MongooseIM vs SimpleX Chat

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?
FeatureMongooseIMSimpleX Chat
CategoryMatrix & XMPPChat & Communication
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageErlangHaskell
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 1,748★ 19,211
First released20122021
ReplacesSlack, WhatsAppSignal, WhatsApp, Telegram

Why pick each one

Choose MongooseIM if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Erlang
MongooseIM details

Choose SimpleX Chat if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is MongooseIM or SimpleX Chat better?

SimpleX Chat is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider MongooseIM if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are MongooseIM and SimpleX Chat free and open-source?

Yes. MongooseIM is licensed under GPL-2.0 and SimpleX Chat under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run MongooseIM and SimpleX Chat with Docker?

MongooseIM: yes. SimpleX Chat: yes.

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