# Hydrodactyl vs Nakama

> Two self-hosted [Game Servers projects](https://selfhost.directory/game-servers), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Hydrodactyl | Nakama |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 48/100 | 76/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #39 of 62 in Game Servers | #3 of 62 in Game Servers |
| GitHub stars | 244 | 13 604 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +62 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 10 ✓ | 9 |
| Latest release | v6.4.2 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | v3.41.0 · 18 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Nakama scores 76/100 against 48/100 for Hydrodactyl, so it is the safer default.

Hydrodactyl ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 9 for Nakama.

Nakama is growing faster right now (+62 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Hydrodactyl](https://selfhost.directory/project/hydrodactyl) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/hydrodactyl.md)
- [Nakama](https://selfhost.directory/project/nakama) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nakama.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/hydrodactyl-vs-nakama