Berty vs Delta Chat
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Delta Chat
Decentralized messenger built on top of email
| Feature | Berty | Delta Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,305 | ★ 929 |
| First released | 2018 | 2017 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram |
What are Berty and Delta Chat?
Berty
Berty is a secure peer-to-peer messaging application built on the IPFS-based Wesh protocol. It can operate without internet access using local networks and Bluetooth.
- Works without internet via P2P
- End-to-end encryption
- No account or phone number
- Built on IPFS
Delta Chat
Delta Chat is a messaging app that uses standard email servers as its transport, providing chat-like UX with end-to-end encryption. Any IMAP/SMTP mail server can serve as the self-hosted backend.
- Uses existing email infrastructure
- Autocrypt end-to-end encryption
- No phone number required
- Cross-platform clients
Berty vs Delta Chat: key differences
Berty is written in TypeScript, while Delta Chat is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Berty versus MPL-2.0 for Delta Chat. Berty has the considerably larger community, at 9,305 GitHub stars versus 929.
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
Watch out for
- Still considered experimental
- P2P discovery limitations
Choose Delta Chat if…
- Leverages decentralized email
- No new server protocol
Watch out for
- Email latency for messages
- Needs an IMAP/SMTP account
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Delta Chat better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Delta Chat is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Delta Chat free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Delta Chat under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Delta Chat with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Delta Chat: check the project docs for container support.