SimpleX Chat vs WeeChat

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?
FeatureSimpleX ChatWeeChat
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguageHaskellC
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 19,211★ 3,366
First released20212003
ReplacesSignal, WhatsApp, TelegramSlack

Why pick each one

Choose SimpleX Chat if…

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

Choose WeeChat if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Active community (3.4k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
WeeChat details

Frequently asked questions

Is SimpleX Chat or WeeChat 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 SimpleX Chat and WeeChat free and open-source?

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

Can I run SimpleX Chat and WeeChat with Docker?

SimpleX Chat: yes. WeeChat: check the project docs for container support.

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