Bonfire vs Miaou
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Bonfire | Miaou |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 65 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Elixir | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 943 | ★ 553 |
| First released | 2020 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Facebook Groups, Discord | Discord, Slack |
What are Bonfire and Miaou?
Bonfire
Bonfire is a flexible, modular framework for building federated social networks and digital communities. It supports ActivityPub federation and is highly customizable through extensions.
- Modular extension architecture
- ActivityPub federation
- Customizable community flavors
- Privacy-focused design
Miaou
Miaou is a real-time chat server geared toward developer communities, with markdown formatting, syntax-highlighted code blocks, polls, and per-room moderation. It is the software behind the public Miaou chat used by Rust developers.
- Markdown and code-block friendly chat
- Multi-room with moderation
- OAuth login support
- Popular with developer communities
Bonfire vs Miaou: key differences
Bonfire is written in Elixir, while Miaou is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Bonfire versus MIT for Miaou. Miaou is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Bonfire. Miaou is the more established project (first released 2014), while Bonfire arrived in 2020. Bonfire lists first-class Docker deployment; Miaou does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Bonfire if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Elixir
Watch out for
- Still maturing
- Complex to configure
Choose Miaou if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Bonfire or Miaou better?
Neither is universally better. Bonfire has the larger community, while Miaou is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Bonfire and Miaou free and open-source?
Yes. Bonfire is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Miaou under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bonfire and Miaou with Docker?
Bonfire: yes. Miaou: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Bonfire or Miaou?
Miaou has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Bonfire. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.