Can You Use Nexus Mods On Steam

Nexus Mods, ModDB, and Steam Workshop are three of the almost popular platforms for PC game modifications, or mods for short. They often spawn debates about which is the best, and so we thought nosotros'd chime in and list some of the pros and cons of each, since the differences between these platforms are very meaning.

Updated with thunderstore.io and r2modman

Download Speeds

Steam Workshop and Thunderstore.io download speeds are uncapped, then they will download at whatever your cyberspace speed is capable of downloading. Nonetheless, Steam Workshop might have a file size limit; it varies per game.

Nexus Mods only has uncapped downloads for those with a paid premium subscription, and who wants that? Free Nexus is limited to merely 2 MB/s download speed. These days almost everyone is capable of downloading at speeds significantly faster than this. ModDB's download servers have some sort of cap that is non explicitly told to the user, but for me information technology maxes out at 30-35 MB/due south, which is almost 10 MB beneath what my bodily download speed is.

But believe it or not, this is non the single deciding factor to which platform is best.

Winner : Thunderstore and Steam Workshop (barring possible file size limits for the latter)

Loser : Nexus Mods (without paid subscription)

Automation

Steam Workshop is all very automated. Select subscribe and the mod automatically installs. Select unsubscribe and it automatically uninstalls. Workshop mods are updated automatically on their own through Steam. r2modman is the aforementioned mode, which connects to Thunderstore.io. It should not be necessary to manually download and install mods in 2022, for whatsoever game with serious modernistic support that is.

Automation is a fleck more limited with Nexus Mods, but still present. Another tool is needed to automatically install and remove mods; there are several options out there, merely Mod Organizer ii is generally agreed upon equally existence the best. The tool needs to support the game in question, and for supported games you tin have the tool install/uninstall mods for y'all, and update mods every bit well. It too does not need to exist used with Nexus Mods, but doing so is user-friendly since there's an integration for it. Mod Organizer ii also automatically detects alien files while Steam Workshop and ModDB don't exercise this, but more on this later.

However, Mod Organizer 2 is quite out of engagement from an automation perspective, as you still take to browse through a website like Nexus and download mods individually.

ModDB on the other hand is a completely manual procedure, which some people will actually prefer peculiarly for any game where you want a version freeze on some mods (although Nexus is proficient for this too).

Winner : Steam Workshop and Thunderstore+r2modman

Loser : ModDB

Platform Exclusivity

Here nosotros have i of the most obvious differences: Steam Workshop only works for Steam games, since it is a built in Steam feature while Nexus Mods and ModDB are just websites. You lot cannot download a mod from Steam Workshop without owning the Steam version of the game that the mod is for. This significantly reduces the platform's usefulness, especially when there are and then many reasons to prefer other platforms like GOG or itch.io.

Winner : Nexus Mods, Thunderstore, ModDB

Loser : Steam Workshop

Transparency

Since Nexus Mods and ModDB are both just websites, it'due south very piece of cake to come across what verbal files are beingness downloaded. You accept no such transparency with Steam Workshop. You cannot know what exact game files are beingness downloaded and not every game stores Steam Workshop mods the same way. This is especially inconvenient for anyone who wants to change mods they download, or anyone who wants to know almost specific compatibility issues past knowing what exact files are changed.

Winner : Nexus Mods and ModDB

Loser : Steam Workshop

Organisation and Search Function

You would recollect a search role is an piece of cake affair to get right in 2021, but there are considerable qualitative differences between the search office and how results are displayed betwixt these 3 platforms. Steam Workshop generally requires more tinkering with the filters to find what you're looking for, even with more than popular mods. ModDB is the least organized with regard to mod categories however, so if you don't know exactly what y'all're looking for when browsing ModDB, look to spend more than time searching and browsing. It too isn't very effective at partial matches.

Less organized than ModDB is Thunderstore.io however. While it has a proficient search office and mod categories, modernistic uploaders are required to submit very picayune information, so yous'll often see bare modern pages with no images. Who wants to download that? Mod pages are missing common features like image sections as well, but Thunderstore does take good version tracking.

Nexus Mods is very organized with its robust employ of categories non different Steam Workshop, but the search office seems more accurate. Although they have fabricated it too difficult to locate the mod categories characteristic, this isn't nowadays in enough UI tabs.

Winner : Nexus Mods

Loser : Thunderstore

Version Tracking

Hither we take a clear victory for Nexus Mods. The ability to categorize files equally beingness primary, old, optional, and dedicated fields for versioning leads to superior version tracking and management. ModDB and Thunderstore are not quite every bit detailed, but for the most role are good enough.

A Steam Workshop page tin can only accept a unmarried file due to its subscribe/unsubscribe functionality, then its simplicity limits its functionality here.

Winner : Nexus Mods

Loser : Steam Workshop

Conflict Detection and Resolution

Steam Workshop, despite its automation, also has no such mechanisms. This combined with the lack of transparency which disallows you from seeing what exact files are being downloaded makes conflict resolution even more than inconvenient. But you lot can at least easily unsubscribe from a mod to effort and narrow down the compatibility issue (most games too allow yous enable/disable Workshop subscribed mods which is fifty-fifty easier). Just if you want specifics on conflicting files, you are pretty much helpless due to Workshop's lack of transparency.

Modernistic Organizer 2 is male monarch hither. It can connect to Nexus Mods on its own, though yous can use it with mods downloaded from ModDB elsewhere too. Information technology is useful for resolving mod/file conflicts and guiding you through the process while existence very verbose. Mod Organizer 2 detects conflicts correct away, making it the articulate winner here.

Winner : Modern Organizer 2

Loser : Steam Workshop

Keeping the Original Game Intact

Due to the simplicity of Steam Workshop's automation, information technology functions well in this category. If a modern breaks a game, you tin simply unsubscribe from that mod and your game volition be just fine over again.

Nexus Mods + Modernistic Organizer ii is excellent in this category besides. Mod Organizer two installs mods in a completely split up directory, so you tin run the unmodded game alongside modded game profiles (you cannot do this with Workshop), and you can't technically pause your game with mods when using Modern Organizer two because of this.

Thunderstore + r2modman works the same way as Mod Organizer ii, and then mods don't affect base game installation.

ModDB is just a website, so it cannot do any of this on its own. Only you can download mods from here manually, and and so manage them with Mod Organizer two. There'south just no connector. Mod Organizer ii itself gets the nod here, and while Steam Workshop is good here, it is ultimately not equally good as Mod Organizer ii's complete isolation.

Winner : Modernistic Organizer 2, Thunderstore+r2modman

Loser : Steam Workshop

Malware Protection

Malware being uploaded to ModDB disguised as mods has been a problem in the past, merely information technology has been brought to our attention that they have since stepped up their game hither (run across comments section below). Nexus Mods and Steam Workshop have both been scanning uploads for malware for a long time. Other download sites typically have it likewise.

Winner : Wash

Availability

Steam Workshop is dependent on, well, Steam. It is a massive, widely used platform around the globe, with a scheduled weekly maintenance period but also its fair share of service outages as expected for a platform this size. And when Steam is downwards, Workshop is ordinarily downwards too. ModDB, Nexus Mods, Thunderstore have no such issues.

Winner : Nexus Mods, ModDB, Thunderstore

Loser : Steam Workshop

Verdict

As you lot tin can see, there is no clear winner. As usual, the herd of mindless drones imploring that all games should just utilise Steam and Steam Workshop are wrong. Never sell your soul to a corporation, it does no good for yous. Steam Workshop simply works for Steam games, and is a expert choice if you don't utilise many mods for a game and don't plan to ever tinker with mods as its lack of transparency makes this unfeasible.

The best solution would be a free to use store with uncapped downloads like Thunderstore or mod.io merely with the organization of Nexus Mods, with a launcher that combines the all-time of both Mod Organizer two (use this every bit a base) with the automation of r2modman. Alas, no such solution exists yet, so there isn't a single all-time modern download site or launcher.

Nexus Mods is hampered by the need to pay for uncapped download speeds. The features of Modern Organizer 2 like conflict detection and resolution, keeping the game completely intact, automated or guided installs/uninstalls, load guild direction, portable installs, and the fact that information technology's open source, all of this strongly benefit the end user. r2modman doesn't take as many of these, but is more than automated which is a huge plus.

For modern uploaders, the very detailed mod pages of Nexus Mods and its top notch version management are most appealing, as is the fact that you're non limiting users to a single platform. And then this is the most versatile and detailed solution for both players and mod uploaders.

ModDB is a website like Nexus, though at that place is aught stopping y'all from downloading mods from ModDB and then managing them with Mod Organizer 2, though it lacks direct plugins for mod managers. As a website, there are pros and cons information technology has versus Nexus Mods, with the main benefit being better download speeds compared to free Nexus Mods users, merely some may detect Nexus easier to apply, especially mod authors. Of course, you lot tin use both!

Of course, these aren't the but modernistic platforms out there, only they are the biggest. A more recent one is mod.io, which is useful for hosting server side mods for a multiplayer game since y'all can bespeak a server to a mod's UUID resulting in that mod automatically being downloaded past the server and downloaded for any player joining the server. Far more convenient than server side modding in the past. Non many games use modern.io at the moment however, and those that do tend to apply information technology exclusively.