Asterisk vs Berty
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Asterisk
Open-source framework for building telephony systems
VS
Berty
Peer-to-peer messaging app that works offline
| Feature | Asterisk | Berty |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,431 | ★ 9,268 |
| First released | 1999 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Avaya, Cisco Unified Communications | WhatsApp, Signal |
Why pick each one
Choose Asterisk if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Choose Berty if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Asterisk or Berty better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Asterisk and Berty free and open-source?
Yes. Asterisk is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Berty under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Asterisk and Berty with Docker?
Asterisk: yes. Berty: check the project docs for container support.