Comparison

GameMaker vs Nakama (Heroic Labs)

	GameMaker	Nakama (Heroic Labs)
What it says it does	GameMakerMake a game with GameMaker, the best free video game engine. Perfect for beginners and professionals. Learn to build your own 2D indie games with our simple tutorials.	Nakama (Heroic Labs)Scalable game backend and LiveOps stack for multiplayer games. Nakama from Heroic Labs handles accounts, matchmaking, leaderboards, chat and realtime multiplayer, open source or on managed Heroic Cloud.
Pricing	GameMakerFree for non-commercial use (all desktop, web, mobile and GX.games exports, no watermark); Professional $99.99 one-time commercial licence; Enterprise subscription (monthly or yearly) adds console exports and source code access (official)	Nakama (Heroic Labs)Nakama open source: free to self-host; Heroic Cloud (managed, includes Nakama Enterprise, no DAU/MAU/CCU limits): $400 per Nakama CPU + $200 per database CPU per month (about $600/mo for the smallest 1+1 production setup); smaller development tier available; Satori LiveOps from $600/mo (official)
Website	GameMakerhttps://gamemaker.io/en	Nakama (Heroic Labs)https://heroiclabs.com/

Which tool for which job

GameMaker wins when you want a proven 2D engine with a one-time commercial licence and no royalties.

Nakama (Heroic Labs) wins when you want an open-source backend you control, or predictable CPU-based pricing with no per-player fees.