Version: 2023.2
Language : English
Render pipelines introduction
How to get, set, and configure the active render pipeline

Render pipeline feature comparison

This page contains information on feature support in the Built-in Render PipelineA series of operations that take the contents of a Scene, and displays them on a screen. Unity lets you choose from pre-built render pipelines, or write your own. More info
See in Glossary
, the Universal Render Pipeline (URP), and the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP). It also contains suggested alternatives for certain features.

For ease of reference, features are broken down into the following categories:

Platform Support

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Windows Yes Yes Yes

DirectX 11. DirectX 12, Vulkan
MacOS Yes Yes Yes
Linux Yes Yes Yes

Vulkan
XBox One Yes Yes Yes
XBox Series Yes Yes Yes
PlayStation 4 Yes Yes Yes
PlayStation 5 Yes Yes Yes
Stadia Yes Yes Yes
Nintendo Switch Yes Yes No
iOS Yes Yes No
Android Yes Yes No
Desktop VRVirtual Reality More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes Yes
Mobile VR Yes Yes No
Hololens Yes Yes No
WebGLA JavaScript API that renders 2D and 3D graphics in a web browser. The Unity Web build option allows Unity to publish content as JavaScript programs which use HTML5 technologies and the WebGL rendering API to run Unity content in a web browser. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes No

Lighting

Lights

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Directional Yes Yes Yes
Spot Yes

Supported shapes: Cone
Yes

Supported shapes: Cone
Yes

Supported shapes: Cone, Pyramid, Box
Point Yes Yes Yes
Area Yes

Supported shapes: Rectangle (only with Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination), Disc (baked only)
Yes

Supported shapes: Rectangle (baked only), Disc (baked only)
Yes

Supported shapes: Rectangle (real-time and baked), Tube (real-time only), Disc (baked only)
Inner Spot angle No Yes Yes
Shading technique Yes

Multiple passes
Yes

Single pass only
Yes

Hybrid tile and cluster
Culling Per Object Yes Yes No
Culling Per Tile No No Yes
Culling Per Layer Yes

Based on GameObject layers
Yes

Based on dedicated Rendering layers (32 layers available)
Yes

Based on dedicated Rendering layers (only the first 16 are used)
Multiple directional lights Yes Yes

Supports shadowing for one directional light at a time.
Yes

Supports shadowing for one directional light at a time. To simulate more, use Spot light with a Box shape.
Number of real-time lights per object Unlimited Forward: 1 Directional light + up to 8 lights per-object depending on the settings in the Render Pipeline asset.
Deferred: Unlimited lights for opaque objects. For transparents or objects that shade in forward mode the same limit as above applies.
Forward+: Not Applicable. Forward+ shade lights per-tile, see “Number of real-time lights per Camera” below.

For more information check: Render Path Comparison
Unlimited (HDRP doesn’t classify lights per object, see bellow the “Number of real-time lights per Camera” section).
Number of real-time lights per Camera Unlimited On mobile platforms: 32.
On other platforms: 256.
In Deferred: 63 per 8x8 pixel tile.

In Forward: 63 per 16x16 pixel cluster.

You can disable the cap for the deferred rendering path in Frame Settings > Light Loop Debug > Deferred Tile. This will affect performance.
Light attenuation type Yes

Legacy
Yes

InverseSquared
Yes

InverseSquared
Vertex Lights Yes Yes No
SH Lights Yes No No
Light Cookies Yes

Only shape, no color (Alpha channel).
Yes

Colored cookie (RGB)
Yes

Colored cookie (RGB)
IES Lights No No Yes
Light Distance Fade No No Yes
Physical light units No No Yes
Light anchor tool Yes Yes Yes

Shadows

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Directional Light Shadows Yes Yes Yes

Only one at a time.
Multiple Directional Light Shadows Yes No No
Directional Light Cascade Shadows Yes

1, 2, or 4 cascades, control by percentage only.
Yes

1 to 4 cascades. Control by percentage, or switch to meters.

Settings are in URP asset.
Yes

1 to 4 cascades. Control by percentage or distance.

Settings are in Volumes.
Shadow Cascade Blending No No Yes
Spot Light Shadows Yes Yes Yes
Point Light Shadows Yes Yes Yes
Area Light Shadows No No Yes

Only for rectangle shape
Stable Fit Shadow Projection Yes Yes Yes
Close Fit Shadow Projection Yes No Yes
Shadow Screen Space Pass Yes Yes Yes

Mostly used for Raytracing.
Shadow bias Yes

Supported types: Constant clip space offset. Normal bias
Yes

Supported types: Offsets shadowmap texels in the light direction, Normal bias
Yes

Supported types: Slope bias, Normal bias
PCF filtering (Percentage Closer Filtering) No Yes

PCF Tent 5x5
Yes

For Point and Spot lights in “Low” (PCF 3x3 4 taps) and “Medium” (PCF 5x5 9 taps) quality settings, and for Directional lights in “Low” (PCF 5x5 9 taps) and “Medium” (PCF Tent 5x5 9 taps) quality settings.
PCSS filtering (Percentage Closer Soft Shadows) No No Yes

For Point and Spot lights, Directional lights and Area lights when in “High” quality in the HDRP settings for each kind of light.
EVSM filtering (Exponential Variance Shadow Mapping) No No Yes

For area lights only in all quality settings except “High”.
Shadow update modes No No Yes

Every frame, On Enable, On Demand. Each cascade can be updated independently using the API (RequestSubShadowMapRendering)
Resolution settings Yes

Configured in Quality Settings.
Yes

Configured in URP Lighting Settings.
Yes

Configure shadowmap resolution or budget per Light, and configure shadow atlas size in HDRP Asset.
Dynamic rescale No No Yes
Directional light shadow caching No No Yes
Punctual and Area lights shadow caching No No Yes
Dynamic Shadow Casters No No Yes
Static Shadow Casters No No Yes
Contact Shadows No No Yes
Micro Shadows No No Yes
Shadow Cascade Volume Controller No No Yes
Shadow Distance Fade Yes Yes Yes

Configure in Shadows Volume.
Shadow Mask Yes

Configure per scene.
Yes

Configure per scene.
Yes

Configure per Light.
Distance Shadow Mask Yes

Configure per scene.
Yes

Forward Rendering Path only.
Yes

Configure per Light.
Transparent objects casting shadows Yes

Use the Transparent Cutout shaders for objects with “gaps” such as fences, vegetation, etc. or custom pixel-lit shaders using the Geometry render queue. Opacity can affect shadow intensity using dithering.
No

Alpha clipping only.
Yes

Raytracing only (incl support of colored shadows). For raster, alpha clipping only (use Alpha clipping > Shadow threshold option).
Transparent objects receiving shadows No Yes Yes
Shadow tint No No Yes

Shadow tint or penumbra tint options
Shadow matte No No Yes

Use Unlit master node and “Enable Shadow Matte”
Shadow Layers No No Yes

Global Illumination

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Baked Global IlluminationA group of techniques that model both direct and indirect lighting to provide realistic lighting results.
See in Glossary
: Progressive CPU LightmapperA tool in Unity that bakes lightmaps according to the arrangement of lights and geometry in your scene. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes Yes
Baked Global Illumination: Progressive GPU Lightmapper Yes Yes Yes
Baked Global Illumination: Enlighten Lightmapper No

Deprecated
No

Deprecated
No

Deprecated
Baked Global Illumination: Mixed Lighting modes Yes

Subtractive, Baked indirect, Shadow Mask, Distance Shadow mask
Yes

Subtractive, Baked indirect, Shadow Mask, Distance Shadow mask
Yes

Baked indirect, Shadow Mask (per light setting), Distance Shadow mask (per light setting)
Baked Global Illumination: Double Sided GI Yes Yes Yes
Realtime Global Illumination: Pre-computed (Enlighten) Yes

Support ends after Unity 2024 LTS
Yes

Support ends after Unity 2024 LTS
Yes

Support ends after Unity 2024 LTS
Realtime Global Illumination: Screen space GI No No Yes
Screen Space Reflections Yes No Yes
Planar Reflections No No Yes
Raytraced Reflections No No Yes
Screen Space Refractions No No Yes
Non directional lightmapA pre-rendered texture that contains the effects of light sources on static objects in the scene. Lightmaps are overlaid on top of scene geometry to create the effect of lighting. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes Yes
Directional lightmap Yes Yes Yes

Light Probes

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Light ProbesLight probes store information about how light passes through space in your scene. A collection of light probes arranged within a given space can improve lighting on moving objects and static LOD scenery within that space. More info
See in Glossary
: Blending
Yes Yes Yes
Light Probes: Custom provided Yes Yes Yes
Light Probes: Occlusion Probes Yes Yes Yes
Light Probes: Proxy volumes (LPPV) Yes No

Deprecated
Yes

Adaptive Probe Volumes

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Probe Volumes: Per pixelThe smallest unit in a computer image. Pixel size depends on your screen resolution. Pixel lighting is calculated at every screen pixel. More info
See in Glossary
lighting
No Yes Yes
Probe Volumes: Per vertex lighting No Yes No
Probe Volumes: Blending No No Yes
Probe Volumes: Touchup volumes No Yes Yes
Probe Volumes: Stream from disk No No Yes
Probe Volumes: Reflection ProbesA rendering component that captures a spherical view of its surroundings in all directions, rather like a camera. The captured image is then stored as a Cubemap that can be used by objects with reflective materials. More info
See in Glossary
Normalization
No No Yes

Reflection Probes

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Reflection Probes: Baked Yes Yes Yes
Reflection Probes: Real-time Yes Yes Yes
Reflection Probes: Real-time time sliced all faces at once Yes Yes No
Reflection Probes: Real-time time sliced individual faces Yes Yes Yes
Reflection Probes: On-demand API Yes Yes Yes
Reflection Probes: Proxy volumes No No Yes
Reflection Probes: Simple sampling Yes

Choose per-object how to sample reflection probes.
Yes

Choose in the URP asset whether URP always performs simple sampling from reflection probes, or if it blends.
No

See Reflection Hierarchy.
Reflection Probes: Blend probes sampling Yes

Choose per-object how to sample reflection probes.

Blend up to 2 reflection probes.
Yes

Choose in the URP asset whether URP always performs simple sampling from reflection probes, or if it blends.

If blending is enabled, URP always blends sky + 1 local probe, or 2 probes if there is no sky.
Yes

No blending limit. All reflections including planar blend between each other.
Reflection Probes: Blend probes and skybox sampling Yes Yes Yes

See Reflection Hierarchy.
Reflection Probes: Distanced based roughness No No Yes
Reflection Probes: Box Projection Yes Yes Yes
Reflection Probes: Oriented Box Projection No No Yes
Reflection Probes: Sphere Projection Yes No Yes
Reflection Probes: Per probe resolution Yes No Yes

Raytracing

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Ray-traced Ambient OcclusionA method to approximate how much ambient light (light not coming from a specific direction) can hit a point on a surface.
See in Glossary
No No Yes
Ray-traced Contact Shadows No No Yes
Ray-traced Global Illumination No No Yes
Ray-traced Reflections No No Yes
Ray-traced Shadows No No Yes
Ray-traced Recursive Rendering No No Yes
AxF (automotive material) No No Yes
Terrain No No Yes

Heightmap only. No support for terrain details and terrain trees. For vegetation on terrain, we recommend using mixed rendering modes for ray traced GI and reflections which allow to support foliage/vegetation & deformation, and for shadows using raster shadows.
VFX Graph particles No No Yes
Windows No No Yes

Requires DX12, and platforms with hardware supporting RTX.
Linux No No No
PS5 No No Yes
XBox Series No No Yes

Pathtracing

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Lit (Pathtracing support) No No Yes
Hair (Pathtracing support) No No Yes
Eye (Pathtracing support) No No No
Fabric (Pathtracing support) No No Yes
AxF (Pathtracing support) No No Yes
Decals (Pathtracing support) No No Yes

Except emissive decals.
Depth of fieldA post-processing effect that simulates the focus properties of a camera lens. More info
See in Glossary
(Pathtracing support)
No No Yes
Exponential FogA fog model that emulates realistic fog behaviour by simulating light absorption over distance by a certain attenuation factor.
See in Glossary
(Pathtracing support)
No No Yes
Anisotropic fog (Pathtracing support) No No Yes
Local Volumetric fog (Pathtracing support) No No No
HDRIhigh dynamic range image
See in Glossary
sampling
No No Yes
Denoiser No No Yes

NVidia Optix™ AI accelerated denoiser or
Intel® Open Image Denoise.
Recorder integration No No Yes
VFX Graph particles No No No

Environment lighting

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Skybox Yes

Per project. Set in the Lighting window.
Yes

Per project. Set in the Lighting window.
Yes

Uses a single sky to bake global illumination, otherwise uses sky settings per Volume. You can create own sky via script and Material.
Gradient Yes

Per project. Set in the Lighting window.
Yes

Per project. Set in the Lighting window.
Yes

Uses a single sky to bake global illumination, otherwise uses sky settings per Volume. You can create own sky via script and Material.
Color Yes

Per project. Set in the Lighting window.
Yes

Per project. Set in the Lighting window.
No

Alternative: use Gradient sky.
Real-time Ambient Mode Yes

By script.
Yes

By script.
Yes

Uses a single sky to bake global illumination, otherwise uses sky settings per Volume. You can create own sky via script and Material.
Baked Ambient Mode Yes

By default
Yes

By default
Yes

Configure in Visual Environment Volume.

Uses the environment stored in Lighting > Environment settings.
Indirect Lighting Controller No No Yes

Color

HDR

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
HDRhigh dynamic range
See in Glossary
rendering
Yes Yes Yes
HDR output No Yes

Only certain devices are supported, see URP Documentation for more information.
Yes

Use the HDROutputSettings API to configure HDR output options and HDRP’s tonemapping HDR options.
See HDRP HDR documentation for more information.

Color space

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Linear Yes

Requires OpenGLES3.0
Yes Yes
Gamma Yes Yes No

Camera

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Multi display Yes Yes Yes
Hardware Dynamic resolution Yes Yes

Limited platform support.
Yes

Limited platform support.
Software Dynamic resolutionA Camera setting that allows you to dynamically scale individual render targets, to reduce workload on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary
No No Yes
Nvidia Deep learning super sampling (DLSS) No No Yes
AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 1.0 No Yes Yes
TAA upsampler No No Yes
Mip bias No Yes Yes
Compositing multiple cameras Yes

Use multiple cameras
Yes

Use Camera stacking
Yes

Use HDRP Compositor
Physical camera Yes

Affects field of view only
Yes

Affects field of view only
Yes

Affects field of view, exposure, bloom, and depth of field
Multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA) Yes

Forward rendering path only
Yes

Forward rendering path only
Yes

Forward rendering path only
Fast approximate anti-aliasing (FXAA) Yes Yes Yes
Subpixel morphological anti-aliasing (SMAA) Yes Yes Yes
Temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) Yes

Additional pass to render all object’s motion vectors. No override support for transparents.
Yes

Additional pass to render all object’s motion vectors. No override support for transparents. No custom motion vectors in ShaderGraph. Not compatible with Dynamic Resolution, MSAA nor Camera Stacking. 16-bits.
Yes

Uses per-shader motion vectors and the stencil buffer to only render motion vectors where needed. Allows custom motion vectors in shaders, for example using the ShaderGraph or Alembic packages. 32-bits (float).
Depth Texture Yes Yes Yes
Depth + Normal Texture Yes Yes Yes
Depth + Normal Texture (affected by decals) No No Yes

Except if MSAA is enabled.
Color Texture No Yes Yes
Motion Vectors Yes Yes Yes
Thickness No No Yes

Shaders

Authoring workflows

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Material Variants Yes Yes Yes
ShaderA program that runs on the GPU. More info
See in Glossary
Graph
Yes Yes Yes
ShaderLab Yes Yes

Hand-coded shaders are supported, but not recommended. Shader Graph is recommended (more easily upgradable).
Yes

Hand-coded shaders are supported, but not recommended. Shader Graph is recommended (more easily upgradable).
ShaderLabUnity’s language for defining the structure of Shader objects. More info
See in Glossary
Command: UsePass
Yes Yes Yes
ShaderLab Command: GrabPass Yes No

Alternative: Scene color node in ShaderGraph / create a Renderer Feature
No

Alternative: Scene color node in ShaderGraph / create a Custom Pass
Surface ShadersA streamlined way of writing shaders for the Built-in Render Pipeline. More info
See in Glossary
Yes No No
Diffusion Profiles No No Yes

Prebuilt shaders

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Camera-relative rendering No No Yes
Material type: Metallic / Standard Yes Yes Yes
Material type: Specular Yes Yes Yes
Surface Type and Blend Mode: Opaque Yes Yes Yes
Surface Type and Blend Mode: Faded (Alpha Blend) Yes Yes Yes

Also supports premultiplied alpha.
Surface Type and Blend Mode: Transparent Yes Yes Yes
Surface Type and Blend Mode: Cutout Yes Yes Yes
Surface Type and Blend Mode: Additive No Yes Yes
Surface Type and Blend Mode: Multiply No Yes No

Not compatible with half res transparent optimization and offscreen UI blending.
Surface Type and Blend Mode: Translucence No No Yes

Translucent Material Type in the Lit shaders
Surface Inputs: Albedo (Base Map) Yes Yes Yes
Surface Inputs: Specular Yes Yes Yes

Base map when using Material Type Specular
Surface Inputs: Metallic Yes Yes Yes

Stored in the R channel of the Mask Map.
Surface Inputs: Ambient Occlusion Yes Yes Yes

Stored in the G channel of the Mask Map.
Surface Inputs: Smoothness Yes Yes Yes

Stored in the A channel of the Mask Map.
Surface Inputs: Normal MapA type of Bump Map texture that allows you to add surface detail such as bumps, grooves, and scratches to a model which catch the light as if they are represented by real geometry.
See in Glossary
Yes Yes Yes
Surface Inputs: Bent Normal Map No No Yes
Surface Inputs: Detail Map Yes Yes Yes

Albedo stored in the R channel of the Detail Map. Smoothness stored in the B channel.
Surface Inputs: Detail Normal Map Yes Yes Yes

Y axis stored in the G channel of the Detail Map. X axis stored in the A channel.
Surface Inputs: Heightmap Yes

Pixel displacement only.
Yes

Pixel displacement only.
Yes

Pixel or vertex displacement.
Surface Inputs: Detail Mask Yes Yes Yes

Stored in the B channel of the Mask Map.
Surface Inputs: Emissive Map Yes Yes Yes
Surface Inputs: Transmission Mask No No Yes

Also available in Shader Graph.
Surface Inputs: Specular Occlusion No No Yes
Surface Inputs: Planar & Triplanar mapping No

Alternative: Use ShaderGraph Triplanar node
No

Alternative: Use ShaderGraph Triplanar node
Yes
Included Lighting models: ClearCoat No Yes Yes
Included Lighting models: SubSurface Scattering No No Yes

Includes Dual Lobe multipliers and diffuse shading power for skin.
Included Lighting models: Colored Translucent No No Yes
Included Lighting models: Anisotropy No No Yes
Included Lighting models: Irridescence No No Yes
Included Lighting models: Fabric No No Yes
Included Lighting models: Eye No No Yes

Eye caustics available in High quality mode.
Included Lighting models: Hair (Approximate) No No Yes

Based on Kajiya Kay parametrization
Included Lighting models: Hair (Physical) No No Yes

Based on Marshner-Disney parametrization. Cinematic option available to trade performance vs quality.
Add custom Lighting model as a plugin Yes No Yes

Pluggable Master Node (undocumented)
Features: Light Cookies Yes

Supports grayscale textures
Yes

Supports RGB textures
Yes

Supports RGB textures
Features: Parallax Mapping Yes Yes Yes
Features: Light Distance Fade No No Yes
Features: Shadow Distance Fade Yes Yes Yes

Configure in Shadows Volume.
Features: Shadow Cascade Blending No No Yes
Features: GPU Instancing Yes Yes Yes
Features: Double Sided GI Yes No Yes
Features: Two Sided No Yes

Configure with the RenderFace property.
Yes

Configure with the Double Side toggle.
Features: Material sorting priority No Yes Yes
Features: Renderer sorting priority No No

Not exposed (use debug mode of the inspector).
Yes
Features: GPU Tesselation No No Yes

Use the LitTesselation Shader.
Features: Specular Occlusion No No Yes

Use only the ambient occlusion map, or both bent and ambient occlusion maps.
Features: Geometric Specular Anti-Aliasing No No Yes
Features: Add precomputed velocity No Yes Yes

Requires per vertex velocity information (eg: Alembic, or using ShaderGraph custom velocity option)

Shader Graph

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
UI(User Interface) Allows a user to interact with your application. Unity currently supports three UI systems. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes Yes
Full screen master node No Yes Yes
Custom post-processingA process that improves product visuals by applying filters and effects before the image appears on screen. You can use post-processing effects to simulate physical camera and film properties, for example Bloom and Depth of Field. More info post processing, postprocessing, postprocess
See in Glossary
No Yes Yes
Custom render textureA special type of Texture that is created and updated at runtime. To use them, first create a new Render Texture and designate one of your Cameras to render into it. Then you can use the Render Texture in a Material just like a regular Texture. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes Yes
Text MeshThe main graphics primitive of Unity. Meshes make up a large part of your 3D worlds. Unity supports triangulated or Quadrangulated polygon meshes. Nurbs, Nurms, Subdiv surfaces must be converted to polygons. More info
See in Glossary
Pro
No Yes No
Decals No Yes

Affect opaque objects only.
Yes

Affect opaque and transparent objects.
Fog Volume No No Yes
TerrainThe landscape in your scene. A Terrain GameObject adds a large flat plane to your scene and you can use the Terrain’s Inspector window to create a detailed landscape. More info
See in Glossary
No No No
Physically Based Sky No No Yes

World building

Environment

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Terrain system: Physically Based Shader No Yes Yes
Terrain system: Simple Lit (Blinn-Phong) Shader Yes No No
Terrain system: Speed Tree Shader Yes Yes Yes

SpeedTree 8 only.
Terrain system: Paint Trees Yes Yes Yes
Terrain system: Vegetation Yes Yes Yes
Terrain system: Terrain Details Yes Yes Yes
Terrain system: number of Terrain Layers Yes

Unlimited
Yes

With height-based blending: 4
With alpha blending: unlimited
Yes

8
Terrain system: GPU Instanced Rendering Yes Yes Yes
Terrain system: Terrain Holes Yes Yes Yes
Water system: Physically Based Shader No No Yes
Water system: Compute based wave simulation No No Yes
Water system: CPU wave simulation for gameplay integration No No Yes
Water system: Local currents No No Yes
Water system: Local foam No No Yes
Water system: Surface deformer No No Yes
Water system: Water excluder No No Yes
Water system: Support for decals (eg: Foam) No No Yes
Water system: Underwater Caustics No No Yes
Water system: Under water rendering No No Yes

Includes Water line rendering.
Speedtree 8 Yes Yes

Both Shader Graph and ShaderLab shaders available
Yes

Shader Graph shader only. Support for subsurface map and motion vectors.
Wind ZoneA GameObject that adds the effect of wind to your terrain. For instance, Trees within a wind zone will bend in a realistic animated fashion and the wind itself will move in pulses to create natural patterns of movement among the tree. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes Yes

Sky

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Procedural Skybox Yes Yes No

This sky type is deprecated, but you can still use if if you install the Procedural Sky Sample.
6 sided Skybox Yes Yes Yes

HDRI Sky supports cubemaps. Unity can build cubemaps from this type on import.
Cubemap Yes Yes Yes

HDRI Sky supports cubemaps.
Panoramic Yes Yes Yes

HDRI Sky supports cubemaps, which the Unity importer can build from panoramic maps.
Physical Sky No No Yes
Gradient Sky No No Yes
Sky distortion No No Yes

Procedural or Flowmap
Cloud layers No No Yes

Volumetrics

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Volumetric Clouds No No Yes
Linear Fog Yes

Configure in Graphics Settings.
Yes

Configure in Graphics Settings.
No
Exponential Fog Yes

Configure in Graphics Settings.
Yes

Configure in Graphics Settings.
Yes

Configure with the Fog Override.
Exponential Squared Yes

Configure in Graphics Settings.
Yes

Configure in Graphics Settings.
No
Local Volumetrics No No Yes
3D Render texture for local volumetric fog No No Yes
Volumetric Material (use ShaderGraph for local volumetric fog) No No Yes
Fog Scattering & Atmospheric scattering No No Yes

Visual effects

Post-processing

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Feature support Yes

Uses separate package: Post-Processing V2
Yes

Uses integrated post-processing solution
Yes

Uses integrated post-processing solution
Per-project default effects No Yes

A default volume can be applied to the project using HDRP default settings.
Yes

A default volume can be applied to the project using HDRP default settings.
Ambient Occlusion Yes

Supported types: Multi-scale ambient occlusion
Yes

Supported types: Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (Depth or normal)
Yes

Supported types: Screen Space Ground Truth Ambient Occlusion (Normal + temporal, tinted multi bounced, specular occlusion), Ray-traced ambient occlusion
Exposure Yes

Supported types: Fixed, Automatic
Yes

Supported types: Fixed
Yes

Supported types: Fixed, Automatic (Eye adaptation), Curve Mapping, Physical Camera settings and Histogram.
Bloom Yes Yes Yes
Chromatic Aberration Yes Yes Yes
TonemappingThe process of remapping HDR values of an image into a range suitable to be displayed on screen. More info
See in Glossary
(Neutral, ACES, Custom)
Yes Yes Yes
White balance No Yes Yes
Color Channel Mixer No Yes Yes
Color Adjustments Yes Yes Yes
Color Curves Yes Yes Yes
Lift, Gamma, Gain Yes Yes Yes
Shadows, Midtones, Highlights Yes Yes Yes
Split Toning No No Yes
Depth of Field Yes

Supported types: Bokeh
Yes

Supported types: Bokeh and Gaussian
Yes

Supported types: Bokeh
Physical Depth of Field No No Yes
Film Grain Yes Yes Yes
Lens Distortion Yes Yes Yes
CameraA component which creates an image of a particular viewpoint in your scene. The output is either drawn to the screen or captured as a texture. More info
See in Glossary
Motion Blur
Yes Yes Yes
Object Motion Blur Yes Yes Yes
Screen Space Reflections Yes No Yes
Screen Space Refractions No No Yes
Vignette Yes Yes Yes
Panini Projection No Yes Yes
Screen Space Lens FlaresA component that simulates the effect of lights refracting inside a camera lens. Use a Lens Flare to represent very bright lights or add atmosphere to your scene. More info
See in Glossary
No Yes Yes
Custom post-processing Yes Yes

Available with Full Screen Pass Renderer Feature.
Yes

Either with script or ShaderGraph.

CPU Particles (Shuriken)

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Feature support Yes Yes Yes

GPU instancing is not supported. Distortion and flipbook blending can be done with Shader Graph. No standard particle shader available, but example particles ShaderGraph shaders can be found in the HDRP package samples.
Lit Particles Yes Yes Yes
Simple lit particles Yes

Uses Blinn Phong.
Yes Yes
Unlit particles Yes Yes Yes
Soft Particles Yes Yes Yes

Available via Shader Graph. Examples available in the particles system shader samples in the HDRP package sample.
Distortion Yes Yes Yes

Available via Shader Graph. Examples available in the particles system shader samples in the HDRP package sample.
Flipbook blending Yes Yes Yes

Available via Shader Graph. Examples available in the particles system shader samples in the HDRP package sample.
Trail Yes Yes Yes
GPU Instancing Yes Yes No

GPU Particles (VFX Graph)

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Feature support No Yes

Compute capable hardware only. OpenGL ES not supported.
Yes

Compute capable hardware only.
Supported Shader graph shaders No Yes

VFX Shader Graph, Lit, Unlit, 2D Sprite Lit, 2D Custom Lit
Yes

VFX Shader Graph, Lit, Unlit, Hair, Fabric (no support for tessellation, nor decal)
Renders with 2D No Yes

3D particles and support for sorting layers and sprites. No support for 2D Physics, 2D sprites emitters, nor 2D Lights
No
Lit Particles No Yes Yes
Simple lit particles No No Yes
Unlit particles No Yes Yes
Soft ParticlesParticles that create semi-transparent effects like smoke, fog or fire. Soft particles fade out as they approach an opaque object, to prevent intersections with the geometry. More info
See in Glossary
No Yes Yes
Distortion No No Yes
Flipbook blending No Yes

Linear interpolation or flipbook motion vectors
Yes

Linear interpolation or flipbook motion vectors
Trail No Yes

Experimental
Yes

Experimental
Half-resolution No No Yes
Decals No Yes

VFX Graph Forward decals (limited), URP decals
Yes

VFX Forward decals (limited), HDRP Decals
Motion Vectors No Yes Yes
Camera Buffer No No Yes

Depth collision, Color buffer
Instancing No Yes Yes
Skinned Mesh Sampling No Yes Yes
6-way lighting No Yes Yes
Volumetric Fog Output No No Yes

Decals

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Decals No

Suggested alternative: Projector component.
Yes

Projector decals (Forward + DBuffer) or Screen Space Decals (Deferred), decal layers, no emissive decals
Yes

Projector decals (Forward & Deferred + DBuffer) or Mesh decals, support on transparents (Cluster decals), support decal layers, surface gradients, emissive decals
Decal layers No No Yes

Other visual effects

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Projector component Yes No

Use the Decal Renderer Feature instead.
No

Use the Decal Projector instead.
Line RendererA component that takes an array of two or more points in 3D space and draws a straight line between each one. You can use a single Line Renderer component to draw anything from a simple straight line to a complex spiral. More info
See in Glossary
component
Yes Yes Yes
Trail Renderer component Yes Yes

You can also use VFX Graph to create a custom trail effect.
Yes

You can also use VFX Graph to create a custom trail effect.
Billboard Renderer component Yes Yes No

Suggested alternative: Use VFX Graph.
Halo component Yes No

Suggested alternative: Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component.
No

Suggested alternative: Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component, or use a celestial body in a directional light.
Lens flares Yes

Use a Flare asset and either a Light component or a Lens Flare component.
Yes

Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component. Also check Screen Space Lens Flares (Post processing) that offer an alternative or complementary solution for lens flares.
Yes

Use a Lens Flare (SRP) Data asset and a Lens Flare (SRP) component. Also check Screen Space Lens Flares (Post processing) that offer an alternative or complementary solution for lens flares.

2D and UI

2D

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
SpriteA 2D graphic objects. If you are used to working in 3D, Sprites are essentially just standard textures but there are special techniques for combining and managing sprite textures for efficiency and convenience during development. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes No
TilemapA GameObject that allows you to quickly create 2D levels using tiles and a grid overlay. More info
See in Glossary
Yes Yes No
Sprite Shape Yes Yes No
Pixel-Perfect Yes

Using the “2D Pixel Perfect” package.
Yes

Using the “2D Pixel Perfect” package.
No
2D Lights No Yes

Available when Using 2D Renderer
No
2D Shadows No Yes

Available when Using 2D Renderer
No
VFX Graph No Yes

Supports 3D particles, sorting layers, ShaderGraph Sprite Lit and Custom Lit targets, Alpha Clipping with Shadergraph Sprite Lit, Unlit and Custom Lit targets.

Does not support 2D Physics, 2D sprites emitters, or 2D Lights.
No

UI

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Screen Space - Overlay Yes Yes Yes
Screen Space - Camera Yes Yes Yes
World Space Yes Yes Yes
Text MeshA Mesh component that displays a Text string More info
See in Glossary
Pro
Yes Yes Yes

XR

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Multipass Yes Yes Yes
Single Pass (double-wide) Yes No

Deprecated
No

Deprecated
Single Pass Instanced Yes Yes Yes

Windows and PSVR only
Multiview Yes Yes No
ARAugmented Reality More info
See in Glossary
Foundation
Yes Yes No
Foveated Rendering No Yes

Compatible with Forward, Deferred and Forward+, on Oculus Quest (Fixed foveated rendering), PSVR2 and VisionPro (eye tracking).
No
HDR Yes Yes Yes

Scripting

Render Pipeline Hooks

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Camera.RenderWithShader Yes No

Suggested alternative: ScriptableRenderPass
No

Suggested alternative: CustomPass with material override
Camera.AddCommandBuffer (Camera.Remove[All]CommandBuffer) Yes No No

Alternative: Custom Passes
Camera.Render Yes Yes Yes
Light.AddCommandBuffer (LightRemove[All]CommandBuffer) Yes No No
OnPreCull Yes No

Suggested alternative: RenderPipelineManager.beginCameraRendering or ScriptableRenderPass
No
OnPreRender Yes No

Suggested alternative: RenderPipelineManager.beginCameraRendering or ScriptableRenderPass
No
OnPostRender Yes No No
OnRenderImage Yes No

Suggested alternative: ScriptableRenderPass
No

Suggested alternative: Fullscreen CustomPass
OnRenderObject Yes Yes

RenderPipelineManager.endCameraRendering or
ScriptableRenderPass API
No

RenderPipelineManager.endCameraRendering or
Custom Pass
OnWillRenderObject Yes Yes Yes
OnBecameVisible Yes Yes Yes
OnBecameInvisible Yes Yes Yes
Camera Replacement Material No No

Suggested alternative: use Render Feature to replace materials per-Pass.
No

Suggested alternative: Custom Pass with Shader override
RenderPipeline.BeginFrameRendering No Yes Yes
RenderPipeline.EndFrameRendering No Yes Yes
RenderPipeline.BeginCameraRendering No Yes Yes
RenderPIpeline.EndCameraRendering No Yes Yes
UniversalRenderPipeline.RenderSingleCamera No Yes No
ScriptableRenderPass No Yes

This is similar to the CustomPass feature in HDRP.
No
Custom Renderers No Yes No
CustomPass No No Yes

This is similar to the ScriptableRenderPass feature in URP.
Custom Post Process Pass No No Yes
Arbitrary Output Variables (AOV) API No No Yes
Recording API No No Yes

Optimizations

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
Batching By Shader No Yes Yes
Batching By Material Yes Yes Yes
Batching by Material Property Blocks Yes Yes

Batched separately from the SRP Batcher
Yes

Batched separately from the SRP Batcher
Dynamic batchingAn automatic Unity process which attempts to render multiple meshes as if they were a single mesh for optimized graphics performance. The technique transforms all of the GameObject vertices on the CPU and groups many similar vertices together. More info
See in Glossary
(without SRP Batcher)
Yes Yes No
Real-time batching with SRP Batcher No Yes

Requires OpenGLES 3.1. On unsupported graphics APIs, falls back to Dynamic Batching.
Yes
Dynamic Shadows Batching Yes No

Deprecated.
Yes
GPU Instancing Yes Yes

Disabled by default when SRP Batcher is enabled.
Yes

Disabled by default when SRP Batcher is enabled.
Render Graph No Yes

Experimental
Yes
Dynamic Render Pass Culling No Yes Yes

Disabled by default.

Debug

Feature Built-in Render Pipeline URP HDRP
SceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info
See in Glossary
View Modes
Yes Yes Yes
Volume Explorer No No Yes
Rendering debugger No Yes Yes
Runtime GPU profilerA window that helps you to optimize your game. It shows how much time is spent in the various areas of your game. For example, it can report the percentage of time spent rendering, animating, or in your game logic. More info
See in Glossary
No Yes Yes
Render Graph No No Yes
Probe volume debugger No No Yes
Color Monitors No

Use post processing stack v2
No Yes

Waveform, Parade, Vectorscope
Render pipelines introduction
How to get, set, and configure the active render pipeline