PixiJS
Game Engines & FrameworksFast 2D WebGL rendering engine for browser games
Replaces Adobe Animate runtime
Best Cross-Platform Game Engines & Frameworks for self-hosting
The 18 best Cross-Platform game engines & frameworks you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
Phaser
Game Engines & FrameworksFast HTML5 game framework for browser games you host yourself
Replaces Construct, GameMaker
OpenRA
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source remake of classic RTS games
Replaces Command & Conquer, Red Alert
PlayCanvas Engine
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source WebGL game engine for 3D browser games
Replaces Unity WebGL
openage
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source engine reimplementation of Age of Empires II
Replaces Age of Empires II original engine
Luanti
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source voxel game engine and server
Replaces Minecraft
Cocos Engine
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source cross-platform 2D and 3D game engine
Replaces Unity
DevilutionX
Game Engines & FrameworksModernized Diablo engine with cross-platform multiplayer
Replaces Diablo original
OpenMW
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source engine reimplementation for Morrowind
Replaces Morrowind original engine
melonJS
Game Engines & FrameworksLightweight HTML5 game engine for browser games
Replaces GameMaker, Construct
86Box
Game Engines & FrameworksEmulator of classic x86 PCs for retro gaming and software
Replaces PCem
Spring RTS Engine Note - Beyond All Reason server
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source engine for hosting real-time strategy game servers
Replaces Total Annihilation
Excalibur
Game Engines & FrameworksTypeScript-first 2D game engine for the web
Replaces GameMaker, Construct
KAPLAY
Game Engines & FrameworksFun JavaScript library for making browser games fast
Replaces Phaser
mcrcon
Game Engines & FrameworksCommand-line RCON client for Minecraft servers
Replaces In-game server console
Aleph One
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source engine for the Marathon trilogy with multiplayer
Replaces Marathon original
Ryzom Core
Game Engines & FrameworksOpen-source MMORPG engine and game framework
Replaces World of Warcraft
ct.js
Game Engines & FrameworksFree 2D game editor with a visual interface and code
Replaces GameMaker Studio
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 |
| Phaser | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 128 MB | MIT | 40,470 |
| OpenRA | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 512 MB | GPL-3.0 | 17,559 |
| PlayCanvas Engine | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | MIT | 17,029 |
| openage | Read-the-docs project | Hard | 1,024 MB | GPL-3.0 | 14,502 |
| Luanti | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 512 MB | LGPL-2.1 | 13,721 |
| Cocos Engine | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 512 MB | MIT | 9,855 |
| DevilutionX | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | Unlicense | 9,836 |
| OpenMW | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 1,024 MB | GPL-3.0 | 6,625 |
| melonJS | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 128 MB | MIT | 6,412 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: PixiJS (48,368 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: mcrcon (from 16 MB RAM, against 4,096 MB for the heaviest here).
- Licensing: 7 of 18 use MIT; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Cross-Platform within the game engines & frameworks category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.