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.
| Feature | Games on Whales | Selkies |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 67 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| 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 | ★ 2,200 | ★ 2,194 |
| First released | 2021 | 2019 |
| Replaces | GeForce Now, Parsec | Parsec |
What are Games on Whales and Selkies?
Games on Whales
Games on Whales is a project for hosting low-latency remote desktops and games inside containers, streaming them to clients with the Moonlight protocol. It enables a self-hosted cloud gaming server.
- Containerized remote desktops
- Moonlight-compatible streaming
- Multi-user sessions
- GPU passthrough
Selkies
Selkies is an open-source platform for streaming Linux desktops and apps to a browser over WebRTC with low latency. It supports GPU acceleration for demanding workloads.
- WebRTC desktop streaming
- GPU acceleration support
- Low-latency input
- Kubernetes ready
Games on Whales vs Selkies: key differences
Games on Whales is written in C++, while Selkies is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Games on Whales versus MPL-2.0 for Selkies. Selkies is the lighter option, starting around 2,048 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Games on Whales. Selkies is the more established project (first released 2019), while Games on Whales arrived in 2021.
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 (2.2k 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 (2.2k 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.
Which is lighter on resources, Games on Whales or Selkies?
Selkies has the smaller minimum footprint at 2,048 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Games on Whales. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.