head to head · open source
azerothcore-wotlk vs pufferpanel
azerothcore-wotlk has 9,185 GitHub stars, 3,956 forks, 2,445 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pufferpanel has 1,771 stars, 268 forks, 116 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. azerothcore-wotlk leads on adoption by 419% (9,185 vs 1,771 stars). azerothcore-wotlk is written in C++ under GPL-2.0; pufferpanel is written in Go under Apache-2.0. azerothcore-wotlk has attracted 43% as many forks as stars, pufferpanel 15%. azerothcore-wotlk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (game-server), 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 | pufferpanel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.2K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-12 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 268 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick azerothcore-wotlk if
- You weight community size — 9.2K 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 pufferpanel if
- You want the pufferpanel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and pufferpanel fits your workflow better
About azerothcore-wotlk
AzerothCore Build Status Introduction AzerothCore is an open source game server application and framework designed for hosting massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs). It is based on the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW) and seeks to recreate the gameplay experience of the original game from patch 3.3.5a. The original code is based on MaNGOS, TrinityCore, and SunwellCore and has since then had extensive development to improve stability, in game mechanics, and modularity to the game. AC has also grown into a community driven project with a significant number of contributors and developers…
read the full azerothcore-wotlk overview →
About pufferpanel
PufferPanel Website Discord Documentation Translations What is PufferPanel? PufferPanel is a web based Game Server Management System. PufferPanel allows you to manage multiple different game servers all from one central location. You can give other users their own servers or allow them to access to your servers. Installation Please follow the installation guide for PufferPanel located here. What's different about PufferPanel? In addition to being a free and open source project, PufferPanel provides an easy to use interface for everyone from individual users to large networks. We strive to create a friendly…
read the full pufferpanel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is azerothcore-wotlk or pufferpanel more popular?
azerothcore-wotlk has 9,185 GitHub stars and pufferpanel has 1,771. azerothcore-wotlk has the larger community by that measure.
Are azerothcore-wotlk and pufferpanel free?
Both are open source. azerothcore-wotlk is licensed under GPL-2.0 and pufferpanel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between azerothcore-wotlk and pufferpanel?
azerothcore-wotlk is written in C++ and pufferpanel in Go. 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 pufferpanel?
Choose azerothcore-wotlk if you want the larger community (9,185 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose pufferpanel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.