OpenRCT2 vs Pioneer
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?
Compare OpenRCT2 with
choose an app… Mindustry Lichess papermc-docker ArchiSteamFarm Cytopia Note - games browser alt 2048 Nakama Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot Unciv Prism Launcher BrowserQuest Pterodactyl AzerothCore A Dark Room OpenTTD Endless Sky Mineflayer Colyseus Agones shapez.io Battle for Wesnoth CTFd Ren'Py VCMI GeyserMC Leaf Cuberite SuperTuxKart MCSManager ink LinuxGSM untrusted Steam Headless Warzone 2100 Terasology Veloren PocketMine-MP OpenXRay Minecraft Overviewer WorldEdit Palworld Server Docker SuperTux Widelands Twine 0 A.D. Pitaya ioquake3 BlueMap Teeworlds BrowserQuest Note - mozilla-bq alt Hextris Purpur EssentialsX Valheim Server Docker Velocity Pelican Panel Freeciv-web Superpowers Cytopia PMMP Note - PocketMine alt BedrockConnect 0 A.D. Lobby Note - pyrogenesis server OpenLoco Docker Minecraft Bedrock Server MTA:SA Multicraft Note - AMP free alt Pufferpanel Inform 7 Hypersomnia Freeciv Server UnknownHorizons Note - settlement game Nukkit Mineserver Note - minecraft panel alt Lodestone Colobot Note - browser game alt Hextris-no OpenSpades EasyRPG Player AzuraCast Games LinuxGSM Note - SteamCMD-GUI alt SourceMod Veloren Note - games server alt Mindustry-server-no Gameyfin Leaf Note - Minecraft server alt Folia FreeOrion AssaultCube OpenHV Plan Note - Minecraft analytics alt Player Analytics go-mc Naev Terraforming Mars Lancache Ownfoil mc-router TES3MP Infrared Adventure Game Studio Zero-K DDNet Lichess Board Note - chessground alt pychess FlightGear JGR's Patchpack Note - OpenTTD multiplayer server Waterfall Citizens Drop ET: Legacy Factorio Server Manager FreeCol VoxeLibre Xonotic Posio RconCli Pioneer Note - space game alt Naev-server-no Scribble.rs LinCity-NG Flying Squid SoulFire Hedgewars Red Eclipse OpenDungeons Minecraft Server Control Script Suroi auto-mcs Sponge RAWeb MegaGlest OpenClonk EDOPro SourceBans++ MineOS Curse of War GameVault PyChess-Variants Mineclonia VirtualTabletop Enshrouded Dedicated Server Armagetron Advanced OpenArena EasyWI piqueserver SRVPro SteamCMD Server Screeps Server (screeps-launcher) UFO: Alien Invasion Lix Luanti ContentDB Note - minetest mods server Mineclone2 Note - VoxeLibre server alt MineClone5 Nexuiz Note - Xonotic server alt darkplaces Simutrans GeoQuest Repixture Lodestone Core The Mana World Minus Games NextGBA Gameap Cubiks 2048 CnCNet Server 20 euros 243 Digibuzzer Framagames Sutom Trivabble
Compare Pioneer with
choose an app… Mindustry Lichess papermc-docker ArchiSteamFarm Cytopia Note - games browser alt 2048 Nakama Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot Unciv Pioneer Note - space game alt Naev-server-no
Feature OpenRCT2 Pioneer Category Game Servers Game Servers License GPL-3.0 GPL-3.0 Language C++ C++ Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 512 MB 1,024 MB Deployment bare-metal, binary, source binary, source GitHub stars ★ 16,049 ★ 1,896 First released 2014 2010 Replaces RollerCoaster Tycoon Elite, Frontier
Why pick each one
Choose Pioneer if… Released under the GPL-3.0 license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly Active community (1.9k GitHub stars) Written in C++ Pioneer details
Frequently asked questions Is OpenRCT2 or Pioneer better? Neither is universally better. OpenRCT2 has the larger community, while Pioneer is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenRCT2 and Pioneer free and open-source? Yes. OpenRCT2 is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Pioneer under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenRCT2 and Pioneer with Docker? OpenRCT2: check the project docs for container support. Pioneer: check the project docs for container support.