head to head · open source
Pumpkin vs pufferpanel
Pumpkin has 12,951 GitHub stars, 1,018 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pufferpanel has 1,771 stars, 268 forks, 116 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. Pumpkin leads on adoption by 631% (12,951 vs 1,771 stars). Pumpkin is written in Rust under GPL-3.0; pufferpanel is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Pumpkin has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, pufferpanel 15%. Pumpkin 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, minecraft), 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
| Pumpkin | pufferpanel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-13 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 268 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Pumpkin if
- You weight community size — 13K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- 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 Pumpkin
Pumpkin Pumpkin is a Minecraft server built entirely in Rust, offering a fast, efficient, and customizable experience. It prioritizes performance and player enjoyment while adhering to the core mechanics of the game. Goals Performance : Leveraging multi threading for maximum speed and efficiency. Compatibility : Supports the latest Java & Bedrock Minecraft server version while adhering to Vanilla game mechanics. Security : Prioritizes security by preventing known security exploits. Flexibility : Highly configurable, with the ability to disable unnecessary features. Extensibility : Provides a foundation for…
read the full Pumpkin overview →
About pufferpanel
PufferPanel Website Discord Documentation Translations What is PufferPanel? PufferPanel is a web based Game Server Management System. PufferPanel allows you to manage multiple different game servers all from one central location. You can give other users their own servers or allow them to access to your servers. Installation Please follow the installation guide for PufferPanel located here. What's different about PufferPanel? In addition to being a free and open source project, PufferPanel provides an easy to use interface for everyone from individual users to large networks. We strive to create a friendly…
read the full pufferpanel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pumpkin or pufferpanel more popular?
Pumpkin has 12,951 GitHub stars and pufferpanel has 1,771. Pumpkin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pumpkin and pufferpanel free?
Both are open source. Pumpkin is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pufferpanel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Pumpkin and pufferpanel?
Pumpkin is written in Rust 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, Pumpkin or pufferpanel?
Choose Pumpkin if you want the larger community (12,951 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pufferpanel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.