Comm vs Spacebar
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Spacebar
Self-hostable, open-source Discord-compatible chat backend
| Feature | Comm | Spacebar |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 74 · Good | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 331 | ★ 2,196 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Discord |
What are Comm and Spacebar?
Comm
Comm is an open-source messaging app focused on a personal server model where users can host their own Comm node. It provides end-to-end encryption and is designed for communities and small groups.
- Personal server model
- End-to-end encryption
- Native mobile apps
- Community-oriented
Spacebar
Spacebar is a free, open-source, self-hostable chat platform that is compatible with the Discord client and API. It lets communities run their own Discord-like server infrastructure.
- Discord-API compatible
- Works with existing Discord clients
- Self-hosted communities
- Voice and text channels
Comm vs Spacebar: key differences
Comm is written in JavaScript, while Spacebar is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Comm versus AGPL-3.0 for Spacebar. Spacebar has the considerably larger community, at 2,196 GitHub stars versus 331.
Why pick each one
Choose Comm if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Spacebar if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Watch out for
- Still in heavy development
- Feature gaps versus Discord
Frequently asked questions
Is Comm or Spacebar better?
Neither is universally better. Spacebar has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Comm and Spacebar free and open-source?
Yes. Comm is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Spacebar under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Comm and Spacebar with Docker?
Comm: yes. Spacebar: yes.