Lichess vs TES3MP

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?
FeatureLichessTES3MP
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageScalaC++
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM4,096 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcebare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 18,557★ 860
First released20102017
ReplacesChess.comMorrowind single-player

Why pick each one

Choose Lichess if…

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

Choose TES3MP if…

  • Co-op in a classic RPG
  • Scriptable servers
TES3MP details

Frequently asked questions

Is Lichess or TES3MP better?

Neither is universally better. Lichess has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Lichess and TES3MP free and open-source?

Yes. Lichess is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and TES3MP under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Lichess and TES3MP with Docker?

Lichess: yes. TES3MP: check the project docs for container support.

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