Collabora Online vs Citadel
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Collabora Online
Self-hosted online office suite based on LibreOffice
VS
Citadel
All-in-one groupware, mail and collaboration server
| Feature | Collabora Online | Citadel |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document Management | Groupware |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Shell | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,316 | ★ 100 |
| First released | 2015 | 1987 |
| Replaces | Google Docs, Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365 |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Collabora Online or Citadel better?
Neither is universally better. Collabora Online has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Collabora Online and Citadel free and open-source?
Yes. Collabora Online is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Citadel under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Collabora Online and Citadel with Docker?
Collabora Online: yes. Citadel: check the project docs for container support.