Leaf vs Pitaya
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?
Leaf
Lightweight, scalable game server framework in Go
VS
Pitaya
Scalable distributed game server framework written in Go
| Feature | Leaf | Pitaya |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Game Servers | Game Servers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,517 | ★ 2,819 |
| First released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Replaces | proprietary game backends | proprietary game backends |
Why pick each one
Choose Leaf if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 5.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Pitaya if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Leaf or Pitaya better?
Leaf is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Pitaya if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Leaf and Pitaya free and open-source?
Yes. Leaf is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pitaya under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Leaf and Pitaya with Docker?
Leaf: check the project docs for container support. Pitaya: yes.