Best ARK Alternatives With Dedicated Servers (2026)

The best ARK alternatives with dedicated servers are Palworld, Conan Exiles, Soulmask, PixARK, Citadel: Forged with Fire, Smalland, Myth of Empires, Path Of Titans and The Isle, plus ARK: Survival Evolved itself for groups who prefer the original. Each keeps a piece of ARK, usually taming, tribes or big base building, and several of them need far less server memory. That last point matters: ARK: Survival Ascended starts at 12 GB, while Smalland, Citadel and PixARK run a small tribe on 6 to 8 GB.

Groups leave ARK for three reasons: the server cost, the grind, or burnout on the setting. The list covers all three, and each entry notes what it keeps from ARK and what it drops.

ARK alternatives at a glance

1. ARK: Survival Evolved

Not an alternative so much as a fallback, but plenty of groups still prefer Evolved. It has years of mods, maps like Ragnarok and Fjordur, and it runs on less memory than Ascended. Many tribes keep one Evolved map going for years.

• RAM: 8 GB for The Island or Ragnarok with a small tribe, 12 GB for larger maps or 10 to 20 players.

2. Palworld

The most popular game in this space right now. You catch Pals instead of taming dinosaurs, but the loop is familiar: build a base, put creatures to work, fight bosses, expand. Pals keep working at your base while everyone is offline on a dedicated server, and Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac players can share a world since 1.0. It is nearly as heavy as ARK on the server.

• RAM: 12 GB for up to 8, 16 GB for up to 16.
• Read next: best Palworld server settings.

3. Conan Exiles

Conan replaces dinosaurs with thralls and pets, and keeps the tribe warfare. Clans raise fortresses, capture thralls to staff their benches and fight purges that attack bases. It is the best fit for ARK PvP veterans who want the same clan politics in a different world.

• RAM: 8 GB for a clan on vanilla settings, 12 GB for 20 to 30 players.

4. Soulmask

Instead of an army of tames, you build an army of people. You recruit tribespeople, assign them jobs, and an ancient mask lets you possess them. The settlement grows into automated production while you fight across a large world. Version 1.0 arrived in April 2026 and a server holds up to 70.

• RAM: 12 GB for up to 10 players, 16 GB for a regular group or small public server.

5. PixARK

ARK's formula in voxels: tame dinosaurs and mythical creatures, build out of blocks and dig straight through the world. It is relaxed compared to ARK and no longer gets big updates, but it is much lighter to host and its fans still love it.

• RAM: 8 GB for a small tribe of friends.

6. Citadel: Forged with Fire

Magic instead of guns: learn spells, tame creatures and dragons, fly on brooms and build castles. ARK veterans who loved flyers and base raids will recognise the loop. The community is smaller now, so private servers with boosted rates are how most groups play it.

• RAM: 6 GB for a small group or clan.

7. Smalland: Survive the Wilds

You are tiny, the forest floor is a wilderness, and you tame bugs to ride. It is a smaller, friendlier ARK for a group of up to 10, with panel settings for peaceful mode, keep inventory and creature modifiers.

• RAM: 6 GB for two to four players, 8 GB for five to ten.

8. Myth of Empires

Clan survival that turns into war, with tamed horses and beasts, soldiers you train and siege weapons. If your ARK tribe enjoyed the logistics of big raids, this formalizes it.

• RAM: 8 GB for a small PvE group, 12 GB for the default 25.

9 and 10. Path Of Titans and The Isle

If what your group loved about ARK was the dinosaurs, play as one. Path Of Titans is a dinosaur MMO with crossplay on every platform and up to 200 on a community server. The Isle Evrima is the realism option, with server culture built around nesting, herds and survival rules. Both are compared in our best dinosaur games with dedicated servers list.

• RAM: 8 GB for a private group in either game.

Cheaper than ARK to host

Server cost is driven by RAM, and ARK: Survival Ascended is one of the heaviest games to host. If cost is why your group is looking, here is the order from lightest to heaviest for a small tribe:

1. Citadel and Smalland: 6 GB.
2. ARK: Survival Evolved, PixARK, Conan Exiles, Myth of Empires and the dinosaur games: 8 GB.
3. Palworld, Soulmask and ARK: Survival Ascended: 12 GB.

ARK: Survival Ascended server hosting cost breaks down why Ascended needs so much.

Hosting your tribe's next world

A GamezServers server for any of these is live within minutes (big games take a little longer to install), with GameUserSettings.ini style config in the file manager, the common settings in the panel and one click backups before you change rates. Switch game from the panel if the tribe moves on, and split the bill with up to 10 members. See modded ARK server hosting or browse all games.

FAQ

What game is most like ARK?

Palworld is the most popular alternative today. PixARK is the closest in mechanics, and ARK: Survival Evolved is the original for groups who prefer it.

Is there an ARK alternative that needs less server RAM?

Yes. Citadel and Smalland start at 6 GB, and PixARK, Conan Exiles and ARK: Survival Evolved at 8 GB, compared with 12 GB for ARK: Survival Ascended.

What ARK alternative is best for PvP tribes?

Conan Exiles for fortress raids and clan politics, Myth of Empires for full sieges with armies.

Can I play as a dinosaur instead of taming one?

Yes. Path Of Titans and The Isle both have you play as a dinosaur on community servers.