SHSelfHostIndex

Centrifugo 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?
CE Centrifugo Scalable real-time messaging server for apps and websites VS GL Glowing Bear Web front end for the WeeChat IRC relay
FeatureCentrifugoGlowing Bear
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageGoJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 10,590★ 975
First released20152014
ReplacesPusher, Firebase Realtime DatabaseIRCCloud, Slack

Why pick each one

Choose Centrifugo if…

  • Handles many connections
  • Easy to integrate
Centrifugo details

Choose Glowing Bear if…

  • Leverages WeeChat power
  • Works on mobile browsers
Glowing Bear details

Frequently asked questions

Is Centrifugo or Glowing Bear 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 Glowing Bear free and open-source?

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

Can I run Centrifugo and Glowing Bear with Docker?

Centrifugo: yes. Glowing Bear: yes.

Related comparisons