SHSelfHostIndex

Centrifugo vs SAMA

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?
CE Centrifugo Scalable real-time messaging server for apps and websites VS SA SAMA Next-Gen self-hosted chat server and clients
FeatureCentrifugoSAMA
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageGoJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker
GitHub stars★ 10,590★ 159
First released20152026
ReplacesPusher, Firebase Realtime Database—

Why pick each one

Choose Centrifugo if…

  • Handles many connections
  • Easy to integrate
Centrifugo details

Choose SAMA if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in JavaScript
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
SAMA details

Frequently asked questions

Is Centrifugo or SAMA 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 SAMA free and open-source?

Yes. Centrifugo is licensed under MIT and SAMA under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Centrifugo and SAMA with Docker?

Centrifugo: yes. SAMA: yes.

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