Berty vs Scuttlebutt Room
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
Scuttlebutt Room
Secure Scuttlebutt room server
| Feature | Berty | Scuttlebutt Room |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 100 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2018 | 2023 |
| 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 Scuttlebutt Room if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 100 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Scuttlebutt Room better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Scuttlebutt Room is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Scuttlebutt Room free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Scuttlebutt Room under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Scuttlebutt Room with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Scuttlebutt Room: check the project docs for container support.