Compare Crafty Controller and Luanti on pricing, features, platforms, and ratings — both Gaming & Game Servers tools, Free (open source, donation-supported)…
At a Glance
Crafty Controller
Luanti
Primary category
Gaming & Game Servers
Gaming & Game Servers
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Free (open source, donation-supported)
Free / Open Source
Starting price
Free
Free
Free plan
Not documented
Not documented
Free trial
Not documented
Not documented
Platforms
Web, Mac, Windows
Android, Mac, Windows
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Not documented
Not documented
Public API
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Crafty Controller
No individual plan breakdown documented yet.
Luanti
Open Source — Free N/A
Pros & Cons
Crafty Controller
Pros
Completely free and open source with no paid tiers or feature restrictions
Supports both Java and Bedrock Minecraft server executables in one panel
Self-hosted architecture keeps all server data and backups on the operator's own hardware
Docker and UnRAID support make it easy to fit into existing home-lab or self-hosting setups
Cons
Requires users to provide and maintain their own server or hosting infrastructure; it is not a hosting service itself
As a community-maintained open-source project, support relies on documentation and community channels rather than paid customer support
Initial setup (Python environment, Docker, or manual install) requires more technical comfort than a fully managed hosting panel
No official native mobile apps beyond the browser-based progressive web app
Luanti
Pros
Completely free and open source with no purchase price
Extremely deep modding and customization via Lua
Large, active library of community mods and games via ContentDB
Runs on modest hardware across five major platforms including Android
No corporate ownership, subscription, or licensing restrictions
Cons
Visuals and polish generally lag behind commercial titles like Minecraft
No official company support channel, only community and volunteer maintainers
Rebrand from Minetest to Luanti in 2024 can still cause naming confusion
Mod quality and documentation vary widely across ContentDB
Steeper learning curve for building custom games compared to using the engine to just play
Use Cases
Crafty Controller
Home-lab Minecraft hosting — Self-hosters run Crafty Controller on a home server or NAS via Docker to manage Minecraft servers for friends and family without manual command-line work.
Community server administration — Server admins for larger Minecraft communities use Crafty's player management, scheduled backups, and remote console to operate servers without direct machine access.
Multi-server instance management — Operators running several Minecraft server instances (survival, creative, modded) on one machine use Crafty to manage them all from a single dashboard.
Luanti
Custom voxel game development — Developers use Luanti's Lua API to build entirely original voxel games distinct from the bundled Minetest game.
Educational programming projects — Educators use Luanti's moddable, free engine to teach Lua scripting and game logic concepts in classroom settings.
Free community sandbox play — Players run or join community servers for cooperative building and survival gameplay without licensing costs.