Berty vs soju
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
soju
User-friendly IRC bouncer with multi-network support
| Feature | Berty | soju |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 1,000 |
| First released | 2018 | 2020 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | IRCCloud |
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 soju if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or soju better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while soju is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and soju free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and soju under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and soju with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. soju: yes.