UnityLauncherPro: a launcher that opens each project with its own Unity version

The version mismatch problem this launcher exists to solve

The core problem in Unity development is not installing editors, it is remembering which editor a given project belongs to. A project opened with the wrong editor version either refuses to open or, worse, silently upgrades its assets and breaks the next person who opens it. UnityLauncherPro is an unofficial alternative project launcher for the Unity Editor, and the README describes it in one line as handling all your Unity versions and projects easily. The first item in the feature list is the one that matters most: it automatically opens projects with the correct Unity version. On top of that it displays a recent projects list with the last modified date and project version info, lists more than 40 recent projects, and can quickly explore project folders. The project is written in C# and licensed under MIT, and the README carries an explicit disclaimer that the materials are not sponsored by or affiliated with Unity Technologies.

Everything the feature list covers

The README's feature list is long, and it is worth sorting into groups because the list mixes several different kinds of convenience. Version and project handling comes first: opening projects with the correct Unity version, the recent projects list with modification dates and version info, listing more than 40 recent projects, and an option to show missing projects in the list when a folder has been removed, which catches the case where a project was deleted from disk but is still registered. Editor management follows: listing installed Unity versions, running one, exploring its installation folder, viewing release notes, downloading missing Unity versions in the browser, and seeing the list of released Unity versions and updates. Then there is the tooling around a project: showing git branch information, optional per project custom command line launcher arguments, current platform display and selection, one click creation of a new project with a selected Unity version and template, and a screenshot-captioned feature for upgrading a project version, which automatically suggests the next higher version.

The parts aimed at debugging and device work

A separate cluster of features targets the moment after the editor stops behaving. There is a one click start for ADB logcat with colors in the command prompt, which matters for anyone doing Android work and is a good example of the launcher's approach of putting frequently used commands in the project row rather than in a separate tool. It also offers one click browsing of the editor log folder, the crash logs folder, the asset downloads folder and the player logs folder. Two of these deserve comment. The crash logs folder shortcut is the kind of thing that saves a lot of time when a packaged build dies on a device, and the one click start of a web server and launch of a WebGL build in the browser for the selected project turns the WebGL loop into a single action instead of a sequence of build settings changes and a browser open. There is also a quick Unity Editor process kill, triggered with ALT+Q in the selected project row or from the right click context menu, for the case where an editor is hung and you do not want to hunt through the task manager.

Explorer integration and the command line mode

Two integration points take the launcher out of its own window. The first is Explorer context menu integration to launch a project from a folder, with a screenshot showing a one click opening of projects with the correct Unity version, so the workflow is right click a folder, choose the launcher, and the right editor opens for it. The second is command line use, which the README shows with a single executable and a project path argument.

Where it sits against the official Unity Hub

The README anticipates the comparison rather than avoiding it. It links a wiki page titled Launcher Comparison under the and more line of the feature list, and a forum thread on the official Unity forum where the author discusses launching the correct Unity version for each project automatically. The honest framing is that this is a different kind of tool from the Hub, not a drop-in replacement for it. UnityLauncherPro is a local desktop launcher whose job is to know your machine, list what is installed, map projects to editor versions and open the right one. The official Hub is a broader product with account features, licensing management and a licensing and services ecosystem. The project is also only for Windows: the executable name ends in .exe, the integration is with the Windows Explorer context menu, and the build scripts are .cmd and .bat files. The README notes that an older WinForms version of the launcher exists in a separate repository, so the current project is a rewrite rather than the first attempt.

Trust signals: VirusTotal, CodeQL and the release channel

Launchers that touch your project folders and shell out to the editor deserve scrutiny, and the README offers some. It links a VirusTotal scan badge for the released binary, a CodeQL badge for the code scanning workflow, and a build status badge pointing at the actions workflow. The project publishes zipped Windows builds on the releases page, and the recent tags show a build-number style versioning rather than semver, with 221 dated 27/08/2026, 213 from 24/05/2026 and 211 from 17/05/2026, so the numbers increase across releases rather than resetting. The README also states that development happens on the dev branch, with pre-releases sometimes available from that branch, and that the master branch holds the stable line. The repository is not archived and the last push was on 2026-10-19, two days ago, so the tool is being worked on actively. Because it is a third party launcher with write access to your project folders, reading the source before running it is a reasonable habit rather than an unusual one.

The practical limits of a third party launcher

The main limitation is the one the disclaimer points at. This is not a Unity product, so it carries no support commitment, and features that depend on Unity's own services are outside its reach. It will not manage your Unity account, your entitlements or your licence, and it will not fix a project that a given editor version refuses to open. The second limitation is platform, and it is absolute rather than a matter of maturity: the executable, the Explorer integration and the batch build scripts are all Windows specific, so a team split between Windows and macOS cannot standardise on it. The third is the nature of a local launcher that maps projects to versions by inspecting what is on disk. The README's own feature list contains the tell: an option to show missing projects in the list if the folder was removed, and per project custom launcher arguments as an optional setting. These are the compensation points for a tool that has to infer state rather than own it. If your workflow depends on reproducible editor versions across a fleet of machines, a managed tool with a shared source of truth is a different category of answer.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt UnityLauncherPro if you juggle several Unity projects that pin different editor versions and want the launcher to pick the right one, since that is the feature the whole project is built around and the README says it opens projects with the correct Unity version automatically. Do not adopt it if you need a licensed, vendor supported hub with account management and cloud services, because this project states plainly that it is unofficial and not sponsored by or affiliated with Unity Technologies, and it is Windows only, being a .exe with Explorer context menu integration. Before switching, confirm your project set and Unity installations are discoverable on disk, and read the launcher comparison page linked from the README to see how the feature set compares with the official tool.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. License: MIT
3. README
4. Releases
5. unitycoder/UnityLauncherPro on GitHub