Colyseus vs Pterodactyl
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Colyseus
Authoritative multiplayer game server framework for Node.js
VS
Pterodactyl
Free game server management panel
| Feature | Colyseus | Pterodactyl |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Game Servers | Game Servers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,168 | ★ 9,115 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Photon Engine | TCAdmin, Multicraft |
Why pick each one
Choose Colyseus if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 7.2k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Colyseus or Pterodactyl better?
Neither is universally better. Pterodactyl has the larger community, while Colyseus is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Colyseus and Pterodactyl free and open-source?
Yes. Colyseus is licensed under MIT and Pterodactyl under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Colyseus and Pterodactyl with Docker?
Colyseus: yes. Pterodactyl: yes.