Agora vs Overleaf
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted office suites options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Agora
Collaboration and creation of digital space
VS
Overleaf
Online real-time collaborative LaTeX editor
| Feature | Agora | Overleaf |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Office Suites | Office Suites |
| License | GPL-2.0-only | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 41 | ★ 18,007 |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | — | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Agora if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0-only license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Choose Overleaf if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 18k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Agora or Overleaf better?
Neither is universally better. Overleaf has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Agora and Overleaf free and open-source?
Yes. Agora is licensed under GPL-2.0-only and Overleaf under AGPL-3.0-or-later. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Agora and Overleaf with Docker?
Agora: check the project docs for container support. Overleaf: check the project docs for container support.