Toxic vs MongooseIM
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Toxic
Terminal-based client for the Tox messaging network
VS
MongooseIM
Scalable, robust XMPP messaging platform
| Feature | Toxic | MongooseIM |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | Erlang |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,301 | ★ 1,748 |
| First released | 2014 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Skype, WhatsApp | Slack, WhatsApp |
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
Choose MongooseIM if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Erlang
Frequently asked questions
Is Toxic or MongooseIM better?
Neither is universally better. MongooseIM 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 MongooseIM free and open-source?
Yes. Toxic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and MongooseIM under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toxic and MongooseIM with Docker?
Toxic: check the project docs for container support. MongooseIM: yes.