# Nakama vs Pulse

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

| | Nakama | Pulse |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 62 in Game Servers | #2 of 19 in Infrastructure Monitoring |
| GitHub stars | 13 604 ✓ | 6 970 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +62 | +229 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 9 | 43 ✓ |
| Latest release | v3.41.0 · 18 Sept 2026 | helm-chart-6.6.0 · 25 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Nakama scores 76/100 against 71/100 for Pulse, so it is the safer default.

Pulse ships more often: 43 stable releases in the past year, against 9 for Nakama.

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

Pulse is growing faster right now (+229 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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