Berty vs Bonfire
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?
Berty
Peer-to-peer messaging app that works offline
VS
Bonfire
Federated social networking toolkit for communities
| Feature | Berty | Bonfire |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 930 |
| First released | 2018 | 2020 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | Facebook Groups, Discord |
Why pick each one
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
Choose Bonfire if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Elixir
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Bonfire 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 Berty and Bonfire free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Bonfire under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Bonfire with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Bonfire: yes.