Toxic vs Peer-calls
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Peer-calls
Group peer to peer video calls for everyone
| Feature | Toxic | Peer-calls |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 37 · At risk |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,305 | ★ 1,900 |
| First released | 2014 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Skype, WhatsApp | BigBlueButton, Skype, Zoom |
What are Toxic and Peer-calls?
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
Peer-calls
Group peer to peer video calls for everyone.
Toxic vs Peer-calls: key differences
Toxic is written in C, while Peer-calls is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Toxic versus Apache-2.0 for Peer-calls. Peer-calls is the lighter option, starting around 50 MB of RAM against 64 MB for Toxic. Toxic is the more established project (first released 2014), while Peer-calls arrived in 2024.
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 Peer-calls if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Toxic or Peer-calls better?
Peer-calls is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Toxic if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Toxic and Peer-calls free and open-source?
Yes. Toxic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Peer-calls under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Toxic and Peer-calls with Docker?
Toxic: check the project docs for container support. Peer-calls: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Toxic or Peer-calls?
Peer-calls has the smaller minimum footprint at 50 MB of RAM, compared to about 64 MB for Toxic. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.