Tinode vs The Lounge

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureTinodeThe Lounge
CategoryMatrix & XMPPChat & Communication
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 13,452★ 6,309
First released20162014
ReplacesWhatsApp, SlackIRCCloud, Slack

Why pick each one

Choose Tinode if…

  • Good developer foundation
  • Multiple clients
  • Lightweight
Tinode details

Choose The Lounge if…

  • Great IRC experience in the browser
  • Multi-user support
The Lounge details

Frequently asked questions

Is Tinode or The Lounge better?

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

Are Tinode and The Lounge free and open-source?

Yes. Tinode is licensed under GPL-3.0 and The Lounge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Tinode and The Lounge with Docker?

Tinode: yes. The Lounge: yes.

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