Version: 2022.3
Language : English
Introduction to render pipelines
Render pipeline feature comparison

Choose a render pipeline

It’s important to choose the right Unity render pipeline for your project when you’re early in development.

Different render pipelinesA series of operations that take the contents of a Scene, and displays them on a screen. Unity lets you choose from pre-built render pipelines, or write your own. More info
See in Glossary
have different capabilities and perform differently, so they work best for different games, applications, and platforms.

It can be very time-consuming to switch a project from one render pipeline to another, especially if the project is far along in development. Different render pipelines use different shadersA program that runs on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary
and might not have the same features.

The table shows some high-level differences between the pipelines to help you choose the right pipeline for your project at the start.

Feature Built-In Render Pipeline Universal Render Pipeline (URP) High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP)
Target uses Projects that need rendering scalability across all platforms.

2D and 3D projects.
Projects that need rendering scalability across all platforms, especially tile-based deferred rendering (TBDR) platforms, and untethered VR platforms.

Projects that need to extend and customize the rendering pipeline.

2D and 3D projects.
Projects that need photorealism and high-fidelity rendering on high-end platforms

3D projects
Platform support Supports all Unity-supported platforms Supports all Unity-supported platforms

Focuses on efficiency on tile-based deferred rendering (TBDR) platforms, and untethered VR platforms
Supports desktop, Xbox and PlayStation platforms

Focuses on efficiently using advanced GPU hardware capabilities such as async compute shaders, and ray tracing if the hardware supports it.
Source code access Mostly C++

Private access by purchasing source code access
Mostly C#

Public access to the URP source code on GitHub. You can also create a custom pipeline using URP as a base

Easier to read, change, and extend the source code than the Built-In Render Pipeline
Mostly C#

Public access to the HDRP source code on GitHub. You can also create a custom pipeline using HDRP as a base

Easier to read, change, and extend the source code than the Built-In Render Pipeline
Pipeline extension The API and injection points the pipeline provides The API and injection points the pipeline provides, or you can modify the publicly available source code

Easier to extend than the Built-In Render Pipeline
The API and injection points the pipeline provides, or you can modify the publicly available source code

Easier to extend than the Built-In Render Pipeline, but more difficult than URP because HDRP is complex and has advanced features
Customization through artist tooling Shader Graph, which you can use to customize shading, materials, and screen space effects

Shader Graph doesn’t receive updates for Built-In Render Pipeline support, aside from bug fixes for existing features

Built-in Particle System, which you can use to customize visual effects. Limited customization
Shader Graph, which you can use to customize shading, materials, and screen space effects

Built-in Particle System, which you can use to customize visual effects.Limited customization

VFX Graph, which you can use to design visual effects, from simple common particle behaviors to complex simulations running on the GPU.
Shader Graph, which you can use to customize shading, materials, and screen space effects

Built-in Particle System, which you can use to customize visual effects. Limited customization

VFX Graph, which you can use to design visual effects, from simple common particle behaviors to complex simulations running on the GPU.
Customization through hand-coded shaders HLSL shaders and surface shaders HLSL shaders, and URP shaders in the source code that you can customize HLSL shaders, and HDRP shaders in the source code that you can customize

Hand-coded shaders are recommended for advanced users only, because HDRP shaders are complex and have advanced features
Lighting Designed for both realistic and stylized lighting

Basic physically-based rendering (PBR)

Easier to customize for custom lighting models such as cel shading
Designed for both realistic and stylized lighting

Basic PBR, and some advanced PBR such as clear coat

Easier to customize for custom lighting models such as cel shading
Focuses on photorealism and physically accurate lighting with built-in support for physical light units

Basic and advanced PBR. For example clear coat, skin, hair, eyes, subsurface scattering and water

Advanced screen space and volumetric effects

Harder to customize for custom lighting models such as cel shading
Performance Supports static batching and dynamic batching Supports static batching and dynamic batching

Advanced draw call batching with the Scriptable Render Pipeline (SRP) Batcher

Compatible with the BatchRenderer Group API, and Entities
Supports static batching

Advanced draw call batching with the Scriptable Render Pipeline (SRP) Batcher

Compatible with the BatchRenderer Group API, and Entities

Refer to Render pipeline feature comparison for detailed information about which pipeline is compatible with which features, to help you choose the right pipeline for your project.

Set up a render pipeline

To create a new project with one of the render pipelines, use the Unity Hub. Refer to Manage your templates for more information.

To convert a project from the Built-In Render Pipeline to URP or HDRP, refer to the following:

After you choose a rendering pipeline, you can Choose a lighting setup.

Extend a render pipeline

If you have advanced rendering knowledge and you’re familiar with C#, you can extend URP or HDRP to add custom features. Refer to Create a custom render pipeline for more information.

Additional resources

Introduction to render pipelines
Render pipeline feature comparison
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