head to head · open source
OpenRA vs Pumpkin
OpenRA has 17,408 GitHub stars, 3,048 forks, 1,598 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Pumpkin has 11,317 stars, 819 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenRA leads on adoption by 54% (17,408 vs 11,317 stars). OpenRA is written in C# under GPL-3.0; Pumpkin is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. OpenRA has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, Pumpkin 7%. Pumpkin 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
| OpenRA | Pumpkin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 11K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 819 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenRA if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Pumpkin if
- You want the Pumpkin feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Pumpkin fits your workflow better
About OpenRA
OpenRA is a libre, free and open source real time strategy game engine written in C with SDL and OpenGL, built for players, mappers and modders who want to run and extend early Westwood classics such as Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn and Dune 2000 on Windows, Linux, BSD and Mac OS X.
read the full OpenRA overview →
About Pumpkin
Pumpkin is a Minecraft server implementation written entirely in Rust that aims to let anyone host fast and efficient Java and Bedrock Edition servers, and it is built for server operators and plugin developers who want vanilla compatible gameplay without the official Java server.
read the full Pumpkin overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenRA or Pumpkin more popular?
OpenRA has 17,408 GitHub stars and Pumpkin has 11,317. OpenRA has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenRA and Pumpkin free?
Both are open source. OpenRA is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Pumpkin under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenRA and Pumpkin?
OpenRA is written in C# and Pumpkin in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenRA or Pumpkin?
Choose OpenRA if you want the larger community (17,408 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Pumpkin if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.