Berty vs Quassel IRC
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
Quassel IRC
Distributed IRC client with an always-on core
| Feature | Berty | Quassel IRC |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 789 |
| First released | 2018 | 2008 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | 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 Quassel IRC if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Quassel IRC better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Quassel IRC is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Quassel IRC free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Quassel IRC under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Quassel IRC with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Quassel IRC: yes.