Chatmail Relay vs The Lounge

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureChatmail RelayThe Lounge
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMPL-2.0MIT
LanguagePythonTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 476★ 6,309
First released20232014
ReplacesWhatsApp, SignalIRCCloud, Slack

Why pick each one

Choose Chatmail Relay if…

  • Uses open email standards
  • Hard to censor
Chatmail Relay details

Choose The Lounge if…

  • Great IRC experience in the browser
  • Multi-user support
The Lounge details

Frequently asked questions

Is Chatmail Relay or The Lounge better?

The Lounge is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Chatmail Relay if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Chatmail Relay and The Lounge free and open-source?

Yes. Chatmail Relay is licensed under MPL-2.0 and The Lounge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Chatmail Relay and The Lounge with Docker?

Chatmail Relay: yes. The Lounge: yes.

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