Endless Sky 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?
FeatureEndless SkyLichess
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageC++Scala
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM512 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcedocker, source
GitHub stars★ 7,490★ 18,557
First released20152010
ReplacesEscape VelocityChess.com

Why pick each one

Choose Endless Sky if…

  • Polished free game
  • Highly moddable
Endless Sky details

Choose Lichess if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is Endless Sky or Lichess better?

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

Are Endless Sky and Lichess free and open-source?

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

Can I run Endless Sky and Lichess with Docker?

Endless Sky: check the project docs for container support. Lichess: yes.

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