A lot of people have heard about Google Stadia, the cloud gaming platform from Google that allows you to instantly play video games on screens you already own, but not many people know there are different versions of Stadia, a free tier and a pro subscription. In this article we’ll compare Stadia vs Stadia Pro and we’ll go over them in detail.
Stadia vs Stadia Pro: main differences
Stadia is a free cloud gaming service from Google that you can utilize to play games that you have previously purchased, as well as games that are completely free to play. On the other hand, Stadia Pro is not free, it is a subscription service that costs $9.99 and allows you to claim a selection of Stadia Pro free games every month and purchase other games with a special Stadia Pro membership discount.
More differences between Stadia and Stadia Pro
Stadia
The Stadia (Base) allows you to stream games up to 1080p at 60fps and play online with your friends without any subscription or recurring fee.
In the Stadia free tier version, there are free games like Destiny2, SuperBomberman R or Crayta that you can directly play without any purchase, and there are also paid games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Read Dead Redemption 2 that you’ll need to purchase to be able to play.
Purchasing a game from the free tier means you can play it anytime and there is no need to pay a monthly membership.
Stadia Pro
The Stadia Pro version is a subscription service that costs $9.99/mo and offers a premium Stadia gaming experience with the ability to stream games up to 4k at 60fps with 5.1 surround sound.
Another important benefit of the Pro version is the ability to play several more selected games for free as well as exclusive discounts on many other games.
If you cancel your Stadia Pro monthly membership you will be downgraded to the Stadia free tier and you will still be able to play anytime the games you have purchased, but you won’t be able to play anymore the Stadia Pro free games that you added to your collection.
How Stadia works
Stadia allows you to play online games, solo or with colleagues, and stream them from their cloud services to your device up to 1080p at 60fps without having to pay a subscription or recurring fee.
There are games that are completely free like Destiny 2, SuperBomberman R, and Crayta, but the majority of games require a purchase, like Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
When you buy a game you can play it whenever you want on Stadia, you don’t need to pay a monthly membership for the games you own.
How Stadia Pro works
The Stadia Pro plan is a $9.99/month subscription package that provides a premium Stadia gaming experience, including the ability to play games in 4K at 60 frames per second with 5.1 surround sound.
Another significant advantage of the Pro edition is the opportunity to claim and play a number of additional games for free, as well as receive exclusive offers on a number of other games.
Conclusion
A comparison of Stadia vs Stadia Pro reveals that the first one is a free service, while the second one is a membership that requires a monthly fee.
The Stadia Pro has some advantages like a streaming service with a higher resolution and better sound, as well as the ability to claim a selection of games for free and special discounts when purchasing games.
When a Stadia Pro member cancels their membership, the account is downgraded to a regular Stadia account and the special benefits are lost.
