Open Match
Open Match is a free, open-source framework for developers building a game matchmaker.
What Open Match is
Open Match is a free, open-source framework for developers building a game matchmaker. It does not provide a ready-made matchmaking service: developers implement the logic that determines how tickets form matches. Its FrontendService manages tickets, BackendService creates matches and assignments, and QueryService searches tickets by constraints. A custom Match Function retrieves tickets and proposes matches; an optional Evaluator can remove overlapping proposals, and a default Evaluator is available for common cases. Backfill can fill open places in multiplayer matches, but requires customization of the Match Function and game servers. The framework supports measuring match quality and latency and running experiments to balance them. It exposes REST APIs over HTTP and gRPC that follow OpenAPI, and can be installed in a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster with Helm or static YAML files. Both API transports are unencrypted by default; TLS is supported, but all servers must enable it together because mixed modes are unsupported. Documentation covers telemetry, production Helm configuration, and integrations with external game frontends, Directors, and dedicated game server allocation systems. The project uses the Apache 2.0 license and lists Slack, issue filing, and a mailing list for support.
Good
- Custom code controls how tickets become matches.
- Includes services for tickets, match generation, and constraint searches.
- Supports match-quality and latency experiments.
- Can be installed with Helm or Kubernetes YAML.
- Apache 2.0 licensed and free.
Watch out
- Production Helm configuration requires significant resources.
- HTTP and gRPC are unencrypted by default.
- TLS must be enabled across all servers together.
- Backfill requires Match Function and game server customization.
Who it suits
Open Match suits developers who want to build and customize matchmaking logic for a game. It requires a Kubernetes deployment and, for backfill, changes to the Match Function and game servers.
Verdict
Open Match gives developers building blocks and control over matchmaking logic, including tools for evaluating proposed matches. Plan for Kubernetes operations, resource needs, and coordinated TLS configuration.
Plans and prices
From Open Match's own pricing page, checked 7 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Open Match | Free | Open-source matchmaking framework · self-hosted in a Kubernetes cluster |
The facts
Each one read from Open Match's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- API
- Open Match exposes resource-based REST APIs over HTTP and gRPC and complies with the OpenAPI specification.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Backfill
- Backfill supports filling open places in multiplayer matches and requires customization of the Match Function and game servers.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Community
- The project invites contributions through a GitHub pull request workflow and provides a community Slack link.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Components
- The documented matchmaker components include a game frontend, a Director, and a Match Function.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Core services
- Its FrontendService manages tickets, BackendService generates matches and assignments, and QueryService searches tickets by constraints.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Customization
- Developers write code to determine how matches are made.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Custom logic
- Tutorials show how to build a game mode based Matchmaker in Golang and add matchmaking criteria.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Open Match can be installed in a Kubernetes cluster using Helm or static Kubernetes YAML files.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Encryption
- HTTP and gRPC APIs use unencrypted channels by default, and Open Match supports TLS transport encryption.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Evaluation
- An optional Evaluator can deduplicate overlapping match proposals, and Open Match provides a default Evaluator for common use cases.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The matchmaking guide describes integration with external game frontends, Directors, and dedicated game server allocation systems.checked 7 Oct 2026
- License
- The project repository identifies its license as Apache 2.0.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Match functions
- A custom Match Function implements matchmaking logic and returns matches based on tickets retrieved from QueryService.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Match quality
- It supports measuring match quality and latency and running experiments to find a balance.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Operational requirement
- The production guide says its recommended production Helm setup requires significant resources for production workloads.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Production deployment
- The production guide provides a recommended Helm configuration and notes that it requires significant resources for production workloads.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Open Match is an open-source framework for building scalable, extensible game matchmakers.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Scale
- The framework is designed to scale up and down for games big and small.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Security
- The documentation includes a guide for enabling TLS transport encryption.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project lists Slack, issue filing, and a mailing list as support channels.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Telemetry
- The telemetry guide lists Prometheus, Grafana, Jaeger, and Stackdriver as supported backends.checked 7 Oct 2026
- TLS limitations
- The TLS guide says mixed encrypted and unencrypted transport modes are unsupported and that all servers must enable TLS together.checked 7 Oct 2026
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