Papercups vs RetroShare
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?
Papercups
Open-source live chat and customer messaging
VS
RetroShare
Secured and decentralized communication system
| Feature | Papercups | RetroShare |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Chat & Communication | Chat & Communication |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Elixir | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,097 | ★ 2,006 |
| First released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Intercom, Drift | — |
Why pick each one
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
Choose RetroShare if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Papercups or RetroShare better?
Neither is universally better. Papercups has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Papercups and RetroShare free and open-source?
Yes. Papercups is licensed under MIT and RetroShare under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Papercups and RetroShare with Docker?
Papercups: yes. RetroShare: check the project docs for container support.