{"data":{"slug":"nakama","name":"Nakama","tagline":"Apache-2.0 full game backend — auth, storage, matchmaking, chat","category":"libraries","categoryName":"Libraries","url":"https://heroiclabs.com/nakama/","github":"https://github.com/heroiclabs/nakama","pricing":"open-source","hook":"Nakama is the full game backend (auth, storage, matchmaking, chat, leaderboards) when Colyseus is rooms-first, Gatho is process-per-room, and PartyKit is Durable Object rooms.","whatsGood":"Apache-2.0. heroiclabs/nakama. Users/social, storage collections, realtime + turn-based multiplayer, matchmaker, chat, leaderboards/tournaments, parties, IAP validation, runtime modules in Go/TypeScript/Lua. JS/browser client (@heroiclabs/nakama-js) included. Docker/binary + Postgres/Cockroach. Homepage heroiclabs.com/nakama; source github.com/heroiclabs/nakama.","theCatch":"Vs Colyseus, Gatho, and PartyKit: full social/game server, not a rooms-only kit, not process-per-room WebSockets, not CF Durable Objects. Multi-node HA / cluster management is Nakama Enterprise proprietary — the free path is OSS single-node (or single-process) self-host; clustering is the commercial side. You still run Postgres/Cockroach and own ops.","verdict":"Apache-2.0 game backend. Free OSS single-node path; cluster HA is Enterprise — not the free story.","addedAt":"2026-09-10","featured":false,"domain":"Graphics & 3D","subSpecialty":"Multiplayer","subcategory":"Multiplayer","tags":["self-host","permissive","auth","workflows","graphics-3d","active"],"capabilities":["game-backend","matchmaking","realtime"],"surfaces":["Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Go","Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"Apache-2.0","githubStars":13528,"starsPerWeek":27,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2017-01-13","pushedAt":"2026-10-16","license":"Apache-2.0","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"hono","name":"Hono","tagline":"Tiny TypeScript web framework that runs on every runtime"},{"slug":"phaser","name":"Phaser","tagline":"MIT HTML5 2D game framework with scenes, physics, and tilemaps"},{"slug":"pixijs","name":"PixiJS","tagline":"MIT 2D WebGPU/WebGL renderer, not a game engine"},{"slug":"babylonjs","name":"Babylon.js","tagline":"Apache-2.0 3D engine for the web, now on v9"},{"slug":"playcanvas","name":"PlayCanvas","tagline":"MIT WebGL2/WebGPU engine plus an optional hosted Editor"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/nakama","html":"/gems/nakama","markdown":"/gems/nakama.md","category":"/api/gems?category=libraries","categoryPage":"/stacks/libraries"}}