Centrifugo vs Tox

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?
FeatureCentrifugoTox
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageGoC
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarybare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 10,590★ 2,670
First released20152013
ReplacesPusher, Firebase Realtime DatabaseSkype, Discord

Why pick each one

Choose Centrifugo if…

  • Handles many connections
  • Easy to integrate
Centrifugo details

Choose Tox if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Tox details

Frequently asked questions

Is Centrifugo or Tox 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 Tox free and open-source?

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

Can I run Centrifugo and Tox with Docker?

Centrifugo: yes. Tox: check the project docs for container support.

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