Berty vs Glowing Bear
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
Glowing Bear
Web front end for the WeeChat IRC relay
| Feature | Berty | Glowing Bear |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,268 | ★ 975 |
| First released | 2018 | 2014 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | IRCCloud, 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
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Glowing Bear better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community, while Glowing Bear is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Berty and Glowing Bear free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Glowing Bear under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Glowing Bear with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Glowing Bear: yes.