Pelican Panel vs Pterodactyl
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Pelican Panel
Modern open-source game server control panel
VS
Pterodactyl
Free game server management panel
| Feature | Pelican Panel | Pterodactyl |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Game Servers | Game Servers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,330 | ★ 9,253 |
| First released | 2024 | 2015 |
| Replaces | TCAdmin, Multicraft | TCAdmin, Multicraft |
What are Pelican Panel and Pterodactyl?
Pelican Panel
Pelican is a free, open-source game server management panel built with Laravel. It is a modern successor in spirit to Pterodactyl, running game servers in isolated containers.
- Container-isolated game servers
- Modern Laravel-based UI
- Egg-based game definitions
- Streamlined installer
Pterodactyl
Pterodactyl is a free, open-source game server management panel. It runs game servers in isolated Docker containers and provides a secure, multi-user web interface to manage them.
- Docker-isolated game servers
- Multi-user with permissions
- Supports dozens of games
- Resource limits and quotas
Pelican Panel vs Pterodactyl: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Pelican Panel is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Pterodactyl. Pterodactyl is the more established project (first released 2015), while Pelican Panel arrived in 2024. Pterodactyl has the considerably larger community, at 9,253 GitHub stars versus 2,330.
Why pick each one
Choose Pelican Panel if…
- Easier setup than predecessors
- Active development
Watch out for
- Young project
- Smaller community so far
Choose Pterodactyl if…
- Secure container isolation
- Huge supported game library
Watch out for
- Complex initial setup
- Requires daemon plus panel
Frequently asked questions
Is Pelican Panel or Pterodactyl better?
Neither is universally better. Pterodactyl has the larger community, while Pelican Panel is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Pelican Panel and Pterodactyl free and open-source?
Yes. Pelican Panel is licensed under MIT and Pterodactyl under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pelican Panel and Pterodactyl with Docker?
Pelican Panel: yes. Pterodactyl: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Pelican Panel or Pterodactyl?
Pelican Panel has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Pterodactyl. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.