Berty vs Miaou
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
Miaou
Self-hosted multi-room chat with markdown and code blocks
| Feature | Berty | Miaou |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 553 |
| First released | 2018 | 2014 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | Discord, Slack |
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 Miaou if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Miaou better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Miaou is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Miaou free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Miaou under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Miaou with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Miaou: check the project docs for container support.