
Sequence was acquired by Polygon Labs in January 2026, along with Coinme, as part of Polygon's push into stablecoin payments. Sequence is now building the "Open Money Stack"—infrastructure to connect stablecoin payments with traditional finance. While Sequence remains a strong gaming-focused solution, this acquisition changes its strategic direction and may affect chain-agnostic support.
Why Developers Look for Sequence Alternatives
Since the Polygon Labs acquisition, game studios have been evaluating Sequence alternatives for several reasons:
- Polygon ecosystem prioritization: As part of Polygon Labs, Sequence may prioritize Polygon chains over others
- Stablecoin payments focus: The "Open Money Stack" initiative shifts focus toward payments infrastructure
- Vendor lock-in concerns: Proprietary stack with no self-hosting option
- Chain flexibility: Studios building on Arbitrum, Base, or other L2s may want chain-agnostic solutions
- Open-source sovereignty: Sequence's infrastructure cannot be self-hosted or audited
What to Look for in a Sequence Alternative
| Criteria | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Chain Agnosticism | Avoid being locked into one ecosystem; support for multiple L2s |
| Game Engine SDKs | Unity, Unreal, and mobile support are essential for game studios |
| Session Keys | Enable gasless, frictionless gameplay without constant signing |
| Open Source | Self-hostable infrastructure for long-term sovereignty |
| Independence | Acquired companies may shift priorities; independent vendors stay focused |
What are the Best Sequence Alternatives?
The best Sequence alternatives in 2026 are Openfort, Thirdweb, and Turnkey.
- Openfort is the top choice for game studios who need gaming-native features (session keys, gas sponsorship) with open-source infrastructure and chain-agnostic support
- Thirdweb offers an all-in-one platform with Unity SDK, contracts, and marketplaces
- Turnkey provides the fastest signing (50-100ms) for real-time competitive games
Note: Privy is now part of Stripe, Dynamic is part of Fireblocks, and Web3Auth is part of MetaMask—all with their own acquisition dynamics.
1. Openfort
Openfort (that's us 👋) is an open-source wallet infrastructure solution that provides powerful wallet capabilities for games and applications. Our platform allows developers to plug and play any signer—including Opensigner for embedded wallets—and contract they prefer, simplifying everything from cross-app ecosystems and AI agents to gaming and DeFi. Openfort also provides TEE-based backend wallets for server-side key storage, enabling permissions-controlled signing and automatic transactions without exposing private keys.
Why Choose Openfort Over Sequence
Developers who are concerned about Polygon ecosystem lock-in after Sequence's acquisition will find Openfort to be chain-agnostic, supporting all EVM chains equally without prioritizing any single ecosystem. For studios that value open-source sovereignty, Opensigner is MIT-licensed and fully self-hostable, meaning you can audit and run the signer infrastructure yourself. Openfort also supports any OIDC provider for authentication, so you can integrate your own player ID system rather than being locked into a proprietary auth flow. And with 200ms median signing speed versus Sequence's variable latency, Openfort delivers the performance needed for real-time gameplay.
Beyond wallets, Openfort includes built-in blockchain infrastructure like paymasters that enable gasless transactions out of the box. Sequence bundles its own gas sponsorship, but many competing solutions require you to build or integrate third-party paymaster infrastructure separately—Openfort handles it natively.
Comparison Table: Openfort vs. Sequence
| Feature | Openfort | Sequence |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source | ✅ OpenSigner (MIT) | ❌ Proprietary |
| Signing Speed | 200ms median | Variable |
| Smart Accounts | ✅ Native (4337, 7702) | ✅ Native |
| Unity SDK | ✅ | ✅ |
| Authentication | Any OIDC / Custom | Sequence Auth |
| Chain Support | All EVM chains | Polygon-focused |
| Self-Hostable | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Parent Company | Independent | Polygon Labs |
| Session Keys | ✅ | ✅ |
| Gas Sponsorship | ✅ Policy Engine | ✅ Built-in |
Scaling Considerations
Openfort supports Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Avalanche, and every other EVM chain equally, so you never have to worry about chain prioritization shifting underneath you. Pricing follows a usage-based model where an operation is either creating a wallet or sending a transaction—you pay only for what you actually use, which is fairer and more transparent than MAU-based tiers that charge you regardless of activity. And as an independent company, Openfort's product roadmap isn't influenced by ecosystem politics or acquisition dynamics.
Why game developers choose Openfort
Studios choose Openfort because it combines gaming-native features like session keys and gasless transactions with the confidence that comes from open-source infrastructure and chain agnosticism. The embedded wallet experience powered by Opensigner gives players seamless onboarding, while TEE backend wallets let studios run server-side automation securely. Being independent from any L1 or L2 ecosystem means Openfort's roadmap stays focused on what game developers actually need.
2. Thirdweb
Thirdweb offers a comprehensive development platform including gaming SDKs, embedded wallets, and contract tools.
Why Choose Thirdweb Over Sequence
Thirdweb appeals to studios that want a single platform covering wallets, smart contract deployment, indexing, and payments rather than stitching together gaming-specific tools. It also provides a broader scope beyond gaming, which is useful if your project spans DeFi, NFT marketplaces, or consumer apps alongside a game. Thirdweb's generous free tier makes it accessible for early-stage projects that haven't committed to a single vertical yet.
Comparison Table: Thirdweb vs. Sequence
| Feature | Thirdweb | Sequence |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Full Stack Platform | Gaming-Focused |
| Game SDKs | Unity, Unreal | Unity, Unreal |
| Smart Accounts | ✅ Native | ✅ Native |
| Marketplace Tools | ✅ | ✅ |
| Contract Deployment | ✅ Extensive | ❌ |
| Independence | ✅ Independent | ❌ Polygon Labs |
| 700+ Chains | ✅ | Polygon-focused |
Why developers choose Thirdweb
Studios choose Thirdweb when they want a unified development experience where contract deployment, wallet creation, and blockchain infrastructure all come from the same vendor. The "one-stop-shop" approach reduces integration complexity and means a single dashboard for monitoring, billing, and support across the full stack.
3. Turnkey
Turnkey provides the fastest signing infrastructure (50-100ms) using TEEs, built by the Coinbase Custody team.
Why Choose Turnkey Over Sequence
Turnkey is the right choice for studios building competitive real-time games where signing latency directly affects gameplay—50-100ms response times are critical for multiplayer scenarios where players can't afford to wait. It's also ideal for teams that want to build their own custom game wallet UX from scratch, since Turnkey provides the low-level cryptographic primitives without opinionated UI or SDK choices. Studios building automated systems like trading bots or AI agents also benefit from Turnkey's policy-controlled signing infrastructure.
Comparison Table: Turnkey vs. Sequence
| Feature | Turnkey | Sequence |
|---|---|---|
| Level | Infrastructure API | Full Stack |
| Signing Speed | 50-100ms | Variable |
| Game SDKs | ❌ Build your own | ✅ Unity, Unreal |
| Flexibility | ✅ Maximum | ⚠️ Constrained |
| Pricing | Per-signature | Custom |
| AI Agent Support | ✅ Policy-controlled | ⚠️ Limited |
Why developers choose Turnkey
Studios building competitive games or high-frequency automated systems choose Turnkey when raw signing performance is the top priority. The trade-off is that Turnkey is infrastructure-only—you'll need to build your own SDK integrations, gas sponsorship, and UI—but for teams with the engineering resources to do so, it offers unmatched flexibility and speed.
4. Privy (Now Part of Stripe)
Privy was acquired by Stripe in June 2025. Privy focuses on high-conversion onboarding for consumer apps.
Considerations for Gaming
Privy's greatest strength is its onboarding conversion—it's designed to make the sign-up-to-first-action flow as frictionless as possible, which matters for browser-based games where first impressions are everything. However, Privy is not gaming-specific and doesn't offer Unity or Unreal SDKs, so native game engine integration isn't supported. Since joining Stripe, Privy has added stablecoin payments via Stripe's Bridge, which could be valuable for in-game purchases, though it also introduces Stripe ecosystem dependencies. Privy also doesn't include built-in paymaster infrastructure for gasless transactions, so you'd need to integrate that separately.
Why developers choose Privy
Browser-based games and web apps that prioritize onboarding conversion above all else choose Privy for its streamlined auth flow. It's less suited for studios that need deep game engine integration or want to avoid adding another platform dependency.
5. Dynamic (Now Part of Fireblocks)
Dynamic was acquired by Fireblocks in 2025. Dynamic provides polished wallet connection UI widgets.
Considerations for Gaming
Dynamic provides some of the most polished wallet connection UI widgets in the market, which is great for web-based games that want a professional, branded feel. The limitation is that Dynamic is not gaming-specific—there are no Unity or Unreal SDKs—and its signing speed (around 2850ms) makes it unsuitable for real-time gameplay where sub-second responses are expected. With Fireblocks as the parent company, Dynamic may also pivot further toward enterprise and institutional use cases over time. Like Privy, Dynamic doesn't provide built-in paymaster infrastructure for gasless transactions.
Why developers choose Dynamic
Web-based games and dApps that prioritize UI polish and multi-chain wallet connection choose Dynamic for its sleek onboarding widgets. Studios building native games or performance-critical experiences will likely find the latency too high for their needs.
6. Web3Auth (Now Part of MetaMask)
Web3Auth was acquired by MetaMask/Consensys. Web3Auth provides MPC-based social login.
Considerations for Gaming
Web3Auth offers the lowest-cost social login in the market at $69/month, making it attractive for budget-conscious projects. However, its MPC-based signing introduces latency of around 500ms or more, which isn't ideal for real-time gaming. There are no game engine SDKs for Unity or Unreal, so integration into native games requires custom engineering work. With MetaMask/Consensys as the parent company, there's also a risk of increasing ecosystem lock-in as the product evolves. Web3Auth doesn't include paymaster or gas sponsorship infrastructure, so gasless transactions would require a separate integration.
Why developers choose Web3Auth
Projects on a tight budget that need basic social login capabilities without gaming-specific features choose Web3Auth for its low price point and wide range of login providers. It's best suited for web-based experiences where signing latency and game engine integration aren't primary concerns.
7. Building In-House
Building your own game wallet infrastructure is the ultimate alternative.
Pros
- Total control over UX and features
- No vendor dependencies
- Custom optimizations for your game
Cons
- 3-6 months of development
- Ongoing security maintenance
- Distraction from core game development
For most studios, the build vs buy equation favors using infrastructure like Openfort.
Recommendation by Use Case
| Use Case | Recommended Alternative |
|---|---|
| Multi-chain game, open-source needed | Openfort |
| Real-time competitive game (50ms signing) | Turnkey |
| All-in-one platform (contracts + wallets) | Thirdweb |
| Browser game, conversion focus | Privy |
| Polygon ecosystem focus | Stay with Sequence |
| Lowest budget | Web3Auth |
Conclusion
Sequence remains a strong choice for gaming if you're committed to the Polygon ecosystem and want integrated marketplace tools.
However, if you need chain-agnostic support, open-source sovereignty, faster signing, or want to avoid ecosystem lock-in, Openfort provides gaming-native infrastructure that grows with your studio.
Get started with Openfort — usage-based pricing with a free tier, Unity SDK included. See also: Web3Auth alternatives, Privy alternatives, Turnkey alternatives.
