Galène 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.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureGalèneSimpleX Chat
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageGoHaskell
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,372★ 19,211
First released20202021
ReplacesZoom, Google MeetSignal, WhatsApp, Telegram

Why pick each one

Choose Galène if…

  • Extremely simple to deploy
  • Efficient on small servers
Galène details

Choose SimpleX Chat if…

  • Best-in-class metadata privacy
  • Run your own relays
SimpleX Chat details

Frequently asked questions

Is Galène or SimpleX Chat better?

Neither is universally better. SimpleX Chat has the larger community, while Galène is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Galène and SimpleX Chat free and open-source?

Yes. Galène is licensed under MIT and SimpleX Chat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Galène and SimpleX Chat with Docker?

Galène: yes. SimpleX Chat: yes.

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