Cusdis vs The Lounge

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?
FeatureCusdisThe Lounge
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 2,785★ 6,309
First released20212014
ReplacesDisqusIRCCloud, Slack

Why pick each one

Choose Cusdis if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
Cusdis details

Choose The Lounge if…

  • Great IRC experience in the browser
  • Multi-user support
The Lounge details

Frequently asked questions

Is Cusdis or The Lounge better?

Neither is universally better. The Lounge has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Cusdis and The Lounge free and open-source?

Yes. Cusdis is licensed under GPL-3.0 and The Lounge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Cusdis and The Lounge with Docker?

Cusdis: yes. The Lounge: yes.

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