Games on Whales vs Selkies
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Games on Whales
Containerized cloud gaming and remote desktop platform
VS
Selkies
Low-latency WebRTC remote desktop streaming
| Feature | Games on Whales | Selkies |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,077 | ★ 1,983 |
| First released | 2021 | 2019 |
| Replaces | GeForce Now, Parsec | Parsec |
Why pick each one
Choose Games on Whales if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Choose Selkies if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Games on Whales or Selkies better?
Neither is universally better. Games on Whales has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Games on Whales and Selkies free and open-source?
Yes. Games on Whales is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Selkies under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Games on Whales and Selkies with Docker?
Games on Whales: yes. Selkies: yes.