head to head · open source
colyseus vs forgottenserver
colyseus has 7,541 GitHub stars, 687 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. forgottenserver has 1,844 stars, 1,141 forks, 226 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. colyseus leads on adoption by 309% (7,541 vs 1,844 stars). colyseus is written in TypeScript under MIT; forgottenserver is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. colyseus has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, forgottenserver 62%. colyseus 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
| colyseus | forgottenserver | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-10 | 2026-11-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 687 | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick colyseus if
- You weight community size — 7.5K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick forgottenserver if
- You want the forgottenserver feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and forgottenserver fits your workflow better
About colyseus
Multiplayer Framework for Node.js. View documentation Colyseus is an Authoritative Multiplayer Framework for Node.js, with SDKs available for all major platforms and engines. Client SDKs The project focuses on providing synchronizable data structures for realtime and turn based games, matchmaking, and ease of usage both on the server side and client side. The mission of the framework is to be a standard netcode & matchmaking solution for any kind of project you can think of! Why developers choose Colyseus: ⚡️ Real time state sync that just works → Define your state on the server and it automatically synchronizes…
read the full colyseus overview →
About forgottenserver
forgottenserver =============== The Forgotten Server is a free and open source MMORPG server emulator written in C++. It is a fork of the OpenTibia Server project. To connect to the server, you can use OTClient. Getting Started Compiling, alternatively download releases Scripting Reference Contributing Support If you need help, please visit the support forum on OTLand. Our issue tracker is not a support forum, and using it as one will result in your issue being closed. If you were unable to get assistance in the support forum, you should consider becoming a premium user on OTLand which grants you access to the…
read the full forgottenserver overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is colyseus or forgottenserver more popular?
colyseus has 7,541 GitHub stars and forgottenserver has 1,844. colyseus has the larger community by that measure.
Are colyseus and forgottenserver free?
Both are open source. colyseus is licensed under MIT and forgottenserver under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between colyseus and forgottenserver?
colyseus is written in TypeScript and forgottenserver 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, colyseus or forgottenserver?
Choose colyseus if you want the larger community (7,541 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose forgottenserver if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.