Endless Sky vs Nakama

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?
FeatureEndless SkyNakama
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageC++Go
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcedocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 7,490★ 13,121
First released20152017
ReplacesEscape VelocityPlayFab, Firebase

Why pick each one

Choose Endless Sky if…

  • Polished free game
  • Highly moddable
Endless Sky details

Choose Nakama if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 13.1k GitHub stars
Nakama details

Frequently asked questions

Is Endless Sky or Nakama better?

Neither is universally better. Nakama has the larger community, while Endless Sky is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Endless Sky and Nakama free and open-source?

Yes. Endless Sky is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Nakama under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Endless Sky and Nakama with Docker?

Endless Sky: check the project docs for container support. Nakama: yes.

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