Ergo vs Spectrum
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?
Ergo
Modern IRC server with IRCv3 and bouncer features
VS
Spectrum
Open-source platform for building online communities
| Feature | Ergo | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Forums & Community |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,288 | ★ 10,837 |
| First released | 2016 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Slack, Discord | Discord, Discourse |
Why pick each one
Choose Spectrum if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Ergo or Spectrum better?
Neither is universally better. Spectrum has the larger community, while Ergo is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ergo and Spectrum free and open-source?
Yes. Ergo is licensed under MIT and Spectrum under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ergo and Spectrum with Docker?
Ergo: yes. Spectrum: yes.