Berty vs Shhh
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
Shhh
Keep secrets out of emails or chat logs, share them using secure links
| Feature | Berty | Shhh |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 416 |
| First released | 2018 | 2026 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, 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
Choose Shhh if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Shhh better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Shhh is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Shhh free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Shhh under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Shhh with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Shhh: check the project docs for container support.