CertifiCat

What CertifiCat is

CertifiCat is a self-hosted certificate generation and management project for event organisers. Organisers can run it on their own server under their own domain, create events in its admin panel, and upload templates they provide. The same templates can be used to produce certificates for multiple events. Recipients retrieve certificates from a download page by entering a certificate code or user ID.

The project is open source and licensed under AGPL-3.0. Its admin authentication and database services use Firebase, with email and password authentication configured for the admin user. A running MongoDB instance is required to store base PDF files for certificate templates. Setup calls for a Firebase project on the Blaze plan with Firestore and Storage enabled; the project instructions also advise disabling Firebase sign-up to prevent other users from registering. To install it, the instructions describe cloning the repository, installing dependencies with Yarn, building the project, and starting the server. CertifiCat is free to use, with a listed plan price of $0 and no paid tiers or usage limits stated.

Who it suits

CertifiCat suits event organisers who want to create and distribute certificates using templates they provide. It is a fit for organisers able to host the application themselves and set up Firebase and MongoDB.

Getting started

1. Create a Firebase project on the Blaze plan and enable Firestore and Storage.
2. Set up a running MongoDB instance for certificate template PDFs.
3. Clone the CertifiCat repository.
4. Install the dependencies with Yarn.
5. Build the project and start the server.
6. Disable Firebase sign-up as the project instructions advise.

Verdict

Choose CertifiCat if you want a free, open-source certificate tool that you can host and configure for your events. Its setup depends on Firebase and MongoDB, so it may not suit organisers who do not want to manage those services.