Lichess vs Sutom

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted game servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureLichessSutom
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageScala
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM4,096 MB50 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 18,557
First released20102023
ReplacesChess.com

Why pick each one

Choose Lichess if…

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

Choose Sutom if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Sutom details

Frequently asked questions

Is Lichess or Sutom better?

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

Are Lichess and Sutom free and open-source?

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

Can I run Lichess and Sutom with Docker?

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

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