head to head · open source
LibreOffice vs IronCalc
LibreOffice has 4,590 GitHub stars, 996 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. IronCalc has 4,246 stars, 217 forks, 256 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LibreOffice leads on adoption by 8% (4,590 vs 4,246 stars). LibreOffice is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; IronCalc is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. LibreOffice has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, IronCalc 5%. LibreOffice was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| LibreOffice | IronCalc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.6K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 996 | ⑂ 217 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LibreOffice if
- You weight community size — 4.6K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick IronCalc if
- You want the IronCalc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and IronCalc fits your workflow better
About LibreOffice
LibreOffice LibreOffice is an integrated office suite based on copyleft licenses and compatible with most document formats and standards. Libreoffice is backed by The Document Foundation, which represents a large independent community of enterprises, developers and other volunteers moved by the common goal of bringing to the market the best software for personal productivity. LibreOffice is open source, and free to download, use and distribute. A quick overview of the LibreOffice code structure. Overview You can develop for LibreOffice in one of two ways, one recommended and one much less so. First the somewhat…
read the full LibreOffice overview →
About IronCalc
IronCalc [![MIT licensed][mit badge]][mit url] [![Apache 2.0 licensed][apache badge]][apache url] [![Build Status][actions badge]][actions url] [![Code coverage][codecov badge]][codecov url] [![docs badge]][docs url] [![Discord chat][discord badge]][discord url] [mit badge]: [mit url]: [apache badge]: [apache url]: [codecov badge]: [codecov url]: [actions badge]: [actions url]: [docs url]: [docs badge]: [discord badge]: [discord url]: IronCalc is a new, modern, work in progress spreadsheet engine and set of tools to work with spreadsheets in diverse settings. This repository contains the main engine and the xlsx…
read the full IronCalc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LibreOffice or IronCalc more popular?
LibreOffice has 4,590 GitHub stars and IronCalc has 4,246. LibreOffice has the larger community by that measure.
Are LibreOffice and IronCalc free?
Both are open source. LibreOffice is licensed under GPL-3.0 and IronCalc under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LibreOffice and IronCalc ?
LibreOffice is written in C++ and IronCalc in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, LibreOffice or IronCalc ?
Choose LibreOffice if you want the larger community (4,590 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose IronCalc if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.