head to head · open source
agones vs pokerth
agones has 7,099 GitHub stars, 956 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pokerth has 695 stars, 264 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. agones leads on adoption by 921% (7,099 vs 695 stars). agones is written in Go under Apache-2.0; pokerth is written in C++ under AGPL-3.0. agones has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, pokerth 38%. agones was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (game-server, multiplayer), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| agones | pokerth | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.1K | ★ 695 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 956 | ⑂ 264 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick agones if
- You weight community size — 7.1K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pokerth if
- You want the pokerth feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and pokerth fits your workflow better
About agones
Agones is a library for hosting, running and scaling dedicated game servers on Kubernetes. Agones, is derived from the Greek word agōn which roughly translates to “contest”, “competition at games” and “gathering”. (source) Why does this project exist? Agones replaces usual bespoke or proprietary cluster management and game server scaling solutions with a Kubernetes cluster that includes the Agones custom Kubernetes Controller and matching Custom Resource Definitions for GameServers , Fleets and more. With Agones, Kubernetes gets native abilities to create, run, manage and scale dedicated game server processes…
read the full agones overview →
About pokerth
PokerTH The open source Texas Hold'em engine — play against the computer or against other people over the internet. Website & Forum · Download · Issues · ChangeLog About PokerTH is a poker game written in C++ with Qt. You can play the popular Texas Hold'em poker variant against up to nine computer opponents or against real people on the internet — on the official server at pokerth.net, or on any dedicated server you run yourself. The project has been around since 2006, is licensed under the AGPLv3 , and carries no ads, no real money gambling and no tracking. Features Texas Hold'em, 2–10 players — single player…
read the full pokerth overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is agones or pokerth more popular?
agones has 7,099 GitHub stars and pokerth has 695. agones has the larger community by that measure.
Are agones and pokerth free?
Both are open source. agones is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pokerth under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between agones and pokerth?
agones is written in Go and pokerth in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, agones or pokerth?
Choose agones if you want the larger community (7,099 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pokerth if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.