alone is one of the main reasons why you should also consider Shadow PC alternatives before you pay a hefty amount for one of its rigs. But before we talk about the best alternatives to Shadow PC, let’s discuss the main issues and problems that justify why you should consider alternatives to Shadow PC.
Why You Should Consider Shadow PC Alternatives
While Shadow PC offers a very complete and robust Windows-based cloud gaming service, there are major drawbacks to Shadow PC’s services that you should know of before purchasing its services.
One of, if not the biggest, issue with Shadow PC’s services is its pricing. Shadow PC’s lowest-tier subscription plan, which is $29.99/month, still costs three times as much as Shadow PC alternatives, such as industry-leading GeForce Now’s basic plan at $9.99/month.
Another top alternative to Shadow PC, Amazon Luna, offers its basic plan at around $5.99/month, which also includes access to its curated library of over 120 games. This stark difference between Shadow PC’s and Shadow PC alternatives’ pricing makes it a very unattractive option.
Additionally, users have reported wait times spanning weeks to even several months in certain regions, especially during periods of high demand. Plus, once you do get your rig, Shadow PC reportedly has an average latency of 40-60ms, which is decent overall.
However, considering that for one-third of the price, you could get under 30ms latency from one of several Shadow PC alternatives, it’s just not smart to opt for Shadow PC.
Furthermore, in regions where Shadow PC doesn’t have data centers, such as Asia or Australia, users report around 150ms latency, which means multiplayer games are an absolute no-go. This begs the question: If Shadow PC doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure in these regions, why offer your services?
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Get Your Game ServerAnother recurring issue with Shadow PC is its inconsistent customer support service. Customer support issues are such a major problem for Shadow PC that nearly all of its two-star or lower reviews are about its ineffective customer support.
These issues range from slow response times to inadequate solutions to customers’ problems. Some have to wait over two weeks even though they’re dealing with a high-priority issue, notably billing issues, after canceling memberships.
Considering how Shadow PC boasts its fully-fledged, high-performance Windows virtual machines, you would naturally expect up-to-date specs and, most importantly, drivers. While out-of-date drivers are one of the easier issues to deal with on physical computers, for virtual machines like Shadow PC rigs, updates can only be done by Shadow PC itself.
This leads to another common issue with Shadow PC, where users can’t play specific games because they don’t have the latest version of a certain driver, such as an NVIDIA driver.
Considering the amount you’re paying, especially in comparison to Shadow PC alternatives, you understandably want to play a game as soon as it’s available, and having to wait a week, as one user mentioned, is particularly frustrating as some games require you to start as soon as possible, or you’ll fall behind the competition.
Best Shadow PC Alternatives
As I mentioned earlier, Shadow PC is in no way the only player in the cloud gaming world, and maybe not the best one, either. So, who are these alternatives to Shadow PC? Here’s a list of the best Shadow PC alternatives and where they excel.
GeForce Now – Best Shadow PC Free Alternative
One of the most popular alternatives to Shadow PC is GeForce Now. GeForce Now is particularly known for its high compatibility and is perfect for those who have low-end devices. Through GeForce Now’s servers, your device doesn’t handle any of the strain from running demanding GPU and CPU-intensive games, practically turning any low-end device into a powerful gaming PC.
Even with GeForce Now’s highest tier, Ultimate, you’re still only paying $19.99—$10 a month less than Shadow PC’s basic plan. The Ultimate plan offers a system with a 4080 RTX GPU, support for ultrawide monitors, 4K resolution, and game sessions up to eight hours long.
GeForce Now is also great as a Shadow PC free alternative. If you don’t want to pay at all or try out their services for free, GeForce Now offers a free tier that gives you an unlimited number of one-hour game sessions. That said, you will have to wait for queue times for your turn after each one-hour session.
Amazon Luna – Best Alternative to Shadow PC For Casual Players
Amazon Luna is a great alternative to Shadow PC for casual players who want an affordable gaming experience with a user-friendly interface and fun party and co-op games. They offer access to a strong roster of fun single-player, family-friendly, nostalgic, and party games.
Amazon Luna itself is a free bonus for Amazon Prime Gaming members; however, Amazon Luna has an independent subscription plan called Luna+ at $9.99/month, which gives you over 120 games, 1080p resolution at 60 fps, and a variety of options including Windows PCs, Macs, iOS (via web app), Android, Fire TV, and Fire tablets for device compatibility.
You can also get an Amazon Prime Gaming subscription for $14.99/month for an additional monthly rotating selection of around 12 titles, a Ubisoft+ subscription for $17.99/month for around 40 Ubisoft games, and a Jackbox Games subscription for another 50 individual party and co-op games.
Paperspace – Best Shadow PC Alternative for Professional Work and Gaming
Similar to Shadow PC, Paperspace also gives you a powerful virtual machine that can handle all kinds of gaming and professional work. That said, the key difference between the two is the pricing and costs.
While Shadow PC charges a flat rate($29.99, $44.99, $54.99), Paperspace employs a pay-as-you-go billing system that has its pros and cons. Paperspace offers three main GPUs that vary in performance:
- NVIDIA Quadro P4000 ( $0.51/hr)
- RTX 400 ($0.78/hr)
- A100 ($4/hr).
Whether or not Paperspace is a more cost-efficient alternative to Shadow PC for you boils down to your use. For example, if you’re a casual gamer with 20 hrs/month of gameplay and go for the Quadro P4000 (equivalent to Shadow PC’s GTX 1080), you would spend $20/month, with the addition of storage costs.
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Final Thoughts
While Shadow PC offers a comprehensive service, its high cost, inconsistent performance, poor customer support, and long wait times make it a difficult service to work with.
Considering the various alternatives to Shadow PC, it’s smart to evaluate other options before locking in and paying a considerable amount for one of Shadow PC’s plans, especially as you may have to wait over two weeks for Shadow PC to cancel your membership.
FAQ
What are the main reasons for considering alternatives to Shadow PC?
Shadow PC has an infamous reputation for its high costs, long wait times, inconsistent performance, and poor customer support, giving plenty of space to Shadow PC alternatives in the cloud gaming industry.
What’s better than Shadow PC?
Geforce Now offers much more to gamers for a significantly lower price. At one-third of Shadow PC’s price, you’ll get the same resources with a huge library of games and the ability to run any game you like on any low-end device, as everything is handled through NVIDIA’s powerful servers. Plus, GeForce Now is a great Shadow PC free alternative since it gives you an unlimited number of one-hour game sessions.
Can I use Shadow PC for tasks other than gaming?
Since Shadow PC provides you with a full Windows environment with powerful specs, you can use it for all kinds of non-gaming, hardware-heavy tasks such as video editing, 3D rendering, graphic design, software development, and running complex simulations or data analysis.
