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Nakama vs Lonca
Nakama is an open-source game server from Heroic Labs with accounts, leaderboards, tournaments, groups, chat and real-time multiplayer. Live ops come from Satori and meta-game systems from Hiro, both sold separately, and most game logic is server code in Go, TypeScript or Lua. Lonca is one managed backend where events are configured in the console instead.
Book a 20-minute early access callPick Nakama when
You want to write your own game logic in Go, TypeScript or Lua, especially for real-time or social-heavy games, and you have backend engineers.
Pick Lonca when
You're a casual or mobile studio without a backend team and want events, inbox and economy run by your product team from one console, on Lonca Cloud or self-hosted.
At a glance
How Nakama and Lonca differ before you look at a single feature.
Nakama
Lonca
What it is
Nakama
An open-source game server. Live ops (Satori) and meta-game systems (Hiro) are separate commercial products.
Lonca
An open-source game backend for casual and mobile games, with live ops built in.
How live ops are built
Nakama
Satori schedules events, flags and experiments in a dashboard; the event logic and rewards are wired up in game and server code. Hiro systems are JSON config plus code.
Lonca
Configured in the console from 18 event templates, with a flow builder, versions, and dev and staging environments to test in. No server code.
Engine SDKs
Nakama
Unity, Unreal, Godot, Defold, JavaScript, .NET, Java and Swift.
Lonca
Unity, Godot and web, generated from one API description.
Custom server logic
Nakama
Server runtimes in Go, TypeScript or Lua.
Lonca
Rarely needed. Flows cover the logic between events; webhooks reach your own server when you need more.
Hosting
Nakama
Self-host anywhere, or Heroic Cloud on Google Cloud (AWS on request).
Lonca
Lonca Cloud, run for you on shared infrastructure with each game's data, limits and keys kept apart. Or self-host on your own infrastructure.
Source code
Nakama
Nakama is open source (Apache 2.0). Satori, Hiro and Nakama Enterprise are commercial.
Lonca
Open-source core. Lonca Cloud is the managed edition.
Pricing
Nakama
Self-hosting is free. Heroic Cloud is billed on infrastructure, not players; Satori starts at $600 a month.
Lonca
Self-hosting has no license fee. Lonca Cloud targets $0.05 per daily active player per month; early access pricing is agreed with each studio.
Feature by feature
What each one gives a casual or mobile game out of the box. The Lonca column is what early access is designed to include; Lonca is not generally available yet.
Feature
Nakama
Lonca
Players
Accounts and sign-in
Nakama
Built in
Device, email, Apple, Google, Facebook, Game Center, Steam, consoles and custom
Lonca
Built in
Guest, Google, Apple, Facebook and username. Steam, Game Center and Play Games planned.
Cloud save
Nakama
Built in
Storage engine
Lonca
Built in
Versioned, with conflict detection, history and restore
Live ops
Live events without code
Nakama
Separate product
Scheduled in Satori; logic and rewards written in code
Lonca
Built in
18 templates, scheduled and tested in staging
Segments and targeting
Nakama
Separate product
Satori audiences
Lonca
Built in
Level, platform, app version, audience and country
A/B tests and remote config
Nakama
Separate product
Satori flags and experiments
Lonca
Planned
A/B variants planned after early access
Push notifications
Nakama
Separate product
Satori messaging
Lonca
Planned
Planned after early access
Competition
Leaderboards with seasons
Nakama
Built in
Scheduled resets
Lonca
Built in
Seasons, archives, friends, team and country views
Tournaments and leagues
Nakama
Built in
Tournament API; rules around it in server code
Lonca
Built in
Rooms, brackets and leagues with bots
Social
Teams and clans
Nakama
Built in
Groups; Hiro adds team stores and mailboxes
Lonca
Built in
Roles, help requests and team events
Chat
Nakama
Built in
Direct, group and global
Lonca
Built in
Global, team, group and direct, with moderation
Friends
Nakama
Built in
Lonca
Built in
Friend codes, suggestions and blocking
Inbox with rewards
Nakama
Separate product
Hiro reward mailbox; core has notifications only
Lonca
Built in
Scheduled broadcasts, claimed exactly once
Economy
Currencies and inventory
Nakama
Partly
Wallet and storage in core; store and inventory in Hiro
Lonca
Built in
A ledger that never goes negative, lives and timers
Promo codes
Nakama
Write it in code
No documented promo code feature
Lonca
Built in
Shared, unique and personal codes
Purchase receipt validation
Nakama
Built in
Apple, Google, Huawei and Facebook Instant
Lonca
Planned
Planned after early access
Multiplayer
Real-time multiplayer
Nakama
Built in
Relayed and authoritative matches, matchmaker
Lonca
Not yet
Not in early access; may come later. Lobbies hand off to your match server, and async PvP is built in.
Platform
Product analytics
Nakama
Separate product
Satori, with warehouse export
Lonca
Planned
Planned after early access
Where Nakama is stronger
Open-source core
Apache 2.0 and self-hostable, so there is no lock-in on the server.
Broad engine support
Official clients for Unity, Unreal, Godot, Defold, JavaScript and more.
Real-time and social
Authoritative and relayed matches, a matchmaker, chat, groups and friends in the core.
Scriptable
Mature server runtimes in Go, TypeScript and Lua for anything custom.
Where Lonca is different
Live ops without server code
In Nakama an event is server code plus Satori configuration. In Lonca it is a template your product team configures, tests in staging and publishes.
One product, one price
Events, inbox, economy and promo codes are part of Lonca. On Nakama a full live-ops setup can mean Nakama, Satori and Hiro, each priced on its own.
Priced per player, not per server
Lonca Cloud targets $0.05 per daily player per month, so a small game pays a small bill. Managed Nakama is priced on infrastructure.
Nothing to run, unless you want to
On Lonca Cloud there's no Postgres to operate, scale and back up; one platform team runs it for every studio. Both are open source and self-hostable, so the difference is that Lonca's live ops need no server code.
Moving from Nakama
Nakama studios usually have custom RPCs for events, brackets, leagues and saves. Accounts and storage objects move with the player, and RPC-based events map to Lonca templates. Real-time matches stay on your match server; Lonca lobbies can hand off to it.
- 1
Tell us what you run
Your events, leaderboards, economy and the server code behind them. A 20-minute call is enough to map it.
- 2
Map it to Lonca
We match each event to a template and each system to its Lonca module, and list honestly what would not move.
- 3
Try it in staging
Early access studios get dev and staging environments with test players and a time offset, so an event can be checked before any player sees it.
Questions studios ask
Is Lonca a Nakama alternative?
For the meta-game of a casual or mobile game, yes: accounts, cloud save, leaderboards, tournaments, events, teams, chat, inbox, wallet and promo codes. Lonca doesn't host real-time matches today, so for a game built around real-time play Nakama is the better fit for now.
Is Lonca open source like Nakama?
Yes. Lonca's core is open source and you can self-host it on your own infrastructure, or use Lonca Cloud and let us run it. The difference is in live ops: Lonca's events are configured in the console, not written as server code.
Do I need Go, TypeScript or Lua to run events in Lonca?
No. Events are configured in the console from 18 templates. Flows cover the logic between steps, and webhooks call your own server only when you need something custom.
Can I move my Nakama tournaments and leagues to Lonca?
Most of them map to Lonca templates: time-boxed tournaments, races, brackets and leagues with promotion and relegation. Book a call and we'll go through your RPCs one by one.
Other comparisons
- Metaplay vs LoncaSource-available C# backend and LiveOps Dashboard for Unity teams.
- PlayFab vs LoncaMicrosoft's broad managed backend, strongest for cross-platform and console games.
- Unity Gaming Services vs LoncaModular Unity services, each billed on its own, with events built in Cloud Code.
- Firebase vs LoncaGoogle's app platform: great analytics, push and config, game systems by hand.
- Supabase vs LoncaOpen-source Postgres platform: portable and flexible, game systems in SQL.
Based on the public documentation and pricing pages of Nakama, as of October 2026. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Nakama, Satori, Hiro and Heroic Cloud are trademarks of Heroic Labs. Lonca is not affiliated with Heroic Labs.
Running on Nakama today?
Tell us what you run and what you'd like your product team to launch on its own. We'll tell you honestly whether Lonca fits your game.
- SDKs for Unity, Godot and web games.
- Open source: Lonca Cloud or self-hosted.
- Built for casual and mobile games with live ops on day one.
- A founder answers every signup.