PixiJS
Game Engines & FrameworksFast 2D WebGL rendering engine for browser games
Replaces Adobe Animate runtime
Best API Game Engines & Frameworks for self-hosting
The 7 best API game engines & frameworks you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
PlayCanvas Engine
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source WebGL game engine for 3D browser games
Replaces Unity WebGL
TrinityCore
Game Engines & FrameworksMMORPG server emulator for World of Warcraft
Replaces official WoW servers
Cocos Engine
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source cross-platform 2D and 3D game engine
Replaces Unity
KAPLAY
Game Engines & FrameworksFun JavaScript library for making browser games fast
Replaces Phaser
Crafty Controller
Game Engines & FrameworksWeb-based Minecraft server management panel
Replaces Minecraft Realms, Pterodactyl
Sapphire Server
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source server emulator for Final Fantasy XIV
Replaces official FFXIV servers
No apps match these filters.
At a glance
| App | Deploy effort | Difficulty | Min. RAM | License | ★ Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PixiJS | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 128 MB | MIT | 48,368 |
| PlayCanvas Engine | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | MIT | 17,029 |
| TrinityCore | Read-the-docs project | Hard | 4,096 MB | GPL-2.0 | 10,821 |
| Cocos Engine | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 512 MB | MIT | 9,855 |
| KAPLAY | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 128 MB | MIT | 1,811 |
| Crafty Controller | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 1,024 MB | GPL-3.0 | 1,700 |
| Sapphire Server | Under-an-hour setup | Hard | 2,048 MB | GPL-3.0 | 836 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: PixiJS (48,368 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: PixiJS (from 128 MB RAM, against 4,096 MB for the heaviest here).
- Licensing: 4 of 7 use MIT; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged API within the game engines & frameworks category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.