head to head · open source
colyseus vs forgottenserver
colyseus has 7,327 GitHub stars, 664 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. forgottenserver has 1,841 stars, 1,142 forks, 226 open issues and last shipped today. colyseus leads on adoption by 298% (7,327 vs 1,841 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%. forgottenserver 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 | ★ 7.3K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 664 | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick colyseus if
- You weight community size — 7.3K 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
Colyseus is an MIT licensed authoritative multiplayer framework for Node.js that provides synchronizable data structures, room based matchmaking, and client SDKs for TypeScript, React, Unity, Godot, GameMaker, Defold, Construct, Haxe, and C, aimed at developers building realtime and turn based multiplayer games.
read the full colyseus overview →
About forgottenserver
The Forgotten Server is a free and open source MMORPG server emulator written in C++ that lets a team run its own OpenTibia compatible game world and connect players to it with a compatible client.
read the full forgottenserver overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is colyseus or forgottenserver more popular?
colyseus has 7,327 GitHub stars and forgottenserver has 1,841. 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 (7,327 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose forgottenserver if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.