# LXD vs Pterodactyl

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | LXD | Pterodactyl |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 75/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 15 in Virtualization | #4 of 62 in Game Servers |
| GitHub stars | 4 844 | 9 439 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +13 | +184 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 19 ✓ | 11 |
| Latest release | lxd-6.10.1 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ | v1.15.2 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Other |
| Main language | Go | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

Pterodactyl scores 75/100 against 70/100 for LXD, so it is the safer default.

LXD ships more often: 19 stable releases in the past year, against 11 for Pterodactyl.

If you want the quickest setup, LXD is easier to run; Pterodactyl needs more configuration.

Pterodactyl is growing faster right now (+184 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [LXD](https://selfhost.directory/project/lxd) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/lxd.md)
- [Pterodactyl](https://selfhost.directory/project/pterodactyl) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pterodactyl.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/lxd-vs-pterodactyl