7 Colonist.io alternatives in 2026, free and paid

Why do people look for a Colonist alternative?

Most people who leave Colonist hit one of three walls on its own store page: ads in the free tier, a membership to host the expansions and bigger tables, or no bots in Cities & Knights.

Colonist does a lot well. It is busy: on the day we checked, its home page showed 6,393 players online and 212,973 games played that day. Ranked play covers 1v1, 4-player, Colonist Rush and Cities & Knights. With the right membership a table can seat up to eight, and only one player at a table of friends needs to pay.

This guide measures each alternative by what it gives you that Colonist doesn’t, and what you give up to get it, against Colonist’s free tier and membership as they stood on 11 October 2026. If you want a broader list of games in the same genre, our guide to games like Catan online covers that.

Colonist’s free tier and membership, as a baseline

Without paying, Colonist gives you Beginner Mode, the 4-player game and Colonist Rush against bots at Easy, Medium and Hard, with ads. Logging in adds ranked games. The lobby’s upsell reads “Get access to all maps and expansions! Become a Member”.

The membership unlocks Seafarers, Cities & Knights, the two combined, 5 to 6 and 7 to 8 player games, Colonist Rush and maps such as Gold Rush, Volcano, Black Forest and Shuffle Board. The store marks bot logic in the Cities & Knights expansions as “not supported (coming soon)”. Colonist also has Android and iOS apps. (The tier names are pictures on the store page, so we have left them out rather than guess.)

Seven Colonist alternatives, compared

Each row says what the alternative gives you that Colonist doesn’t, and what you trade away. Facts come from each project’s own pages, checked on 11 October 2026.

CATAN Universe: the official app

Best for: people who left Colonist because they want the real rules and the real expansions.

CATAN Universe is the official digital CATAN. Its FAQ says it is free to download and play, and that the base game, the expansions, Rise of the Inkas and Rivals for CATAN are unlocked with CATAN Gold. On Steam, Seafarers and Cities & Knights each go up to six players. One account works across iOS, Android, Steam and the browser, and you can play offline against the AI, which none of the browser sites do.

What you give up against Colonist: the free match is a base game against two other people, always on the standard map, and single player opens only after you finish the “Arrival on Catan” introduction. Gold is sold in packs (on iOS from 200 Gold for $2.99 to 3,000 for $26.99); we could not confirm what the base game and each expansion cost in Gold today, so check in the app. Reviews are mixed: 46% positive of 11,688 English reviews on Steam, and 33% of the 106 most recent.

Board Game Arena: licensed CATAN beside 1,403 other games

Best for: groups who already play other games on BGA and want Cities & Knights.

CATAN arrived on Board Game Arena in June 2022 as a licensed Premium game. Its table seats 3 or 4 players, and catan.com says BGA also carries Cities & Knights and the New Energies stand-alone game. The model resembles Colonist’s one-member rule: only Premium members can create a CATAN table, and free accounts can join it. BGA lists 1,403 games and 10,853,000 players, so the same membership covers far more than CATAN.

What you give up: there is no five or six player CATAN table, and a group with no Premium member cannot start a game at all. BGA last stated Premium at 5 euros or dollars a month, 36 a year, from June 2023; the Premium page shows no price to visitors, so check while logged in.

Hearthsea: 46 maps, a 3D table and bots that trade

Best for: groups on phones, and solo players who want bots that bargain.

Hearthsea is our game, so weigh this section accordingly. It is an independent Catan-style game, not affiliated with CATAN GmbH, for 2 to 6 players in any modern browser. It has 19 Classic maps, 21 Seafarers maps with ships, fog, gold fields and a pirate, and 6 Highlands maps, a mode Colonist has nothing like: cliffs, mountain passes that cost a brick and an ore, copper mines on high ground that pay whichever resource you pick, and a yeti.

Against Colonist: the three bot levels (Settler, Merchant and Veteran) make and answer trade offers on every map, the board is a 3D table with painted art (made with an image model), and there are no ads. Rooms open with a four-letter code, or a QR code on the same Wi-Fi. There is also ranked quick match from Bronze to Diamond, clans from level 10, a 15-island campaign and a weekly challenge.

What it costs: a free account plays 3 games a day against bots or pass-and-play on the Standard and Balanced maps, the Seafarers island New Shores and the Highlands map The Peaks, and can join friends’ rooms. A pass opens every map of a mode, online hosting, quick match and no daily limit, from $3.99 a month. The Classic Pass is $3.99, Seafarers and Highlands $4.99 each, and all three $8.99 a month. Like Colonist, only the host needs one. Details on the pricing page.

What it costs: nothing to play. Every mode and all 46 maps are free with an account, online rooms and quick match included, with no daily limit. We sell cosmetics such as house themes and pets, and they never change the rules. Details on the pricing page.

What you give up: Colonist’s much larger crowd for matchmaking, tables of seven or eight, and the official Catan name. Hearthsea also needs a free account before your first game.

Landover: eight-player tables and maps you build

Best for: big groups, and anyone who wants to design their own island.

Landover calls itself a free Catan alternative and says you can “play for free”. It runs games of up to 8 players on large maps, lets you build custom maps and test them against bots or friends, and its bots come in different skill levels, personalities and play styles. It includes Seafarers-style sea and gold tiles, and runs on iOS, Android, PC, Steam and the browser.

Against Colonist, the draw is that eight-player tables and sea tiles are presented as part of a free game. Its home page does not say whether any of that sits behind a purchase or whether it shows ads, so look before you move a whole group over.

HexaColony: free with no membership at all

Best for: a quick match on a phone with no sign-up.

HexaColony says it is completely free, online multiplayer, AI matches and every game mode included. You can play 3 or 4 player free-for-all, 1v1, or 2v2 team games, or face 17 AI opponents across 5 difficulty tiers with their own rating. It runs in the browser on PC, phone and tablet, and you can play as a guest or sign in with Google, Discord or X.

What you give up against a Colonist membership: tables stop at four, and its page lists no expansions. If your group plays base-game Catan with four, nothing here costs money.

JSettlers2 and Pioneers: open source, on your own computer

Best for: people who would rather run free software than sign up anywhere.

JSettlers2 is a Java version of Settlers of Catan, released under the GPL. It is client and server, with optional robot opponents, a 4-player board and a 6-player variant, and scenarios that include the sea. You download a JAR file and run it with Java 8 or later, either against bots on your own machine or on a server you host for friends.

Pioneers is an older open-source game based on Settlers of Catan, packaged for several Linux distributions, Windows and OS X. Its site lists version 15.6 and was last updated in 2018, so expect a desktop program from that era.

What you give up: both need a download, neither runs on a phone, and neither looks like a modern game. In return nothing is locked and nobody can change the price.

Which alternative fits your reason for leaving?

• You want no ads: Colonist’s membership removes them; of the alternatives, Hearthsea shows none.
• You want the official expansions: CATAN Universe, or Board Game Arena for Cities & Knights.
• You want Seafarers-style maps without a membership: JSettlers2 has sea scenarios for free, Landover includes sea and gold tiles, and Hearthsea has 21 Seafarers maps.
• You want seven or eight players: Landover. Stay with Colonist’s 7 to 8 player expansion otherwise.
• You want bots that trade with you: Hearthsea. Our post on playing against AI bots explains how each level bargains.
• You want everything free with nobody paying: HexaColony for four players, JSettlers2 for six.

Whichever you pick, the core rules carry over, and so does our strategy guide.

Questions people ask

Sources

Facts about Hearthsea come from the game itself and its rules and pricing pages. Facts about the other games come from their own pages, all checked on 11 October 2026.

1. Colonist home page: free modes, bots, ads and players online
2. Colonist store: membership tiers, prices, expansions and bot support
3. Colonist on Google Play
4. CATAN Universe FAQ: free download and CATAN Gold
5. CATAN Universe on Steam: free match, player counts and reviews
6. CATAN Universe on X: the free match uses the standard map
7. CATAN Universe on the App Store: Gold pack prices
8. catan.com: official digital games
9. CATAN GmbH: CATAN now on Board Game Arena
10. Board Game Arena: CATAN game page
11. Board Game Arena: Premium games
12. Board Game Arena forum: Premium price from June 2023
13. Landover home page
14. HexaColony home page
15. JSettlers2 on GitHub
16. Pioneers home page

Keep reading

• Games like Catan you can play online in 20266 min read
• Seafarers-style maps explained: ships, fog and islands6 min read
• How to play a Catan-style game with five or six players6 min read

CATAN is a registered trademark of Catan GmbH. Hearthsea is an independent game and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Catan GmbH or its publishers. Colonist and the other names belong to their owners and are used here only to describe and compare.