Delta Chat vs SimpleX 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
VS
SimpleX Chat
Private messenger without any user identifiers
| Feature | Delta Chat | SimpleX Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Haskell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 929 | ★ 19,470 |
| First released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram | Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram |
What are Delta Chat and SimpleX Chat?
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
SimpleX Chat
SimpleX Chat is a privacy-focused messaging platform that has no user profiles or identifiers, routing messages through self-hostable relay servers. Users can run their own SMP relay servers for full control.
- No user identifiers at all
- Self-hostable SMP relay servers
- End-to-end encryption
- Decentralized message routing
Delta Chat vs SimpleX Chat: key differences
Delta Chat is written in Rust, while SimpleX Chat is built with Haskell. Licensing differs — MPL-2.0 for Delta Chat versus AGPL-3.0 for SimpleX Chat. Delta Chat is the more established project (first released 2017), while SimpleX Chat arrived in 2021. SimpleX Chat has the considerably larger community, at 19,470 GitHub stars versus 929. SimpleX Chat lists first-class Docker deployment; Delta Chat does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Delta Chat if…
- Leverages decentralized email
- No new server protocol
Watch out for
- Email latency for messages
- Needs an IMAP/SMTP account
Choose SimpleX Chat if…
- Best-in-class metadata privacy
- Run your own relays
Watch out for
- Newer protocol
- Group features still maturing
Frequently asked questions
Is Delta Chat or SimpleX Chat better?
Neither is universally better. SimpleX Chat has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Delta Chat and SimpleX Chat free and open-source?
Yes. Delta Chat is licensed under MPL-2.0 and SimpleX Chat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Delta Chat and SimpleX Chat with Docker?
Delta Chat: check the project docs for container support. SimpleX Chat: yes.