Toxic vs Conversations
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Toxic | Conversations |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,305 | ★ 3,000 |
| First released | 2014 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Skype, WhatsApp | WhatsApp, Signal |
What are Toxic and Conversations?
Toxic
Toxic is a console client for the peer-to-peer, encrypted Tox communication protocol. It provides text chat, file transfer, and audio calls from the terminal with no central servers.
- Terminal-based Tox client
- Fully peer-to-peer
- Encrypted chat and calls
- File transfer support
Conversations
Conversations is an open-source XMPP (Jabber) client for Android supporting OMEMO end-to-end encryption, multi-user chats, and file transfer. It works with any standards-compliant XMPP server, including self-hosted ones.
Toxic vs Conversations: key differences
Toxic is written in C, while Conversations is built with Java. Toxic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Conversations. Toxic is the more established project (first released 2014), while Conversations arrived in 2018. Conversations has the considerably larger community, at 3,000 GitHub stars versus 1,305. Conversations lists first-class Docker deployment; Toxic does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Toxic if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Terminal UI only
- No offline messaging
Choose Conversations if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Toxic or Conversations better?
Neither is universally better. Conversations has the larger community, while Toxic is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Toxic and Conversations free and open-source?
Yes. Toxic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Conversations under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toxic and Conversations with Docker?
Toxic: check the project docs for container support. Conversations: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Toxic or Conversations?
Toxic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Conversations. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.