Centrifugo vs Chatmail Relay

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?
FeatureCentrifugoChatmail Relay
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITMPL-2.0
LanguageGoPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 10,590★ 476
First released20152023
ReplacesPusher, Firebase Realtime DatabaseWhatsApp, Signal

Why pick each one

Choose Centrifugo if…

  • Handles many connections
  • Easy to integrate
Centrifugo details

Choose Chatmail Relay if…

  • Uses open email standards
  • Hard to censor
Chatmail Relay details

Frequently asked questions

Is Centrifugo or Chatmail Relay better?

Neither is universally better. Centrifugo has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Centrifugo and Chatmail Relay free and open-source?

Yes. Centrifugo is licensed under MIT and Chatmail Relay under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Centrifugo and Chatmail Relay with Docker?

Centrifugo: yes. Chatmail Relay: yes.

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