Berty vs Slixmpp
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
Slixmpp
XMPP library for building bots and chat extensions
| Feature | Berty | Slixmpp |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2018 | 2014 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | Slack apps |
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 Slixmpp if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Slixmpp better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Slixmpp is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Slixmpp free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Slixmpp under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Slixmpp with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Slixmpp: check the project docs for container support.