Chatmail vs SimpleX Chat
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories
— licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one
replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Compare Chatmail with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Tinode mailcow Mautic Mailpit Berty ejabberd qTox Synapse FluffyChat Quicksy Bridge MongooseIM Toxic Syphon Delta Chat Element X Briar Session Chatmail Relay SchildiChat Snikket Tigase XMPP Server Wesh Network Metronome IM
Compare SimpleX Chat with
choose an app… Plane Chatwoot Focalboard Super Productivity Wekan Etherpad OpenProject Habitica Self-Hosted Tinode Planka Leantime Centrifugo Screego Typebot git-bug Kanboard Berty Mumble Kaneo ejabberd The Lounge Papercups Taskwarrior Zammad WorkAdventure Soketi Remark42 Isso FreeSWITCH qTox MiroTalk Synapse Ferdium FreeScout Telegram Bot API Server Rustpad Asterisk WeeChat Ergo irssi FluffyChat Quicksy Bridge Kamailio Cusdis Tox Stoat AnyCable Chitchatter Live Helper Chat Spacebar Nextcloud Talk Indico RetroShare SIPCAPTURE Homer Peer-calls MongooseIM mautrix-telegram Routr GlobaLeaks openSIPS mautrix Databag Galène InspIRCd Candy Toxic Hyphanet Syphon FusionPBX soju KiwiIRC Glowing Bear Bonfire Pretalx Delta Chat Element X Notifo SimpleX Briar Quassel IRC OTS matrix-commander Mumble Web Comentario mautrix-signal BitlBee ngIRCd Miaou Session Nextcloud Talk Signaling Server UnrealIRCd MiroTalk C2C matrix-appservice-irc Linphone Chatmail Relay SchildiChat Hookshot Snikket Atheme IRC Services Maunium Sticker Picker Spectrum 2 Shhh Gamja Jami Server Bridge Mollysocket Anope PushBits Tigase XMPP Server Comm Heisenbridge Slixmpp Ferdium Server Solanum Wesh Network Draupnir baibot matrix-media-repo Charybdis IRCd Zusam Cactus Comments ircd-hybrid Scuttlebutt Room Robust IRC Flexisip Metronome IM SAMA Biboumi Monocles Chat Hebbot ircu2 Prose Libervia Jami YunoHost Mail Relay 3CX ARN-Messager Freepbx GNUnet Groupboard MailBag Mailman3 Mailing List Manager Mlmmj Web Peachpub PrivMX WebMail SIP3 TrueConf Wazo Yeti-Switch
Feature Chatmail SimpleX Chat Category Mail Servers Chat & Communication License MPL-2.0 AGPL-3.0 Language Python Haskell Setup difficulty Medium Medium Min. RAM 512 MB 256 MB Deployment docker, bare-metal, source docker, binary, source GitHub stars ★ 476 ★ 19,211 First released 2023 2021 Replaces WhatsApp Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram
Why pick each one
Choose Chatmail if… Released under the MPL-2.0 license First-class Docker support for quick deployment Written in Python Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM Chatmail details
Frequently asked questions Is Chatmail or SimpleX Chat better? Neither is universally better. SimpleX Chat has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Chatmail and SimpleX Chat free and open-source? Yes. Chatmail is licensed under MPL-2.0 and SimpleX Chat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chatmail and SimpleX Chat with Docker? Chatmail: yes. SimpleX Chat: yes.