Replace / Overleaf
Best free Overleaf alternatives (open source, self-hosted) 2026
The best open-source alternative to Overleaf is Overleaf or TeXstudio, self-hosted on Railway. LaTeX you host. Overleaf Community Edition is AGPL-3.0; TeXstudio is GPL-3.0 — Overleaf Cloud without the hosted compile seat.
Estimated save $1,200 a year.
Open the stackStart on Railway
How Overleaf compares
| Overleaf | Overleaf CE / TeXstudio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Hosted subscription | Open-source or fair-code license; you pay the host |
| Hosting | Vendor cloud | Self-hosted on Railway or any VPS |
| Rough monthly cost | Public list price not verified this run | Hosting only — no SaaS seat meter in this repo |
- Overleaf
AGPL-3.0 Community Edition — the published Overleaf Cloud path (skip Server Pro)
- TeXstudio
GPL-3.0 desktop LaTeX editor
FAQ
- What is the best free open-source Overleaf alternative?
- The best open-source alternative to Overleaf is Overleaf or TeXstudio, self-hosted on Railway. LaTeX you host. Overleaf Community Edition is AGPL-3.0; TeXstudio is GPL-3.0 — Overleaf Cloud without the hosted compile seat.
- Is it free?
- The Overleaf CE / TeXstudio licenses are open source or fair-code. You still pay hosting (Railway or any VPS) and any APIs the stack calls. There is no Overleaf seat or task bill on this path.
- Can I migrate from Overleaf?
- Yes. Start with the workflows or data you actually use, then cut over. The Overleaf CE / TeXstudio stack page has the agent prompt and the cost table; most teams rebuild the slice that matters and leave old Overleaf links until they expire.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open the Overleaf CE / TeXstudio stack, copy the agent prompt, and deploy on Railway (one service, PORT, and a volume when the app needs disk). Placeholder: Overleaf CE via the official toolkit (several services plus Mongo and Redis) or TeXstudio on the workstation. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. A wiki stays on /stacks/docmost-wiki.
- What does this replace?
- Overleaf. The published small-team estimate on this stack is $1,200 a year.
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