Igir vs Nearcade

Igir is a free ROM collection manager for scanning, organizing, filtering, patching, and reporting on game files. It can find DATs, ROMs, and ROM patches, including files inside archives, then organize ROMs with consistent names. Users can filter duplicates and unwanted ROMs, create multi-disc playlists, and apply patches in batches. Reports can show which ROMs are present or missing for each console, and Igir can generate fixdats for missing ROMs. For arcade collections, it can build or rebuild MAME sets by un-merging, splitting, or merging them. Documentation includes configuration guides for tools such as Batocera, LaunchBox, RetroArch, OpenEmu, and RomM. Igir runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and other operating systems supported by Node.js. It is available as a downloadable executable or through npm, Homebrew, and Scoop. Every installation option requires a baseline understanding of command-line interfaces. The project describes its defaults as non-destructive and says it does not make network requests beyond those requested by the user, including usage or telemetry requests. Igir is licensed under GNU GPL version 3.

Nearcade is a free, open-source, self-hosted platform for playing local co-op games over the internet with friends. A host runs the game, while viewers join from a desktop or mobile web browser without installing a client. Streaming uses WebCodecs or WebRTC and peer-to-peer connections. Hosts can allow gamepad input, raw keyboard and mouse, or keyboard and mouse mapped to a virtual gamepad; mobile viewers get touch controls and a virtual joystick. Sessions can use private Cloudflare or Zrok tunnels, or appear in the public Nearcade Arcade lobby. Public Arcade sessions are limited to 80 minutes and require a verified tunneling provider. A host needs Node.js 18 or newer and Python 3. Linux also requires PipeWire and the uinput module, while Windows gamepad support requires ViGEmBus. Linux is listed as production-stable; Windows and macOS are experimental, and macOS lacks gamepad support. The project is published under GPL-3.0 and provides setup, usage, API, and VPS server documentation.