Libervia 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?
Libervia
Multi-frontend XMPP communication ecosystem
VS
Papercups
Open-source live chat and customer messaging
| Feature | Libervia | Papercups |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Elixir |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 50 | ★ 6,097 |
| First released | 2009 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Slack, Facebook | Intercom, Drift |
Why pick each one
Choose Libervia if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 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 Libervia or Papercups better?
Papercups is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Libervia if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Libervia and Papercups free and open-source?
Yes. Libervia is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Papercups under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Libervia and Papercups with Docker?
Libervia: check the project docs for container support. Papercups: yes.