head to head · open source
colyseus vs pufferpanel
colyseus has 7,327 GitHub stars, 665 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. pufferpanel has 1,749 stars, 270 forks, 116 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. colyseus leads on adoption by 319% (7,327 vs 1,749 stars). colyseus is written in TypeScript under MIT; pufferpanel is written in Go under Apache-2.0. colyseus has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, pufferpanel 15%. pufferpanel 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| colyseus | pufferpanel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.3K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 665 | ⑂ 270 |
| 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 pufferpanel if
- You want the pufferpanel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and pufferpanel 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 pufferpanel
PufferPanel is a free and open source, web based game server management system written in Go that lets an operator manage multiple different game servers from one central location and give other users their own servers or access to existing ones, aimed at everyone from individual users and personal setups through to small networks and larger operations.
read the full pufferpanel overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Gaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Gaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is colyseus or pufferpanel more popular?
colyseus has 7,327 GitHub stars and pufferpanel has 1,749. colyseus has the larger community by that measure.
Are colyseus and pufferpanel free?
Both are open source. colyseus is licensed under MIT and pufferpanel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between colyseus and pufferpanel?
colyseus is written in TypeScript and pufferpanel in Go. 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 pufferpanel?
Choose colyseus if you want the larger community (7,327 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pufferpanel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.