mautrix-telegram 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?
Featuremautrix-telegramSimpleX Chat
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageGoHaskell
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,715★ 19,211
First released20182021
ReplacesTelegram official clientSignal, WhatsApp, Telegram

Why pick each one

Choose mautrix-telegram if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Go
mautrix-telegram details

Choose SimpleX Chat if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is mautrix-telegram or SimpleX Chat better?

Neither is universally better. SimpleX Chat has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are mautrix-telegram and SimpleX Chat free and open-source?

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

Can I run mautrix-telegram and SimpleX Chat with Docker?

mautrix-telegram: yes. SimpleX Chat: yes.

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