netcode.io vs Open Match
netcode.io
github.comOpen Match
open-match.devSide by side
| Figure | netcode.io | Open Match |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Game Networking Middleware | 8.4 (#5) | 8.1 (#12) |
| Encryption | Packets are encrypted and signed using the libsodium cryptography library. | HTTP and gRPC APIs use unencrypted channels by default, and Open Match supports TLS transport encryption. |
| License | The C implementation is released under the BSD 3-Clause license. | The project repository identifies its license as Apache 2.0. |
| Purpose | netcode is a secure, connection-oriented client/server protocol for multiplayer games built on UDP. | Open Match is an open-source framework for building scalable, extensible game matchmakers. |
| Support | The maintainer asks users with build questions to open a GitHub issue and says he will do his best to help. | The project lists Slack, issue filing, and a mailing list as support channels. |
Plans
In their own words
netcode.io
netcode.io is a free, open-source client/server protocol for real-time multiplayer games. It uses UDP to exchange unreliable, unordered packets without TCP head-of-line blocking. Game backends can issue connect tokens that authorize clients, while servers assign connecting clients to configured slots and reject connections when slots are full. The protocol supports clean disconnects and timeouts for hard disconnects. Packets are encrypted and signed with libsodium, with protections described against crafted packets, replay attacks, and amplification attacks. IPv4 and IPv6 are supported, along with packet tagging intended to reduce Wi-Fi jitter. Implementations are listed for C, C#, Go, Rust, Unity, Unreal Engine 4, and TypeScript. Builds use CMake on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with CMake 3.16 or later and a vendored libsodium subset by default. The BSD 3-Clause project documents REST-based token requests and reports a nonce-reuse issue affecting versions 1.3.5 and earlier, fixed in 1.4.0.
Open Match
Open Match has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.