head to head · open source
colyseus vs PowerNukkitX
colyseus has 7,355 GitHub stars, 667 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PowerNukkitX has 684 stars, 206 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped yesterday. colyseus leads on adoption by 975% (7,355 vs 684 stars). colyseus is written in TypeScript under MIT; PowerNukkitX is written in Java under LGPL-3.0. colyseus has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, PowerNukkitX 30%. 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 | PowerNukkitX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.4K | ★ 684 |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-09 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 667 | ⑂ 206 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick colyseus if
- You weight community size — 7.4K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick PowerNukkitX if
- You want the PowerNukkitX feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and PowerNukkitX 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 PowerNukkitX
PowerNukkitX is an open source Java server implementation for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, built for server owners and plugin developers who want a customizable, high performance third party server.
read the full PowerNukkitX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is colyseus or PowerNukkitX more popular?
colyseus has 7,355 GitHub stars and PowerNukkitX has 684. colyseus has the larger community by that measure.
Are colyseus and PowerNukkitX free?
Both are open source. colyseus is licensed under MIT and PowerNukkitX under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between colyseus and PowerNukkitX?
colyseus is written in TypeScript and PowerNukkitX in Java. 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 PowerNukkitX?
Choose colyseus if you want the larger community (7,355 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose PowerNukkitX if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.