Chamilo vs Frappe School
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted learning & courses options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Chamilo | Frappe School |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Learning & Courses | Learning & Courses |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,006 | ★ 3,253 |
| First released | 2010 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Moodle, Blackboard | Teachable, Moodle |
What are Chamilo and Frappe School?
Chamilo
Chamilo is an open-source e-learning and course management system focused on ease of use and accessibility. It is popular for corporate training and education in many languages.
- Easy course authoring
- Built-in collaboration tools
- Many languages
- Corporate training focus
Frappe School
This open-source learning platform built on the Frappe framework lets organizations deliver structured courses with lessons and quizzes. It tracks learner progress and issues completion certificates.
- Structured courses
- Quizzes and assignments
- Progress tracking
- Completion certificates
Chamilo vs Frappe School: key differences
Chamilo is written in PHP, while Frappe School is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Chamilo versus AGPL-3.0 for Frappe School. Chamilo is the more established project (first released 2010), while Frappe School arrived in 2022. Frappe School has the considerably larger community, at 3,253 GitHub stars versus 1,006.
Why pick each one
Choose Chamilo if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Choose Frappe School if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Chamilo or Frappe School better?
Neither is universally better. Frappe School has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Chamilo and Frappe School free and open-source?
Yes. Chamilo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Frappe School under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chamilo and Frappe School with Docker?
Chamilo: yes. Frappe School: yes.