Remark42 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?
FeatureRemark42SimpleX Chat
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageGoHaskell
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 5,574★ 19,211
First released20172021
ReplacesDisqusSignal, WhatsApp, Telegram

Why pick each one

Choose Remark42 if…

  • Privacy-respecting
  • Simple single-binary deploy
Remark42 details

Choose SimpleX Chat if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is Remark42 or SimpleX Chat better?

Neither is universally better. SimpleX Chat has the larger community, while Remark42 is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Remark42 and SimpleX Chat free and open-source?

Yes. Remark42 is licensed under MIT and SimpleX Chat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Remark42 and SimpleX Chat with Docker?

Remark42: yes. SimpleX Chat: yes.

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