FlightGear vs Lichess

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?
FeatureFlightGearLichess
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageC++Scala
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM2,048 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker, source
GitHub stars★ 788★ 18,557
First released19972010
ReplacesMicrosoft Flight Simulator, X-PlaneChess.com

Why pick each one

Choose FlightGear if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Written in C++
FlightGear details

Choose Lichess if…

  • Full-featured chess platform
  • Completely ad-free
Lichess details

Frequently asked questions

Is FlightGear or Lichess better?

Neither is universally better. Lichess has the larger community, while FlightGear is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are FlightGear and Lichess free and open-source?

Yes. FlightGear is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Lichess under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run FlightGear and Lichess with Docker?

FlightGear: check the project docs for container support. Lichess: yes.

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