Lichess vs MegaGlest

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?
FeatureLichessMegaGlest
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageScalaC++
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM4,096 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 18,557★ 413
First released20102010
ReplacesChess.comAge of Empires, Warcraft III

Why pick each one

Choose Lichess if…

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

Choose MegaGlest if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Written in C++
MegaGlest details

Frequently asked questions

Is Lichess or MegaGlest better?

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

Are Lichess and MegaGlest free and open-source?

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

Can I run Lichess and MegaGlest with Docker?

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

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