Berty vs Jami
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Berty | Jami |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 62 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,306 | ★ 44 |
| First released | 2018 | 2016 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp |
What are Berty and Jami?
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
Jami
Jami is a free and universal communication platform that preserves privacy through a fully distributed, peer-to-peer architecture with no central servers. It supports messaging, voice, and video calls.
- No central server, fully P2P
- End-to-end encrypted calls and chat
- Cross-platform clients
- Can run a private rendezvous server
Berty vs Jami: key differences
Berty is written in TypeScript, while Jami is built with C++. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Berty versus GPL-3.0 for Jami. Jami is the more established project (first released 2016), while Berty arrived in 2018. Berty has the considerably larger community, at 9,306 GitHub stars versus 44.
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 Jami if…
- No infrastructure required
- Strong privacy model
Watch out for
- P2P can be unreliable behind NAT
- No always-online message storage
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Jami better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Jami is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Jami free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Jami under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Jami with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Jami: check the project docs for container support.