# Nakama

> Apache-2.0 full game backend — auth, storage, matchmaking, chat

**Category:** Libraries  
**Pricing:** open-source  
**URL:** https://heroiclabs.com/nakama/  
**GitHub:** https://github.com/heroiclabs/nakama  
**Added:** 2026-09-10

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## The 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.

## What's Good

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.

## The Catch

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.