Old news OP,galaxy always sucked and it was a mistake on GOG's part to even make it.

Clients are. And they are here to stay, on all systems. We will probably be able to play withoud download or licence management clients for a while longer, but they are what dominates the market. And they are not going away, since most people like their additional functions (sword length comparison with other players, self-expression, communication) more and more.

Playnite however is just a launcher, a nicer interface than the Windows desktop with links.
Desktop links, the Windows start menu or even a dos prompt include the same function as launchers. The big difference is the look & feel.

Which client(s) don't suck, and why?

Genuinely asking, I'm trying to understand what makes some client great and another one awful, as to me they all seem pretty much the same. The little I've lately used Galaxy, I haven't faced any particular problems either, like not being able to log in (like the OP says) or the client crashing or something.

Oh, one thing I don't like about e.g. the Epic Games Launcher is how it requires the email verification code pretty much every time if I run the client on a different PC. I have two PCs in my household where I've installed the Epic client, and each time if I switch the PC where I run it, it seems to trigger that 2FA verification and I have to go get the code from the email and yadda yadda yadda.

Steam does not do that (it doesn't care if I swap PCs; the only restriction is that it doesn't let me run the same game on two separate PCs at the same time, which is "fine" I guess), nor the GOG website. Not sure how Galaxy would react as I have installed it only on one PC, and only rarely use it anyway.

How the Epic client behaves, to me it doesn't seem to have anything to do with security, just Epic's way of fighting casual piracy where friends would share the same Epic account I guess. It just seems odd it triggers 2FA even if the two PCs are behind the same IP address, ie. most probably in the same household (unless it is some university dorm where everyone shares the same public IP address...).

2FA is usually not IP based or at least not "only" IP based.
It's also about the device ID every system has and which is generated randomly when you set up Windows. Sometimes a new one is generated, but it doesn't happen often, my suspicion is, that it happens, when you install one of the major updates like Win11-22H3 or something.

Also websites often require a new authentification after a browser update, since the browser then usually generates a new browser ID.

That's bs that wasn't why I can login just fine on the web page.

Think it's funny in gaming how people attack in droves with personal insults all over the place but think you're out of line for feedback and opinions. I guess you're suppose to kiss company ass.

Seriously if I forgot my shit why am I here posting idiot? The client won't let you use it how dumb is that?

And yall just bashing steam cause gog fan boys I guess, I like gog better than epic and ubi trash but least steam actually has a functioning client

Exactly. Congrats, you're new and you immediately understood the best advice that I can give new customers: avoid Galaxy. Use the DRM-free offline 'backup' installers.

I dunno just wanted to give the client a chance don't know how it won't login I mean I've never seen a client, web page, online game refuse to login before and I looked it up and it's a known issue how the hell??

MY gog galaxy client is AWESOME, but I'm not sharing it with you

Neither do I. Its always worked for me.

Well other people have said they got this as well. And since I can just get the game without a dumb client I'm not gonna devote 2-3 hours trying to figure out a client. If they want people on their client they need to make it work right.

BTW man I see it works for me all over gaming forums and that shit don't help anyone just saying.

Does it?

I don't find it so bad. Though I don't play multiplayer games for the most part. I have had a couple hiccups but Steam has given me more problems than GOG Galaxy, by far.

Once, when I was down on my luck, I didn't have internet except for cell hotspot. I could only manage to use it for doing my college homework. The day after my internet disconnected, I booted up Steam and told it to go into Offline Mode -- and I got an error. I was effectively locked out of my gaming library ALREADY ON MY PC because I didn't have internet access.

Never had that problem with GOG. It does everything I need it to do. I don't even have to install it if I don't want to. I can download executables from the website instead. I have had problems with executables. I have had problems with individual games. The client, though, functions as it should.

I'm just letting you know its always works for me both on Windows and even Linux. And since we are running the same software that means something is different on your machine or with your account. That is useful information, you just don't seem to realize it. But apparently you don't want to look at what might be screwed up on your end.

And that's fine, I don't care if you use the client. As others have said the offline installers are there for you too.