SHSelfHostIndex

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead vs shapez.io

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?
CA Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Open-source turn-based survival roguelike VS SH shapez.io Open-source factory-building puzzle game
FeatureCataclysm: Dark Days Aheadshapez.io
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseCC-BY-SA-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageC++JavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 12,896★ 6,932
First released20132020
ReplacesNetHackFactorio

Why pick each one

Choose Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead if…

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

Choose shapez.io if…

  • Self-host the browser game
  • Lightweight
shapez.io details

Frequently asked questions

Is Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead or shapez.io better?

Neither is universally better. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead has the larger community, while shapez.io is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead and shapez.io free and open-source?

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

Can I run Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead and shapez.io with Docker?

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

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