Berty vs Wesh Network
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Berty | Wesh Network |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 56 · Fair |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,305 | ★ 251 |
| First released | 2018 | 2022 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal | Signal, WhatsApp |
What are Berty and Wesh Network?
Berty
Berty is a secure peer-to-peer messaging application built on the IPFS-based Wesh protocol. It can operate without internet access using local networks and Bluetooth.
- Works without internet via P2P
- End-to-end encryption
- No account or phone number
- Built on IPFS
Wesh Network
Wesh Network is the peer-to-peer protocol toolkit powering Berty, providing end-to-end encrypted, asynchronous messaging that works without central servers or phone numbers. It can be self-hosted as relay infrastructure.
- Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging protocol
- Works without central servers
- No phone number required
Berty vs Wesh Network: key differences
Berty is written in TypeScript, while Wesh Network is built with Go. Berty is the more established project (first released 2018), while Wesh Network arrived in 2022. Berty has the considerably larger community, at 9,305 GitHub stars versus 251.
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
Watch out for
- Still considered experimental
- P2P discovery limitations
Choose Wesh Network if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Berty or Wesh Network better?
Neither is universally better. Berty has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Berty and Wesh Network free and open-source?
Yes. Berty is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Wesh Network under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Berty and Wesh Network with Docker?
Berty: check the project docs for container support. Wesh Network: check the project docs for container support.