Tesana AI Review: Pricing, Speed, Export and the 30% Cut

Tesana is an AI game maker that turns a text prompt or a picture into a browser game, with a studio on the web and an iPhone app. Paid plans cost $25, $50 or $200 a month, the free plan includes no build credits, and Tesana keeps 30% of sales made through its own store. It suits people who want a web game quickly, with hosted multiplayer if they need it. It is a weaker fit for anyone who needs their own Android or iOS builds.

We make Oryn, another AI game maker, so weigh that. We didn't run hands-on tests for this review. Every fact about Tesana comes from its own site, pricing page, docs and terms as they read on November 10, 2026, and each claim links to its source. Where those pages disagree with each other or leave something out, we say so.

What Tesana is

Tesana describes itself as "an AI game-building platform" whose AI writes real game code (Tesana docs). You describe a game in the prompt box, or pick an image, and an agent writes the code, makes the visuals and sound, tests the build and hands you something playable in a studio with chat on one side and the game on the other. From there you change it with follow-up prompts, publish it to a play link, list it on Tesana's marketplace, or export it.

The company behind it is Dreamsands Inc., named in its terms of service. Its homepage says it is "trusted by 350,000 creators" and that 15,000 games are built every week (Tesana). Those are Tesana's own numbers, and we can't check them. The addresses tesana.ai and tesana.com lead to the same site: tesana.ai redirects to tesana.com.

Tesana is also a place to play. The homepage has a Play section sorted by genre, and it says most games there are free to play in the browser.

Plans and prices

Prices are from Tesana's pricing page and plans docs as of November 10, 2026. The build estimates are Tesana's own.

There is also a team offering with seats and a shared credit pool, sold through a sales contact.

Credits pay for AI work and are billed after the work happens, so nothing has a fixed price per prompt. The docs name what drives the cost: the size of your project, the scope of the request and the run mode. A plan-only turn costs a small fraction of a build (how credits work). Every account pays the same credits for the same work, so a higher plan buys more credits and features, and no discount per prompt.

Dividing the Pro price by Tesana's estimate gives roughly $8 to $12.50 of plan credit per full build. That is our arithmetic on their numbers. Changes after the first build cost credits too, so a finished game costs more than one build.

Monthly credits reset each billing cycle. If you run out, one-time top-ups start at $10 for 1,000 credits, which needs an active plan, and $25 for 2,500 credits, which doesn't. Larger bundles carry bonus credits.

Two billing rules are worth reading before you pay. A failed or cancelled run is billed for the work done up to that point, and Tesana reviews platform faults case by case when you contact support (failed generations). The terms say unused purchases can be refunded within 14 days on request, and credits already spent on AI work can't.

What you get for free

Less than the word "free" suggests. The plans docs say the Free plan "doesn't include credits": you can play other people's games and get a free plan preview for a new game idea, up to a daily limit the docs don't quantify. Building that plan into a game takes credits from a paid plan or a top-up. The $25 top-up works without a subscription, so that is the cheapest way to see one real build.

Tesana's own pages aren't consistent here. Its FAQ says that on the free plan "you can build and publish free games on Tesana", which reads as if building were included. The docs are the more detailed source, so we'd plan on needing credits.

Rights on the free plan are limited as well. It is for personal, non-commercial use, games carry Tesana branding, and they can't be exported or sold.

How fast Tesana builds

Speed is Tesana's main selling point, and it publishes three different versions of the number:

• The homepage says "a game you can play and share in minutes".
• A blog post dated September 28, 2026 says "Average generation time on Tesana has now dropped from around 60 minutes to under 5" (Tesana blog).
• The docs say "A complete first build typically takes several minutes to a few tens of minutes", with small edits much faster (How Tesana works).

We'd take the docs' range as the planning figure and treat under 5 minutes as the good case. We haven't timed a build, and we know of no independent measurement.

Max and Ultra add Loop, which goes the other way on purpose. You set a credit budget of at least 2,000 credits, the game is split into areas that are built in parallel, and a separate critic judges each area until all pass or the budget is spent. Tesana says a Loop can run for hours unattended (Loop mode). Games started from Explore, Tesana's wall of concept art, run as a short Loop with a budget of up to 5,000 credits on paid plans, so check your balance before you click (Explore).

Engine and output

New Tesana games are TypeScript, on Three.js for 3D and Phaser for 2D, bundled with Vite. The docs say every build is type-checked, bundled and booted in a real browser before you get it, and that the agent reads the error and fixes its own mistake when a check fails. You don't pick the AI model; Tesana chooses one for each run.

Reviews written before autumn 2026 often call Tesana a Godot tool. That was true then. The September blog post explains the move: each game had to pass through Godot's project format and a platform export before anyone could play it, and both steps added delay and ways to fail. Games made before the switch stay on Godot and still play, edit and export as Godot projects. New games always use the web engine.

A web game has a practical upside for a tool like this: the output runs in the browser as written, on desktop and phone, with nothing to convert. The price is that the game is a web project. If you want to finish it in a visual editor such as Godot or Unity, there is no path from a new Tesana game to either. Our post on Godot vs Unity covers what those editors give you.

The studio itself has tabs for the game, assets, a searchable animation library, visual effects, one-click add-ons such as movement, combat and multiplayer, and a code editor (The Studio). Version history lets you revert, and you can invite collaborators into the same game.

Audio and music

Tesana's pages say little about audio. What they do say:

• The docs say "Visuals, effects, and audio are built to match your art direction" (How Tesana works).
• The quickstart lists "Add background music and a coin-collect sound" among its example prompts (Quickstart).
• The August 14, 2026 changelog entry lists generated audio among the assets billed as separate items, next to 3D models and images (changelog).
• Importing your own audio (MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC or AAC, up to 10 MB) needs the Max plan (custom assets).

What is not stated: how music is made, how long a track is, what a track costs in credits, and whether a new game gets music without being asked. If sound matters for your game, name the music and the effects you want in the first prompt and listen to the result before you build further. Our guide to AI game music and sound explains what to listen for.

Mobile: the app and phone games

There are two separate questions here, the Tesana app and games for phones.

The iPhone app is free. The docs say you can use it to play games, share your own and monitor your builds, and that games, credits and settings are the same across web, iPhone and desktop (apps). The May 2026 changelog says its Muranyi-3 release is live "on the web at tesana.ai and on iPhone". Whether you can run the whole build conversation from the phone isn't spelled out on the apps page. For Android, the same page says an app is "coming soon", while the homepage already shows a Google Play badge with a store link. We didn't verify the Play listing, so check it yourself if you're on Android.

Games for phones work through the browser. You say in the first prompt that the game is for phones and choose portrait or landscape, and Tesana builds it touch-first with on-screen sticks and buttons. Players open a link and install nothing. Decide the orientation early: the docs call changing it later a major rework (mobile games).

A store listing is a different matter, and Tesana's pages disagree on it. The FAQ says "dedicated mobile app-store builds aren't available yet". The docs describe a service, still rolling out, in which Tesana's team publishes your game to the Apple App Store for $99 per game under Tesana's own publisher account, Dreamsands Inc (Steam and App Store). The homepage names Google Play as a publishing destination too, and we found no docs page describing a Google Play route. If you need your own Android build, read how to make a mobile game for the routes that exist.

What you can export

Any paid plan unlocks four formats (exports):

• Web: a static site you can host anywhere, including itch.io.
• macOS: an unsigned .app, so the first launch shows a security warning.
• Windows: an .exe, where SmartScreen may warn.
• Source code: the full Vite and TypeScript project, which runs with npm install and npm run dev.

Three limits apply. Source export covers original games only; copies, earlier remixes and template-derived projects export playable builds without source. Download links expire after 7 days, and you build again for a fresh one. Online features that depend on Tesana's servers, such as multiplayer rooms and cloud saves, work best from the Tesana play link.

There is no Android, iOS or Linux format on that list. For Steam, you can publish the desktop build under your own account, or pay Tesana $200 per game to create the listing, make the store art, upload the build and take it through review under its publisher account.

The 30% cut and who owns the game

Selling on Tesana's store needs an active paid plan. A game can be free, paid from $0.50, or pay-what-you-want, and payouts run through your own Stripe account via Stripe Connect. You keep 70% of each sale and Tesana takes 30%, which includes payment processing (game monetization).

The fee applies only to the Tesana store. Export the game and sell it on Steam, itch.io or your own site, and Tesana takes 0%. What the 30% buys is a checkout and a store page that work the day you finish.

On ownership, the docs say that on any paid plan you own your games, including the generated source for original games, with commercial rights that survive cancellation (Ownership and IP). Shared stock and CC0 assets are licensed for use inside your game and can't be resold on their own. Tesana says it doesn't train on files you upload, and that it may use generated code and assets to improve its engine and train future models.

One caution from the legal text. The terms, last revised October 9, 2026, still say games are built on Godot and name Pro and Max as the paid plans, which doesn't match the current docs and pricing page. The ownership and fee clauses do match the docs. The terms are the binding document, so read them yourself before a commercial project.

Strengths and limits

Who Tesana fits

Tesana is a good pick if:

• The web is where your game will live and a link is how people will play it.
• You want to try several ideas in one sitting and can pay for the credits.
• Multiplayer is the point of the game and you don't want to run servers.
• You want a buy button without setting up a store account, and 30% is acceptable.
• You or a developer you work with is comfortable in TypeScript and wants the source.
• You'd like someone else to handle a Steam or App Store submission and accept their publisher name on it.

It fits less well if you want to build for free, if you need your own Android or iOS builds, or if you plan to continue the project in a game engine's editor.

When another tool fits better

If your reason is one of those three, look elsewhere before you subscribe.

Oryn, the tool we make, differs in what it hands over. It writes a Godot 4 project you can export and open in the Godot editor, with builds for Windows, macOS and Linux, a signed Android APK and AAB, and an Xcode project for iOS. The build generates the game's art, and each new game gets a generated soundtrack and sound effects. It runs as a studio in the browser. The costs of that route are real: a first build takes about 30 minutes, Oryn advertises no hosted multiplayer rooms, and its Free plan plans up to three games without building them, so building needs credits or a paid plan from €25 a month before VAT (Oryn pricing). For fast web games and multiplayer, Tesana is the better choice of the two.

Our Oryn vs Tesana comparison goes through the two feature by feature. If neither suits you, Tesana alternatives covers eight other tools, including ones with free building and lower entry prices, and the roundup of AI game makers places Tesana in the wider market.

A small brief like this one is enough to judge any of these tools on the things this review couldn't test: how the game feels, how it sounds and how many follow-ups it needs.

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