Lichess vs Trivabble

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?
FeatureLichessTrivabble
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0-or-later
LanguageScala
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM4,096 MB50 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 18,557
First released20102025
ReplacesChess.com

Why pick each one

Choose Lichess if…

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

Choose Trivabble if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Trivabble details

Frequently asked questions

Is Lichess or Trivabble better?

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

Are Lichess and Trivabble free and open-source?

Yes. Lichess is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Trivabble under AGPL-3.0-or-later. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Lichess and Trivabble with Docker?

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

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