Toxic vs Linphone
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Toxic | Linphone |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 74 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,305 | ★ 506 |
| First released | 2014 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Skype, WhatsApp | Skype, Zoom |
What are Toxic and Linphone?
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
Linphone
Linphone is a free SIP-based softphone for voice and video calls and instant messaging. Combined with a SIP server it forms a fully self-hosted communication stack across desktop and mobile.
- SIP voice and video
- End-to-end encryption with ZRTP
- Cross-platform clients
- Instant messaging support
Toxic vs Linphone: key differences
Toxic is written in C, while Linphone is built with C++. Toxic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Linphone. Linphone is the more established project (first released 2001), while Toxic arrived in 2014. Toxic has the considerably larger community, at 1,305 GitHub stars versus 506.
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 Linphone if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Toxic or Linphone 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 Linphone free and open-source?
Yes. Toxic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Linphone under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toxic and Linphone with Docker?
Toxic: check the project docs for container support. Linphone: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Toxic or Linphone?
Toxic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Linphone. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.