SHSelfHostIndex

CTFd 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?
CT CTFd Open-source capture the flag framework for hacking competitions VS PA Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot High-performance Minecraft server software
FeatureCTFdPaper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguagePythonJava
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 6,776★ 12,564
First released20172014
ReplacesHackerRank CTFVanilla Minecraft server

Why pick each one

Choose CTFd if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 6.8k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
CTFd 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 CTFd or Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot better?

Neither is universally better. Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

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

Yes. CTFd is licensed under Apache-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 CTFd and Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot with Docker?

CTFd: yes. Paper Note - PaperMC server alt Spigot: yes.

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