The Lounge vs Zammad

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?
FeatureThe LoungeZammad
CategoryChat & CommunicationChat & Communication
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptRuby
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB4,096 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 6,309★ 5,834
First released20142016
ReplacesIRCCloud, SlackZendesk, Freshdesk

Why pick each one

Choose The Lounge if…

  • Great IRC experience in the browser
  • Multi-user support
The Lounge details

Choose Zammad if…

  • Mature support workflow
  • Good integrations
Zammad details

Frequently asked questions

Is The Lounge or Zammad better?

The Lounge is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Zammad if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are The Lounge and Zammad free and open-source?

Yes. The Lounge is licensed under MIT and Zammad under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run The Lounge and Zammad with Docker?

The Lounge: yes. Zammad: yes.

Related comparisons