Gamja 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?
Gamja
Simple, lightweight web-based IRC client
VS
Papercups
Open-source live chat and customer messaging
| Feature | Gamja | Papercups |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 400 | ★ 6,097 |
| First released | 2020 | 2020 |
| Replaces | IRCCloud | Intercom, Drift |
Why pick each one
Choose Gamja if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
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 Gamja or Papercups better?
Neither is universally better. Papercups has the larger community, while Gamja is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Gamja and Papercups free and open-source?
Yes. Gamja is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Papercups under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gamja and Papercups with Docker?
Gamja: check the project docs for container support. Papercups: yes.