Isso vs SimpleX Chat

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?
FeatureIssoSimpleX Chat
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguagePythonHaskell
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 5,296★ 19,211
First released20122021
ReplacesDisqusSignal, WhatsApp, Telegram

Why pick each one

Choose Isso if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Easy to integrate with static sites
Isso details

Choose SimpleX Chat if…

  • Best-in-class metadata privacy
  • Run your own relays
SimpleX Chat details

Frequently asked questions

Is Isso or SimpleX Chat better?

Neither is universally better. SimpleX Chat has the larger community, while Isso is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Isso and SimpleX Chat free and open-source?

Yes. Isso is licensed under MIT and SimpleX Chat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Isso and SimpleX Chat with Docker?

Isso: yes. SimpleX Chat: yes.

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