A Pterodactyl alternative that runs your eggs

Zelie runs the same eggs as Pterodactyl and Pelican, from one binary. There is no PHP stack, no Docker and no database server to install. It sets up with one command, updates itself from the panel, and runs your websites and databases beside the game servers.

Updated September 2026

Zelie, Pterodactyl and Pelican side by side

Install and upkeep
	Zelie	Pterodactyl Full comparison	Pelican Full comparison
Install	Yes One command, a few minutes	Partly A long manual guide	Partly A manual guide
No PHP stack to run	Yes One Go binary	No PHP, Laravel, a web server, MySQL and Redis	No PHP, Laravel and a web server
Runs without Docker	Yes Its own containerd	No Wings needs Docker	No Wings needs Docker
Light on memory	Yes Under 90 MB, checked on every change	Partly A PHP panel, a queue worker and Wings	Partly About 230 MB, before the database
Updates from the panel	Yes One click, rolls back by itself if it fails	No By hand, with commands	No By hand, with commands
Game servers
Pterodactyl and Pelican eggs	Yes 21 games ready, any other by its link	Yes	Yes
Console, files, SFTP, schedules	Yes	Yes	Yes
Safe passwords by default	Yes RCON and admin passwords get a random value	Partly As the egg sets them	Partly As the egg sets them
Steam updates	Yes Checks each hour, updates when nobody plays	Partly On start, if the egg does it	Partly On start, if the egg does it
Apps and databases
Deploy from GitHub on push	Yes	No	No
Deploys without downtime, one-click rollback	Yes Last five versions kept	No	No
Automatic HTTPS for apps	Yes	No	No
Databases	Yes PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Redis, with a data browser	Partly MySQL for game servers	Partly MySQL for game servers
Metrics	Yes Requests, errors, memory and CPU for a day	Partly Live memory and CPU	Partly Live memory and CPU
Security
Two-step login	Yes Required, with a passkey or an app	Partly Optional	Partly Optional
Nothing on the network runs as root	Yes The root part has no port	No Wings runs as root on a public port	No Wings runs as root on a public port
Secrets the panel cannot read back	Yes	No	No
Encrypted backups to S3	Yes Encrypted on the server	Partly To S3, not encrypted	Partly To S3, not encrypted
Coming later
Several machines from one panel	Planned	Yes	Yes
Sub-users with their own permissions	Planned	Yes	Yes

Comparing with Coolify as well? The full table has all of them.

Your eggs work here

Zelie reads eggs in both the Pterodactyl and the Pelican format. The games your panel runs today run on Zelie too.

21 games ready to pick, from Minecraft with Paper, Fabric and Forge to Rust, Valheim, ARK, Palworld and Counter-Strike 2. They come from Pelican’s egg repositories, and every one is downloaded and checked on each release.
Any other egg by its link. Paste the link to an egg and create the server from it.
The tools you know. A live console, a file manager with an editor, SFTP, schedules, backups and ports you pick per use: game, query, RCON or Rust+.

Much lighter than a PHP panel

A Pterodactyl install is a PHP (Laravel) panel with a web server, a queue worker, MySQL and Redis, plus the Wings daemon and Docker on each machine. Pelican keeps the same design.

Zelie is one file of about 50 MB, with its state in SQLite. Its own processes stay under 90 MB of memory when idle, and its test runs fail if they grow past that. On a live server we measured Pelican’s panel, queue worker and Wings at about 230 MB, before the database and Docker. The memory you save goes to your players.

One command to install, one click to update

Installing Pterodactyl means following a long guide: PHP and its extensions, a web server, a database, a queue worker, cron, then Wings and Docker. Zelie is one command. It checks the release’s signature, asks how the panel should be reached, and sets up the rest.

New releases show up on the Server page and install with one click. Game servers keep running while Zelie updates, and if the new version does not come up within a minute and a half, the old one is put back by itself. Steam games can update themselves too, when nobody is playing.

Security built in, not bolted on

Root has no port. The part of Zelie that runs as root listens on no network port. The web panel runs as its own user, so a bug in it is not a bug with root rights.
Two-step login for everyone. Every account needs a passkey or an authenticator app, not only the careful ones.
SFTP that stays in its lane. A login reaches that one server’s files. The SFTP server has no rights of its own, and it only runs while someone is connected.
Sealed secrets and encrypted backups. Passwords and keys are sealed as they are saved. Backups are encrypted on the server before a copy goes to S3.

Game servers, websites and databases in one place

The same panel deploys a site or a Discord bot from GitHub, gives it HTTPS, and runs PostgreSQL, MariaDB or Redis for it. Your server’s website, its database and the game itself sit under one login, with metrics for each. See the game server panel page for everything it does for a game.

Moving from Pterodactyl to Zelie

A game server is its egg and its files, so moving one takes a few minutes.

Install Zelie and set up its pool of game ports.
Create the server from the same egg. If it is not in the list, import the egg by its link.
Stop the old server, then download its files over SFTP and upload them to Zelie over SFTP or with the file manager.
Check the startup variables and the ports, then start it.

Running Zelie next to Pelican or Wings

You can try Zelie on the same machine first. It brings its own containerd and never touches Docker’s containers or firewall rules.

SFTP. Wings listens on port 2022 and Zelie on 2222, so they do not clash.
Web ports. With a domain, Zelie wants ports 80 and 443. If another web server has them, reach Zelie through a Cloudflare Tunnel instead.
Game ports. Give each panel its own range, so two servers never ask for the same port.

Questions

Do Pterodactyl eggs work in Zelie?

Yes. Zelie reads eggs in the Pterodactyl and the Pelican format. 21 games are ready to pick, and any other egg can be imported by its link.

Does Zelie need Docker?

No. Zelie runs its own containerd. If Docker is already on the machine, Zelie leaves it alone.

Can I move my Pterodactyl servers to Zelie?

Yes. Create the server from the same egg in Zelie and copy the files across over SFTP. The steps are on this page.

Does Zelie support several nodes or sub-users?

Not yet. Zelie manages the machine it is installed on, and only administrators log in. Both are planned.

Is Zelie a fork of Pterodactyl or Pelican?

No. It is separate software, written in Go. It reads the egg format those panels use.

Install Zelie

Run this as root on a Debian or Ubuntu server. It checks the release’s signature, installs Zelie and asks how people will reach the panel.

curl -fsSL https://github.com/Caria-Core/zelie/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

Free on a single server. Read how the install works first if you want to know what it changes.