Berty vs Prose

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureBertyProse
CategoryChat & CommunicationMatrix & XMPP
LicenseApache-2.0MPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptVue
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM256 MB50 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 9,268★ 58
First released20182025
ReplacesWhatsApp, SignalDiscord, Facebook Messenger, Signal

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
Berty details

Choose Prose if…

  • Released under the MPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in Vue
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Prose details

Frequently asked questions

Is Berty or Prose better?

Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Prose is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Berty and Prose free and open-source?

Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Prose under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Berty and Prose with Docker?

Berty: check the project docs for container support. Prose: check the project docs for container support.

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