Tech riderRev. 7 Oct 2026

GameNetworkingSockets

Ch 157.2of 25 Game Networking Middleware

1Runs onAPI, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
2CostsFree plan
3Network modelhybrid
4Supported platformsLinux, Windows, macOS, iOS
5Transport protocolsUDP

5 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: github.com

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Overview

GameNetworkingSockets is ranked #15 of 25 in game networking middleware on Specifiction. It runs on API, iOS, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Windows. There is a free plan.

GameNetworkingSockets plans and pricing

All plans

Open-source library Free BSD-3-Clause license · Steam Datagram Relay access is restricted github.com · 7 Oct 2026

Compared on game networking middleware

Free plan: Yesgithub.com
Network model: hybridgithub.com
Supported platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS, iOSgithub.com
Transport protocols: UDPgithub.com

Facts

Purpose: GameNetworkingSockets is a basic transport layer for games that sends reliable and unreliable messages over UDP.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Message handling: It supports messages larger than the underlying MTU through fragmentation, reassembly, and retransmission for reliable messages.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Encryption: It uses AES-GCM-256 per packet and Curve25519 for key exchange and certificate signatures.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Peer-to-peer: Its P2P features include NAT traversal through Google WebRTC ICE and support for plugging in a signaling service.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Connection controls: It supports multiple message lanes on one connection, with strict priorities or weights for sharing bandwidth.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Diagnostics: The library includes tools for simulating packet latency and loss, plus detailed statistics measurement.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Build targets: The project’s build instructions cover Linux, Windows, macOS, and iOS.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Language interfaces: The library is written in C++ and also provides a plain C interface for bindings to other languages.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Integrations: Third-party language bindings are listed for C#, Go, and Rust.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Steam dependency: Steam is not required to use the open-source library, though Steam-only services include authentication, signaling, and Steam Datagram Relay.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Not included: The library does not provide higher-level entity serialization, delta encoding of state variables, or compression.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Security reporting: The security policy asks researchers to report vulnerabilities privately through HackerOne rather than as public issues or pull requests.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
License: The repository identifies its license as BSD-3-Clause.github.com · 7 Oct 2026
Cross-platform availability: Valve says the library has shipped on consoles and mobile platforms, but states that access to that code requires contacting Valve because it cannot be distributed in this repository.github.com · 7 Oct 2026