Lichess vs WorldEdit

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?
FeatureLichessWorldEdit
CategoryGame ServersGame Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageScalaJava
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM4,096 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 18,557★ 3,491
First released20102010
ReplacesChess.comcommercial map editing tools

Why pick each one

Choose Lichess if…

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

Choose WorldEdit if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (3.5k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Java
WorldEdit details

Frequently asked questions

Is Lichess or WorldEdit better?

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

Are Lichess and WorldEdit free and open-source?

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

Can I run Lichess and WorldEdit with Docker?

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

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