Ferdium vs qTox
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?
Ferdium
All-in-one messenger that combines chat services
VS
qTox
Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging and calls over Tox
| Feature | Ferdium | qTox |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,478 | ★ 4,977 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Rambox, Station | Skype, WhatsApp |
Why pick each one
Choose Ferdium if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Ferdium or qTox better?
Neither is universally better. qTox has the larger community, while Ferdium is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ferdium and qTox free and open-source?
Yes. Ferdium is licensed under Apache-2.0 and qTox under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ferdium and qTox with Docker?
Ferdium: yes. qTox: check the project docs for container support.