FreeCol vs Mindustry
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game servers options
— licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one
replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Compare FreeCol with
choose an app… Lichess OpenRCT2 papermc-docker ArchiSteamFarm Cytopia Note - games browser alt 2048 Nakama Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot Unciv
Compare Mindustry with
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Feature FreeCol Mindustry Category Game Servers Game Servers License GPL-2.0 GPL-3.0 Language Java Java Setup difficulty Easy Easy Min. RAM 512 MB 512 MB Deployment binary, source docker, bare-metal, binary, source GitHub stars ★ 704 ★ 28,532 First released 2003 2017 Replaces Sid Meier's Colonization Factorio
Why pick each one
Choose FreeCol if… Released under the GPL-2.0 license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly Written in Java Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM FreeCol details
Frequently asked questions Is FreeCol or Mindustry better? Neither is universally better. Mindustry has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are FreeCol and Mindustry free and open-source? Yes. FreeCol is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Mindustry under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreeCol and Mindustry with Docker? FreeCol: check the project docs for container support. Mindustry: yes.