Nakama Doesn’t Have to Cost Thousands: Affordable Cloud Hosting Options

Nakama, the open-source game backend built with Go, is a powerful solution for creating real-time multiplayer games. While Heroic Labs offers managed hosting, many indie developers and smaller studios may find the costs prohibitive. The good news? Nakama doesn’t have to cost thousands to run. In this article, we’ll explore how to host Nakama on various cloud hosting providers, breaking down costs, technical requirements, and operational considerations.

 

Nakama’s Tech Stack

Nakama is written in Go, a highly performant, concurrent, and efficient programming language. It leverages PostgreSQL as its database and provides developers with features like real-time multiplayer, leaderboards, matchmaking, and in-app chat. To host Nakama effectively, you need to:

1. Run Nakama’s server (Go binary).

2. Manage PostgreSQL for persistence.

3. Optionally use Docker to containerize deployments.

4. Ensure proper networking for API communication.

 

Cloud Hosting Providers: Ops and Cost Breakdown

1. AWS (Amazon Web Services)

• Cost: Starts around $30/month for t3.micro instances with PostgreSQL (RDS). Can quickly rise based on usage and scaling.

• Advantages:

  • Auto-scaling and serverless options.

  • Comprehensive monitoring tools (CloudWatch).

  • Broad global data center network for low-latency gaming.

• Challenges:

  • Costs can balloon with scaling and additional services.

2. Azure (Microsoft)

• Cost: Similar to AWS, starting at ~$30/month for a basic VM and managed PostgreSQL.

• Advantages:

  • Excellent hybrid cloud integration.

  • Strong compliance and security features.

• Challenges:

  • Slightly steeper learning curve compared to other platforms.

3. Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

• Cost: ~$25/month for f1-micro instances with managed Cloud SQL.

• Advantages:

  • Powerful Kubernetes engine for containerized deployments.

  • Robust data analysis and AI/ML tools.

• Challenges:

  • Networking and bandwidth costs can add up for high-traffic games.

4. Digital Ocean

• Cost: Starts as low as $10/month for a basic droplet (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM) and $15/month for managed PostgreSQL.

• Advantages:

  • Simple pricing structure.

  • Great for indie developers with small-to-medium player bases.

• Challenges:

  • Limited advanced enterprise-grade tools compared to AWS or Azure.

5. Basic Linux Web Host or VPS

• Cost: Starts at $5/month for a VPS with shared CPU and $10/month for a dedicated virtual machine.

• Advantages:

  • Extremely cost-effective.

  • Full control over the environment.

• Challenges:

  • No managed services (e.g., PostgreSQL), requiring more manual setup and maintenance.

 

CI/CD Pipeline: Developing on a Budget

For cost efficiency, consider using a smaller instance (e.g., 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM) for development and testing, and a larger instance for production.

• Use Docker: Containerize Nakama and PostgreSQL for consistent environments.

• CI/CD Tools: Integrate Git with tools like GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or GitLab CI for automating builds, tests, and deployments.

• Workflow:

  • Develop locally or on a small cloud instance.

  • Push updates to Git, build Docker images, and deploy to a larger production box using CI/CD pipelines.

 

Production Hosting Requirements

Hosting Nakama at scale involves:

1. Load Balancer

• Distribute traffic across multiple Nakama instances.

• Services: AWS Elastic Load Balancer, DigitalOcean Load Balancers, or NGINX.

2. API Gateway

• Centralize API management for security, throttling, and monitoring.

• Options: Kong, AWS API Gateway, or GCP API Gateway.

3. CDN

• Reduce latency by caching assets closer to players.

• Options: Cloudflare, AWS CloudFront, Akamai or Fastly.

4. Backup Storage

• Regularly backup and store database backups, logs, and important data and assets.

• Options: AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, or local disk backups on VPS.

5. Region Redundancy

• Host Nakama servers in multiple regions to reduce latency and ensure high availability.

• Use multi-region PostgreSQL replication for data consistency.

Security & Scalability

• SSL Certificates: Use HTTPS for secure API communication.

• Firewall Rules: Restrict access to PostgreSQL and other sensitive services.

• Rate Limiting: Prevent abuse with API rate limits.

• Secrets Management: Store API keys and database credentials securely (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager, Vault).

• Horizontal Scaling: Spin up additional Nakama instances as player count grows.

• Vertical Scaling: Upgrade existing VMs to handle more traffic.

• Kubernetes: Consider container orchestration for larger setups.

Monitoring, Logging, Backups

Monitoring

• Tools: Use Grafana and Prometheus or cloud-native options like AWS CloudWatch.

• Metrics: Track CPU, memory, latency, player sessions, and database performance.

Logging

• Centralize logs using tools like ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) or cloud logging solutions.

Backups & Recovery

• Automate daily backups of PostgreSQL and Nakama configuration.

• Test restoring backups regularly to ensure reliability during failures.

 

The Bottom Line

Hosting Nakama doesn’t have to break the bank. With options like Digital Ocean or even a basic VPS, indie developers can launch scalable game backends for as little as $10/month. However, as your game grows, investing in proper production infrastructure with load balancing, region redundancy, and robust monitoring becomes essential.

By leveraging Docker, Git-based CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-native services, you can scale Nakama affordably and securely—proving that building multiplayer games doesn’t have to cost thousands. That’s what we do and we can help you out if you need!