head to head · open source
colyseus vs pokerth
colyseus has 7,311 GitHub stars, 665 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped today. pokerth has 657 stars, 252 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. colyseus leads on adoption by 1,013% (7,311 vs 657 stars). colyseus is written in TypeScript under MIT; pokerth is written in C++ under AGPL-3.0. colyseus has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, pokerth 38%. colyseus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (game-server, multiplayer), 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 | pokerth | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.3K | ★ 657 |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 665 | ⑂ 252 |
| 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 pokerth if
- You want the pokerth feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and pokerth 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 pokerth
PokerTH is an open source Texas Hold'em poker game and engine written in C++ with Qt, for players who want to play against computer opponents or against other people over the internet, and for hosts who want to run the multiplayer server themselves.
read the full pokerth overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is colyseus or pokerth more popular?
colyseus has 7,311 GitHub stars and pokerth has 657. colyseus has the larger community by that measure.
Are colyseus and pokerth free?
Both are open source. colyseus is licensed under MIT and pokerth under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between colyseus and pokerth?
colyseus is written in TypeScript and pokerth 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 pokerth?
Choose colyseus if you want the larger community (7,311 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pokerth if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.