SHSelfHostIndex

KAPLAY vs Retrom

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game engines & frameworks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
KA KAPLAY Fun JavaScript library for making browser games fast VS RE Retrom Self-hosted game library server with launcher clients
FeatureKAPLAYRetrom
CategoryGame Engines & FrameworksGame Engines & Frameworks
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentsourcedocker, source
GitHub stars★ 1,766★ 2,032
First released20212024
ReplacesPhaserPlaynite, Steam library

Why pick each one

Choose KAPLAY if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in TypeScript
KAPLAY details

Choose Retrom if…

  • Cross-device sync
  • Modern stack
Retrom details

Frequently asked questions

Is KAPLAY or Retrom better?

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

Are KAPLAY and Retrom free and open-source?

Yes. KAPLAY is licensed under MIT and Retrom under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run KAPLAY and Retrom with Docker?

KAPLAY: check the project docs for container support. Retrom: yes.

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