SHSelfHostIndex

OpenMW 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?
OP OpenMW Open-source engine reimplementation for Morrowind VS RE Retrom Self-hosted game library server with launcher clients
FeatureOpenMWRetrom
CategoryGame Engines & FrameworksGame Engines & Frameworks
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageC++TypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcedocker, source
GitHub stars★ 6,494★ 2,032
First released20082024
ReplacesMorrowind original enginePlaynite, Steam library

Why pick each one

Choose OpenMW if…

  • Greatly improves Morrowind
  • Very active project
OpenMW details

Choose Retrom if…

  • Cross-device sync
  • Modern stack
Retrom details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenMW or Retrom better?

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

Are OpenMW and Retrom free and open-source?

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

Can I run OpenMW and Retrom with Docker?

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

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