SHSelfHostIndex

Leaf vs Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

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?
LE Leaf Lightweight, scalable game server framework in Go VS CA Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Open-source turn-based survival roguelike
FeatureLeafCataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseApache-2.0CC-BY-SA-3.0
LanguageGoC++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcebare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 5,517★ 12,896
First released20152013
Replacesproprietary game backendsNetHack

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
Leaf details

Choose Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead if…

  • Enormous depth
  • Active development
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead details

Frequently asked questions

Is Leaf or Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead better?

Neither is universally better. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Leaf and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead free and open-source?

Yes. Leaf is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead under CC-BY-SA-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Leaf and Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead with Docker?

Leaf: check the project docs for container support. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead: check the project docs for container support.

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