SHSelfHostIndex

FreeCol vs Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot

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?
FR FreeCol Open-source turn-based colonization strategy game VS PA Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot High-performance Minecraft server software
FeatureFreeColPaper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageJavaJava
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker, bare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 704★ 12,564
First released20032014
ReplacesSid Meier's ColonizationVanilla Minecraft server

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

Choose Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot if…

  • Excellent performance
  • Massive plugin ecosystem
Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot details

Frequently asked questions

Is FreeCol or Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot better?

Neither is universally better. Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot has the larger community, while FreeCol is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are FreeCol and Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot free and open-source?

Yes. FreeCol is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run FreeCol and Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot with Docker?

FreeCol: check the project docs for container support. Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot: yes.

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