SOGo vs Tine
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted groupware options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
SOGo
Scalable groupware server with webmail, calendar and contacts
VS
Tine
Professional open-source groupware and CRM
| Feature | SOGo | Tine |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 69 · Good |
| Category | Groupware | Groupware |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Objective-C | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,165 | ★ 22 |
| First released | 2009 | 2007 |
| Replaces | Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365 | Microsoft 365, Google Workspace |
What are SOGo and Tine?
SOGo
SOGo is a fully featured, scalable groupware server offering shared calendars, address books, and webmail. It is fully compatible with Microsoft Outlook via ActiveSync and with CalDAV/CardDAV clients.
- CalDAV and CardDAV support
- Microsoft ActiveSync compatibility
- Shared calendars and contacts
- Integrated AJAX webmail
Tine
Tine, formerly Tine 2.0, is a web-based groupware and CRM platform combining email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and customer relationship management. It targets small and medium businesses.
- Integrated groupware and CRM
- ActiveSync support
- Shared calendars and addressbooks
- Modular application structure
SOGo vs Tine: key differences
SOGo is written in Objective-C, while Tine is built with HTML. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for SOGo versus AGPL-3.0 for Tine. Tine is the more established project (first released 2007), while SOGo arrived in 2009. SOGo has the considerably larger community, at 2,165 GitHub stars versus 22.
Why pick each one
Choose SOGo if…
- Strong Outlook compatibility
- Scales to many users
Watch out for
- Complex initial setup
- Requires separate mail server
Choose Tine if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in HTML
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Documentation mostly in German
Frequently asked questions
Is SOGo or Tine better?
Neither is universally better. SOGo has the larger community, while Tine is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are SOGo and Tine free and open-source?
Yes. SOGo is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Tine under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SOGo and Tine with Docker?
SOGo: yes. Tine: yes.