FreeSWITCH vs Papercups
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?
FreeSWITCH
Scalable software telephony platform
VS
Papercups
Open-source live chat and customer messaging
| Feature | FreeSWITCH | Papercups |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,069 | ★ 6,097 |
| First released | 2006 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Twilio, Asterisk | Intercom, Drift |
Why pick each one
Choose FreeSWITCH if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
- Written in C
Choose Papercups if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Elixir
Frequently asked questions
Is FreeSWITCH or Papercups better?
Papercups is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider FreeSWITCH if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are FreeSWITCH and Papercups free and open-source?
Yes. FreeSWITCH is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Papercups under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreeSWITCH and Papercups with Docker?
FreeSWITCH: yes. Papercups: yes.