Toxic vs Delta Chat
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Delta Chat
Decentralized messenger built on top of email
| Feature | Toxic | Delta Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,305 | ★ 929 |
| First released | 2014 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Skype, WhatsApp | WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram |
What are Toxic and Delta Chat?
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
Delta Chat
Delta Chat is a messaging app that uses standard email servers as its transport, providing chat-like UX with end-to-end encryption. Any IMAP/SMTP mail server can serve as the self-hosted backend.
- Uses existing email infrastructure
- Autocrypt end-to-end encryption
- No phone number required
- Cross-platform clients
Toxic vs Delta Chat: key differences
Toxic is written in C, while Delta Chat is built with Rust. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Toxic versus MPL-2.0 for Delta Chat. Toxic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Delta Chat. Toxic is the more established project (first released 2014), while Delta Chat arrived in 2017.
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 Delta Chat if…
- Leverages decentralized email
- No new server protocol
Watch out for
- Email latency for messages
- Needs an IMAP/SMTP account
Frequently asked questions
Is Toxic or Delta Chat 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 Delta Chat free and open-source?
Yes. Toxic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Delta Chat under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toxic and Delta Chat with Docker?
Toxic: check the project docs for container support. Delta Chat: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Toxic or Delta Chat?
Toxic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Delta Chat. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.