SHSelfHostIndex

Metronome IM vs Chatmail Relay

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?
ME Metronome IM Lightweight, fork-based XMPP communication server VS CH Chatmail Relay Minimal email server tuned for Delta Chat messaging
FeatureMetronome IMChatmail Relay
CategoryMatrix & XMPPChat & Communication
LicenseMITMPL-2.0
LanguageLuaPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 175★ 476
First released20122023
ReplacesSlack, WhatsAppWhatsApp, Signal

Why pick each one

Choose Metronome IM if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Lua
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Metronome IM details

Choose Chatmail Relay if…

  • Uses open email standards
  • Hard to censor
Chatmail Relay details

Frequently asked questions

Is Metronome IM or Chatmail Relay better?

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

Are Metronome IM and Chatmail Relay free and open-source?

Yes. Metronome IM is licensed under MIT and Chatmail Relay under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Metronome IM and Chatmail Relay with Docker?

Metronome IM: yes. Chatmail Relay: yes.

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