OpenTTD vs Unciv

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

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FeatureOpenTTDUnciv
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0MPL-2.0
LanguageC++Kotlin
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, binary, sourcebare-metal, binary, docker
GitHub stars★ 8,150★ 11,071
First released20042018
ReplacesTransport TycoonCivilization V

Why pick each one

Choose OpenTTD if…

  • Very lightweight server
  • Active modding community
OpenTTD details

Choose Unciv if…

  • Released under the MPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 11.1k GitHub stars
Unciv details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenTTD or Unciv better?

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

Are OpenTTD and Unciv free and open-source?

Yes. OpenTTD is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Unciv under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenTTD and Unciv with Docker?

OpenTTD: yes. Unciv: yes.

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