Toxic vs Chatmail Relay
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Toxic | Chatmail Relay |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 79 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,305 | ★ 484 |
| First released | 2014 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Skype, WhatsApp | WhatsApp, Signal |
What are Toxic and Chatmail Relay?
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
Chatmail Relay
A minimal, opinionated mail server configuration optimized to act as a relay for Delta Chat clients, providing instant, encrypted messaging over standard email. It is provisioned automatically for low-maintenance operation.
- Email-based messaging
- Automatic provisioning
- End-to-end encryption
- Low maintenance
Toxic vs Chatmail Relay: key differences
Toxic is written in C, while Chatmail Relay is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Toxic versus MPL-2.0 for Chatmail Relay. Toxic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Chatmail Relay. Toxic is the more established project (first released 2014), while Chatmail Relay arrived in 2023. Toxic has the considerably larger community, at 1,305 GitHub stars versus 484. Chatmail Relay 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 Chatmail Relay if…
- Uses open email standards
- Hard to censor
Watch out for
- Requires mail server knowledge
- Newer project
Frequently asked questions
Is Toxic or Chatmail Relay better?
Neither is universally better. Toxic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Toxic and Chatmail Relay free and open-source?
Yes. Toxic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Chatmail Relay under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toxic and Chatmail Relay with Docker?
Toxic: check the project docs for container support. Chatmail Relay: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Toxic or Chatmail Relay?
Toxic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Chatmail Relay. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.