Steam vs Epic Games Store (2026): which PC store is better?

Short answer: Steam is still the better home for a PC library in 2026: bigger catalog, stronger community, Workshop mods, Steam Deck and Linux support, and a mature client. The Epic Games Store is the better second store: free games every week, 5% cashback, an occasional exclusive, and a launcher that is finally being rebuilt. Most players should own both accounts, buy where the deal or the feature set is better, and keep the main library on one side.

Figures below are dated and sourced. Store policies change, so the official pages linked in each section are the final word.

At a glance

	Steam	Epic Games Store
Owner	Valve (launched 2003)	Epic Games (launched December 2018)
Catalog	130,000+ games (mid-2026)	6,000+ games (February 2026)
Users	Record 43.5M concurrent (Oct 2026)	317M+ PC accounts, 78M peak monthly users (Dec 2025)
Free games	Free-to-play titles, weekend trials	A free game every week, 100 in 2025
Loyalty	Steam Points (cosmetics only)	Epic Rewards: 5% back on most purchases
Refunds	14 days / under 2 hours played	14 days / under 2 hours played
Mods	Steam Workshop built in	Per-game, often via third-party tools
Reviews	Written reviews, recent vs all-time score	5-star ratings and polls
Family	Steam Families, up to 6 members	No library sharing
Linux / handhelds	Proton, Steam Deck, SteamOS	Native Linux launcher in preview (Oct 2026)
VR	SteamVR, Steam Frame headset	No VR storefront features
Developer cut	30% → 25% → 20% at $10M / $50M	0% on first $1M per game/year, then 12%

Library and exclusives

Steam's catalog passed 130,000 games in 2026, and more than 21,000 new releases had already launched by mid-October, more than in all of 2025. That volume is both the main strength and the main weakness: almost every PC game ends up there, but discovery depends on tags, curators, the Discovery Queue and reviews, because nobody can browse that shelf by hand.

Epic reported over 6,000 games in early 2026. The store is curated by hand: fewer shovelware releases, but also far fewer niche indies, older catalog titles and adult games.

Exclusives are Epic's oldest lever and its least popular one. Timed deals still happen (Shakedown: Hawaii launched as an Epic exclusive in spring 2026), but some are now unwound early: the Lords of the Fallen 2 exclusivity ended by agreement in April 2026. Epic's own first-party games, Fortnite above all, never come to Steam. Before buying a launch-day exclusive, check whether a Steam date is already announced; many timed exclusives arrive there 6 to 12 months later, often as a fuller edition.

Prices, sales and regional pricing

Publishers set the list price, so a new game usually costs the same on both stores. The differences sit around the price:

• Sales. Steam runs a fixed calendar of seasonal events (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) plus Next Fest and themed fests. Epic runs the Mega Sale and the Holiday Sale, sometimes with a store-wide coupon. See the Steam sale calendar and our Epic Mega Sale guide.
• Cashback. Epic Rewards returns 5% of most Epic Store purchases as store credit, and 20% on Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys. The 20%-on-everything promotion ended on 8 January 2026.
• Regional pricing. Steam supports dozens of currencies and publishes recommended regional prices to developers, so prices in lower-income regions are usually adjusted. Epic supports fewer currencies. Compare one title across regions with the regional price comparator and read regional pricing compared.
• Wallets and payment. Both accept cards, PayPal and local methods depending on country. Epic renamed its wallet to "Epic account balance" in June 2025. Valve is pulling physical Steam gift cards from retail over scam concerns; digital gift cards continue.

Rule of thumb: for a same-price purchase, Epic's 5% back makes it slightly cheaper; for a game you want to mod, review or play on Deck, Steam is usually worth that 5%. Before buying, check the historical low.

Free games and rewards

This is the one category Epic clearly wins. Epic gives away a game every week, with daily mystery games during the December holidays (17 in the 2025 event, opening with Hogwarts Legacy). In 2025 Epic said it gave away 100 games and players claimed 662 million copies. Claimed games are yours to keep. Epic also runs a separate weekly free-games program on its mobile store.

Steam has no comparable program. It offers free-to-play games, free weekends, demos during Next Fest, and the occasional publisher giveaway. Steam Points, earned on purchases, buy profile cosmetics, stickers and emoticons, not games.

A detail rarely mentioned: Epic now attaches Fortnite cosmetics to some partner purchases (Crimson Desert and Resident Evil Requiem among them). If you play Fortnite, that is a real bonus; refunding the game removes the item.

Full breakdown: Epic free games and rewards vs Steam sales.

Client and launcher

Steam's client is heavier but more complete: library collections and filters, per-game properties and launch options, download scheduling, Big Picture mode for TV and controllers, Steam Input to remap any controller, Remote Play and Remote Play Together, an in-game overlay with browser, guides and chat, plus a built-in screenshot and recording manager.

Epic's launcher has been the store's weak spot for years; Epic's own store head admitted in February 2026 that it "sucks". The answer is a rebuilt client released as a public preview on 14 October 2026 for Windows, macOS and, for the first time, Linux. It adds player profiles, direct messages and voice chat. Epic claims it starts in about half the time Steam does, based on a test Epic commissioned; that figure is not independently confirmed, and critics noted it used a Steam build from before Valve's own update.

More on install management, controllers and performance: Steam client vs Epic launcher.

Features that decide day-to-day use

Each of these has a dedicated comparison:

• Achievements. Both stores have them; Steam adds global unlock rates and a huge back catalog. Achievements compared.
• Cloud saves. Both sync saves for supported games; support is per game on both stores. Cloud saves compared.
• Offline mode. Both have one, both need a prior online sign-in. Offline mode compared.
• Mods. Steam Workshop gives one-click subscriptions and auto-updates; on Epic, mods depend on the game and third-party managers. Mods and Workshop compared.
• Family sharing. Steam Families shares libraries with up to six people; Epic has no equivalent. Family sharing compared.
• Gifting. Steam's gift flow is mature; Epic's is more limited. Gifting compared.
• Refunds. Same headline rule (14 days, under 2 hours), different handling of items, bundles and pre-orders. Refunds compared.

Community, reviews and discovery

Steam's community layer has no real rival: written user reviews with a recent and all-time score, discussions, guides, screenshots and artwork per game, curators, groups, the trading card and badge system (trading cards), the Community Market and the Workshop. It also feeds recommendations: the Discovery Queue and tag-based "More like this" do work, which matters in a catalog of 130,000 games.

Epic offers 5-star ratings and quick polls, collected from randomly prompted players after about two hours of play. Because there are no written reviews, they are harder to manipulate through review bombing but also tell you less. Social features (profiles, messaging, voice) arrive with the new launcher. For players coming from Fortnite, the Epic friends list is already where their contacts live.

Linux, Steam Deck and hardware

Steam is the clear choice here. Proton runs most Windows games on Linux, Steam Deck has a Verified program that rates compatibility per game, and SteamOS also powers Valve's Steam Machine (from $1,049, invites since June 2026) and the Steam Frame VR headset (from $1,059, announced September 2026). See Proton and Steam Deck.

Epic games on Deck or Linux have long gone through the community-built Heroic Games Launcher. The October 2026 launcher preview adds an official Linux build (Ubuntu 22.04+, Fedora 43+, Debian 12+), but there is no Deck-Verified equivalent, and Epic says Fortnite on Linux waits for its updated Easy Anti-Cheat. Games with kernel-level anti-cheat remain a problem on Linux whichever store sold them.

On macOS both stores work; Mac catalogs are a fraction of the Windows ones.

Security, privacy and support

• Two-factor authentication. Steam Guard uses the Steam mobile app or email codes, and trades and Market listings are held when it is off. Epic supports an authenticator app, SMS or email codes; turn it on.
• Account theft. Steam accounts are the bigger target because inventories have resale value. The usual vector is a fake login page, not a breach of the store. Read Steam Guard basics and phishing in Steam.
• Support. Both rely on ticket systems. Steam's refund requests are mostly automated and fast; Epic has added self-service refunds for eligible items on the transactions page.
• Privacy. Tencent holds a minority stake in Epic, which still comes up in forum threads; there is no public evidence that the store shares user data with it. Both stores collect usage data under their privacy policies.

For developers

The headline numbers favor Epic by a wide margin:

Gross revenue per game	Steam keeps for you	Epic keeps for you
$1M	$700,000 (70%)	$1,000,000 (100%)
$5M	$3,500,000 (70%)	$4,520,000 (90.4%)
$20M	$14,500,000 (72.5%)	$17,720,000 (88.6%)

Epic's 0% applies to the first $1M per game per calendar year; the table assumes the revenue lands in one year. Steam's tiers count the game's lifetime revenue.

Reach decides the rest. Steam's audience and wishlists drive most indie revenue, so very few studios skip it; Epic is an additional channel with better margins, free-game deals and occasional exclusivity funding. Steam also offers Steamworks services (matchmaking, Workshop, achievements, cloud saves) and lets developers sell Steam keys elsewhere without a fee. Details, Unreal Engine royalty terms and launch strategy: Steam vs Epic for developers.

Which store should you use?

• One library for everything, mods, Deck or Linux: Steam.
• Tight budget: both. Claim Epic's weekly game, buy discounted games on Steam or on Epic with cashback, and track prices with buy now or wait.
• Fortnite, Rocket League or Fall Guys player: Epic is already your account; 20% back on those games is the best loyalty rate either store offers.
• Family or shared household PC: Steam, because of Steam Families.
• Collector of old and niche games: Steam, plus GOG for DRM-free copies.
• Game developer: release on Steam for reach, add Epic for margins.

Running both stores without the mess

1. Turn on 2FA on both accounts and use different passwords.
2. Set one install folder per store on the same drive; do not point both at the same directory.
3. Claim Epic's free games every Thursday (they rotate at 11:00 ET) even if you will not play them soon.
4. Add Epic games to Steam as non-Steam shortcuts if you want one library on Deck or Big Picture.
5. Before buying, check both stores, the price history and whether you already own the game on the other store.

Pros and cons

Steam

• Pros: biggest catalog, written reviews and community, Workshop, Steam Families, Proton and Steam Deck, Steam Input, frequent sales, broad regional pricing.
• Cons: heavier client, discovery noise from thousands of low-effort releases, 30% cut for most developers, no regular free-games program.

Epic Games Store

• Pros: a free game every week, 5% back on purchases, lower developer cut, curated catalog, fast-improving launcher with native Linux in preview.
• Cons: much smaller catalog, thin community features, no family sharing, weaker regional pricing, exclusives that split libraries, launcher still in transition.

Verdict

Steam remains the default PC store in 2026 and the right place for a main library. Epic is no longer a store to avoid, though: claim its free games, use its cashback when the price is equal, and watch the new launcher. Keeping both accounts costs nothing; keeping your library mostly on one of them saves you headaches later.