Genshin Impact vs Wuthering Waves
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Genshin Impact is the better app overall, scoring 8.3 to 7.9. Genshin Impact wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Wuthering Waves on 0, with 1 tied.
Explorers who want a vast anime world and don't mind gacha
Action RPG fans who want harder, skill-based combat in an open world
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Genshin Impact | Wuthering Waves |
|---|---|---|
| Category | RPG & Adventure Games | RPG & Adventure Games |
| Category rank | #4 of 8 | #7 of 8 |
| Developer | HoYoverse | Kuro Games |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | — | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Genshin Impact better than Wuthering Waves?
Genshin Impact is the better app overall, scoring 8.3 to 7.9. Genshin Impact wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Wuthering Waves on 0, with 1 tied.
Which is cheaper, Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves?
Genshin Impact: Free to play; Genesis Crystals from $0.99 and a $4.99 Blessings Bundle. Wuthering Waves: Free to play; Lunites from $0.99 and a $4.99 Lunite Subscription. On value for money, Genshin Impact scores higher.
Do Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves work on the same devices?
Only Wuthering Waves runs on Mac.
Which is more private, Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves?
Genshin Impact scores higher on privacy (6.4/10). App Store label: identifiers may be used to track you. Purchases, contact info, user content, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics may be linked to you.
Strengths and weaknesses
Genshin Impact
- Enormous free world and story
- Beautiful art and orchestral soundtrack
- Big updates on a steady six-week rhythm
- Characters and weapons come down to gacha luck
- Demanding on storage, battery and older phones
- Daily Resin limits slow progress
Genshin Impact is still the open-world RPG that sets the bar on phones. Six years in, Teyvat keeps growing, and 2026 finally reached the icy nation of Snezhnaya. You climb anything, glide everywhere and mix elements for combat combos, solo or in co-op with friends. The world and story are free; the characters you want come from gacha wishes. It's demanding on storage and battery, so older phones struggle.
Full Genshin Impact review
Wuthering Waves
- The most demanding combat of the big gacha RPGs
- Smooth traversal with parkour and flight
- Runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC
- Recent iOS updates needed several crash fixes
- Gacha for top characters and weapons
- Privacy label links financial info and location
Wuthering Waves is the open-world RPG for people who find Genshin's combat too gentle. Dodges, counters and Echo skills taken from defeated monsters make fights fast and demanding, while wall-running, flight and a motorbike make getting around fun. It won Players' Voice at The Game Awards 2025. The iOS version has needed a string of crash fixes lately, and the best characters still come from gacha.
Full Wuthering Waves review
