head to head · open source
MonoGame vs colyseus
MonoGame has 14,602 GitHub stars, 3,121 forks, 766 open issues and last shipped yesterday. colyseus has 7,511 stars, 683 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MonoGame leads on adoption by 94% (14,602 vs 7,511 stars). MonoGame is written in C# under a custom or non-standard licence; colyseus is written in TypeScript under MIT. MonoGame has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, colyseus 9%. colyseus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| MonoGame | colyseus | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 7.5K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | C# | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 683 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick MonoGame if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick colyseus if
- You want the colyseus feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and colyseus fits your workflow better
About MonoGame
MonoGame One framework for creating powerful cross platform games Supported Platforms • Resources • Samples • Support and Contributions • Source Code • Helpful Links • License Overview MonoGame is a simple and powerful .NET framework for creating games for desktop PCs, video game consoles, and mobile devices using the C programming language. It has been successfully used to create games such as Streets of Rage 4, Carrion, Celeste, Stardew Valley, and many others. It is an open source re implementation of the discontinued Microsoft's XNA Framework. Supported Platforms We support a growing list of platforms across…
read the full MonoGame overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is MonoGame or colyseus more popular?
MonoGame has 14,602 GitHub stars and colyseus has 7,511. MonoGame has the larger community by that measure.
Are MonoGame and colyseus free?
Both are open source. MonoGame has no licence declared in this registry, and colyseus is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between MonoGame and colyseus?
MonoGame is written in C# and colyseus in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, MonoGame or colyseus?
Choose MonoGame if you want the larger community (14,602 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose colyseus if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.