head to head · open source
azerothcore-wotlk vs canary
azerothcore-wotlk has 9,026 GitHub stars, 3,866 forks, 2,445 open issues and last shipped yesterday. canary has 652 stars, 911 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. azerothcore-wotlk leads on adoption by 1,284% (9,026 vs 652 stars). azerothcore-wotlk is written in C++ under GPL-2.0; canary is written in Lua under GPL-2.0. azerothcore-wotlk has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, canary 140%. azerothcore-wotlk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (game, game-server, mmorpg), 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
| azerothcore-wotlk | canary | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.0K | ★ 652 |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.9K | ⑂ 911 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick azerothcore-wotlk if
- You weight community size — 9.0K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick canary if
- You want the canary feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and canary fits your workflow better
About azerothcore-wotlk
AzerothCore (azerothcore wotlk) is an open source, modular C++ game server and framework that recreates the World of Warcraft patch 3.3.5a experience, built for people who want to run and extend their own MMORPG server rather than pay for one.
read the full azerothcore-wotlk overview →
About canary
Canary is a free, open source MMORPG server emulator for the OpenTibia community, written in C++20 and Lua, intended for server operators and developers who want to run their own Tibia style game world.
read the full canary overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is azerothcore-wotlk or canary more popular?
azerothcore-wotlk has 9,026 GitHub stars and canary has 652. azerothcore-wotlk has the larger community by that measure.
Are azerothcore-wotlk and canary free?
Both are open source. azerothcore-wotlk is licensed under GPL-2.0 and canary under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between azerothcore-wotlk and canary?
azerothcore-wotlk is written in C++ and canary in Lua. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, azerothcore-wotlk or canary?
Choose azerothcore-wotlk if you want the larger community (9,026 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose canary if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.