Perforce
Centralized version control system (Helix Core / P4) for large codebases and binary assets.
HN commenters like Perforce for handling large binaries and huge monorepos, especially at game studios,1234 and for tools like Timelapse View and p4merge.56 The most common complaints are its price78 and a clunky UI and code workflow compared with Git.91011
Why people recommend it
Large binaries · 3
Handles very large binary assets well, which commenters credit for its survival alongside Git.
“P4 handles large binaries very well, caveat being the rest of P4.”
“We used to be a Perforce shop, in my last job.”
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“If I had a real studio I'd buy some perforce seats.”
Scales to monorepos · 1
Scaled to enormous monorepos and the needs of most of the industry.
“I feel like "didn't scale well" is unfair to Perforce.”
Bundled tools · 3
Commenters still miss tools like Timelapse View and the p4merge diff tool.
“At Team Bondi we used Perforce, and I loved its Timelapse View”
“Perforce was fine. It just had a terrible ui”
Show 1 more
“Perforce and Fuel are the two i like the most”
Low-maintenance setup · 1
Easy to pick up and preferred when someone else manages it or it is set-and-forget.
“I prefer something like Perforce if someone can manage it for me”
Caveats and dissent
Expensive · 2
Commenters call it an expensive solution that can get pricey.
“Perforce is an expensive solution to the problems of LFS”
“We used to be a Perforce shop, in my last job.”
UI and workflow · 3
The UI is called terrible and code workflows weaker than Git's.
“Perforce was fine. It just had a terrible ui”
“Perforce is an expensive solution to the problems of LFS”
Show 1 more
“P4 handles large binaries very well, caveat being the rest of P4.”
Slow large syncs · 2
Big checkouts can take over an hour and reconcile is slow, so users often force-sync instead.
“my bread and butter monorepos are Perforce based”
“I've been using p4 daily for about 21 years at various game studios”
Centralized model · 2
Not built for open collaboration and harder to work away from the server.
“Great for controlled environments, but not really built for open collaboration or community growth”
“Perforce was fine. It just had a terrible ui”
Closed source · 1
Ruled out by users who stick to open-source tools.
“Perforce and Fuel are the two i like the most”
Asset pipelines · 1
One commenter found Alienbrain better integrated for huge binary asset pipelines.
“something a stock git or Perforce would never achieve”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Redesigning source control at Anthropic 3 mentions
- Version control second coming 3 mentions
- Perforce charges $500 for training training videos.. and it's AI narrated 2 mentions
- Epic Games announces Lore version control system 2 mentions
- Show HN: Git Lineage, a Perforce-style time-lapse view for Git blame 1 mention
- Google fixed more Chrome bugs in June than over the past two years, thanks to AI 1 mention
Data: perforce.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 17
“I have worked with both git and Perforce and see the appeal of both.”
“I feel like "didn't scale well" is unfair to Perforce.”
“Perforce was fine. It just had a terrible ui”
“At Team Bondi we used Perforce, and I loved its Timelapse View”
“P4 handles large binaries very well, caveat being the rest of P4.”
“Perforce is an expensive solution to the problems of LFS”
“If I had a real studio I'd buy some perforce seats.”
“we use perforce in games”
“something a stock git or Perforce would never achieve”
“We used to be a Perforce shop, in my last job.”
“We use perforce and Claude can't push anything to our perforce server.”
“patches I made to provide Perforce support which I use at my gamedev studio”
“I prefer something like Perforce if someone can manage it for me”
“I've been using p4 daily for about 21 years at various game studios”
“Great for controlled environments, but not really built for open collaboration or community growth”
“my bread and butter monorepos are Perforce based”
“Perforce and Fuel are the two i like the most”