Hookshot vs Miaou
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted chat & communication options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Hookshot | Miaou |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 65 · Good |
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 453 | ★ 553 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Slack | Discord, Slack |
What are Hookshot and Miaou?
Hookshot
Hookshot is a Matrix integration bridge that connects rooms to GitHub, GitLab, Jira, RSS feeds, and generic webhooks. It lets teams receive and act on notifications inside Matrix.
- GitHub, GitLab and Jira integration
- Generic inbound and outbound webhooks
- RSS and Atom feed support
- Interactive notification actions
Miaou
Miaou is a real-time chat server geared toward developer communities, with markdown formatting, syntax-highlighted code blocks, polls, and per-room moderation. It is the software behind the public Miaou chat used by Rust developers.
- Markdown and code-block friendly chat
- Multi-room with moderation
- OAuth login support
- Popular with developer communities
Hookshot vs Miaou: key differences
Hookshot is written in TypeScript, while Miaou is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Hookshot versus MIT for Miaou. Miaou is the more established project (first released 2014), while Hookshot arrived in 2021. Hookshot lists first-class Docker deployment; Miaou does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Hookshot if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Requires a Matrix homeserver
- Configuration is YAML-heavy
Choose Miaou if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Hookshot or Miaou better?
Neither is universally better. Miaou has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Hookshot and Miaou free and open-source?
Yes. Hookshot is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Miaou under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Hookshot and Miaou with Docker?
Hookshot: yes. Miaou: check the project docs for container support.