head to head · open source
Bluesky vs deltachat-desktop
Bluesky has 18,295 GitHub stars, 2,837 forks, 2,400 open issues and last shipped yesterday. deltachat-desktop has 1,614 stars, 246 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Bluesky leads on adoption by 1,034% (18,295 vs 1,614 stars). Bluesky is written in TypeScript under MIT; deltachat-desktop is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Bluesky has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, deltachat-desktop 15%. deltachat-desktop was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Bluesky | deltachat-desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 246 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Bluesky if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick deltachat-desktop if
- You want the deltachat-desktop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and deltachat-desktop fits your workflow better
About Bluesky
Bluesky is the open source social application codebase for the Bluesky Social app. It lives in the AT Protocol ecosystem, also called atproto, and it is written in TypeScript as a React Native application. The project provides client code for Web, iOS, and Android, and it builds on open source atproto packages such as @atproto/api, which live in a separate repository.
read the full Bluesky overview →
About deltachat-desktop
Delta Chat Desktop is the desktop application for delta.chat, an open source decentralized private messenger. The repository is written in TypeScript, licensed under GPL 3.0, and offers an Electron default, a browser edition, and a work in progress Tauri edition. Its public description presents it as a messenger with chat shared tools and games for desktop use.
read the full deltachat-desktop overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bluesky or deltachat-desktop more popular?
Bluesky has 18,295 GitHub stars and deltachat-desktop has 1,614. Bluesky has the larger community by that measure.
Are Bluesky and deltachat-desktop free?
Both are open source. Bluesky is licensed under MIT and deltachat-desktop under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Bluesky and deltachat-desktop?
Bluesky is written in TypeScript and deltachat-desktop in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Bluesky or deltachat-desktop?
Choose Bluesky if you want the larger community (18,295 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose deltachat-desktop if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.