head to head · open source
Pumpkin vs stendhal
Pumpkin has 12,125 GitHub stars, 885 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped today. stendhal has 703 stars, 226 forks, 143 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Pumpkin leads on adoption by 1,625% (12,125 vs 703 stars). Pumpkin is written in Rust under GPL-3.0; stendhal is written in Java under GPL-2.0. Pumpkin has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, stendhal 32%. Pumpkin 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
| Pumpkin | stendhal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 703 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-08 | 2026-07-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 885 | ⑂ 226 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Pumpkin if
- You weight community size — 12K 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 stendhal if
- You want the stendhal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and stendhal fits your workflow better
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 →
About stendhal
Stendhal is a free, open source multiplayer online adventure game (MORPG) written in Java, playable by anyone with a web browser, an Android device, or a desktop with Java installed.
read the full stendhal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pumpkin or stendhal more popular?
Pumpkin has 12,125 GitHub stars and stendhal has 703. Pumpkin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pumpkin and stendhal free?
Both are open source. Pumpkin is licensed under GPL-3.0 and stendhal under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Pumpkin and stendhal?
Pumpkin is written in Rust and stendhal 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, Pumpkin or stendhal?
Choose Pumpkin if you want the larger community (12,125 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose stendhal if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.