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IIS vs Nakama comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IIS
Ranking in Application Server
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (1st)
Nakama
Ranking in Application Server
13th
Average Rating
7.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IIS is 7.8%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nakama is 0.1%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IIS7.8%
Nakama0.1%
Other92.1%
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

Krishnakumar Natarajan - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at Atos
Designs and manages multiple websites while ensuring data backup and disaster recovery
I have experience with AWS, and I am most familiar with the server environment, as we just use the server environment and then use Microsoft products on an AWS environment. I have experience with Windows Server IIS, which I ran on my own on-premise data center. The website was developed and then hosted, and through IIS, we managed the servers. The manageability within the IIS environment is not very difficult. For server management, you need to ensure data backup, data restore, and you have a DR configured to keep the database intact. It was done on-premises, so I had no problem doing that. If you have to go to the cloud, then you should have the storage connected to the IIS server and also have a DR set up for that. I didn't use Microsoft Azure tools, but since it is a Microsoft product, Azure has all the portability, so you don't have to worry about compatibility on the cloud. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution a 10.
reviewer2849796 - PeerSpot reviewer
software engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Rapid prototypes have boosted development while long-term growth now needs clearer paths
My main use case for Nakama is the backend and matchmaking, and matchmaking is the most important aspect of Nakama for myself. The other real-time transport and parties and groups are built into that project, which is why I consider Nakama instead of writing my own backend and matchmaking. Matchmaking is by far Nakama's best feature. Matchmaking stands out for me because it is easy to deploy and get running, especially in contrast to Open Match, which requires a lot of work and setup to get things moving. Nakama provides this service in a simple manner, so I do not have to be a cloud engineer or backend engineer to set things up in order to have matchmaking. The real-time capabilities, parties, and groups of Nakama are straightforward and fast for various use cases, particularly if I am developing my own multiplayer game and need a transport layer. Instead of using raw TCP/IP sockets, I can use Nakama's sockets, which simplifies the process, making everything go in and out from the WebSocket.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The stability is better than it was in the past."
"It was crucial and it definitely paid off."
"IIS is easy to configure in terms of websites and other solutions."
"Windows Server IIS is stable."
"It's very easy to publish."
"IIS is a stable solution for .NET applications."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to use and easy to understand."
"Nakama helps my team prototype and iterate faster, as instead of spending one to three months writing my own backend and matchmaking, I can start right away with Nakama, which represents a huge productivity gain at the start."
"Using Nakama has definitely helped my team save time and resources in measurable ways, such as faster development, particularly if we build multiplayer games according to their provided structure, although creating something with very custom features can be challenging."
"In just a few hours, you can get a new game and a server with many features."
 

Cons

"The user interface could be improved."
"Compared to Linux, the solution’s Windows patching is slower. I would like to improve it."
"If Microsoft IIS could work well with AppOptics or things like PHP, Python, and other custom languages that run on the webserver, it would be ideal. I think there are cases where people need to use Apache instead of IIS when IIS doesn't work well with other web languages."
"IIS could improve by having some features related to URL rewrite, ARR (Application Request Routing) and HTTPS certificate generation."
"We've never had any issues with the solution, but it's still nice to have overall improvements on it. It could be easier and faster to use, for example."
"The initial setup could be made easier."
"The platform's stability could be better."
"The areas of this solution that need improvement are monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting."
"Customer support for Nakama has not been that good based on my experience when we reached out to them."
"The biggest problem we had was that while it has some really nice features, dealing with the tournaments and leaderboards and how they are fixed and static makes the development process a bit of a hassle."
"The scalability of Nakama is not very good if using the open source version, as it lacks distributed presence features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is an annual license to use this solution and the price could be better."
"IIS comes along with an OS license from Microsoft. Others can opt for a perpetual-based licensing model to be able to use the system."
"The price of Windows Server IIS is expensive. They have a large user base, and they charge a little bit too much."
"It is licensed with your Windows installation which makes it relatively cheap if you already have a Windows Server sitting around."
"The solution provides multiple licensing options."
"The licensing cost is dependent on the usage."
"The tool is included with Windows."
"Users can get a subscription-based license or a perpetual license for IIS."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
9%
Construction Company
47%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Wholesaler/Distributor
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise22
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?
IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?
For the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IIS, as a Microsoft product, I didn't think much about separately purchasing an IIS product as it is part of Microsoft Windows. We bought a developmen...
What needs improvement with IIS?
I see that IIS has maintained the same interface for a long time, so they could potentially use more automation or integrate Copilot into it to make it easier to use. I have not accessed or checked...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nakama?
Nakama is free to use, but using Heroic Cloud comes at a different cost, which is currently considered too high internally, as many people feel it does not match the service provided.
What needs improvement with Nakama?
I think Nakama could be improved by making features such as leaderboards easier to customize, and the documentation could be much better, covering more than just the success flow. The community is ...
What is your primary use case for Nakama?
My main use case for Nakama involves a small multiplayer game where players can compete in small groups against each other, with a single winner. Nakama fits into my multiplayer game by providing v...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

Windows Server IIS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IIS vs. Nakama and other solutions. Updated: July 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.