VGSources / Compare / Game asset extractors
Head to head
Source 2 Viewer vs UABEA
Both are on VGSources's list of game asset extractors.
Source 2 Viewer
s2v.app
Source 2 Viewer is a free, open-source tool for exploring Source 2 files.
VisitUABEA
github.com
UABEA works on Windows and Linux with Unity Asset Bundles, Serialized Files and Addressables bundles, allowing them to be read and written.
VisitSide by side
| Source 2 Viewer | UABEA | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Runs on | Linux, macOS, Web, Windows | Linux, Windows |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Place | #2 of 24 | #1 of 24 |
| Checked | 30 Sept 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
In short
Source 2 Viewer: Choose Source 2 Viewer when you need to inspect or move Source 2 assets into tools such as Blender, Unity, Unreal Engine, Hammer, or ModelDoc. Its free price, archive tools, previews, batch work, and command-line options cover a broad workflow. The trade-off is uncertainty: some formats remain incomplete, and compiled data or export details may be lost. Windows is the straightforward GUI platform; Linux and macOS users rely on Wine or the command line.
UABEA: Windows and Linux builds, batch operations and an MIT license make it easy to fit into a personal workflow. The decision changes when the task depends on mesh pipelines, audio encoding, video assets or the newest Unity releases. Those areas have documented gaps and extra file handling. Treat UABEA as an editor for targeted changes, not a universal extractor or asset-conversion suite.