Delta Chat vs qTox
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
qTox
Archived
Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging and calls over Tox
| Feature | Delta Chat | qTox |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 929 | ★ 4,976 |
| First released | 2017 | 2014 |
| Replaces | WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram | Skype, WhatsApp |
What are Delta Chat and qTox?
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
qTox
qTox is a Qt-based client for the Tox protocol, a fully distributed, encrypted, peer-to-peer communication network. It supports text chat, file transfer, voice, and video without any central servers.
- Fully peer-to-peer, no servers
- End-to-end encryption
- Voice and video calls
- File transfer
Delta Chat vs qTox: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: qTox's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Delta Chat is actively maintained. Delta Chat is written in Rust, while qTox is built with C++. Licensing differs — MPL-2.0 for Delta Chat versus GPL-3.0 for qTox. QTox is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Delta Chat. QTox is the more established project (first released 2014), while Delta Chat arrived in 2017. QTox has the considerably larger community, at 4,976 GitHub stars versus 929.
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 qTox if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (5k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- No offline messaging
- Project development has slowed
Frequently asked questions
Is Delta Chat or qTox better?
Neither is universally better. qTox has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Delta Chat and qTox free and open-source?
Yes. Delta Chat is licensed under MPL-2.0 and qTox under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Delta Chat and qTox with Docker?
Delta Chat: check the project docs for container support. qTox: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Delta Chat or qTox?
qTox has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Delta Chat. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.