head to head · open source
Buzz vs Openfire
Buzz has 36,686 GitHub stars, 4,869 forks, 3,556 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Openfire has 3,074 stars, 1,399 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Buzz leads on adoption by 1,093% (36,686 vs 3,074 stars). Buzz is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; Openfire is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Buzz has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Openfire 46%. Buzz 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
| Buzz | Openfire | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.9K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Buzz if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Openfire if
- You want the Openfire feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Openfire fits your workflow better
About Buzz
Buzz 🐝 A workspace where humans and agents build together, on a relay you own. Vision · Sovereign · Forge · Agents · Architecture · Releasing · Apache 2.0 People and agents building together in the same room. What is this, really? Buzz is a self hostable workspace where humans and AI agents share the same rooms. A Buzz community is the workspace a user reaches by URL. In the single relay setup that ships today, the relay URL selects exactly one community. A hosted operator can serve many communities behind many domains or subdomains, but the client facing rule stays the same: the URL is authoritative for the…
About Openfire
Openfire ======== About [Openfire] is a real time collaboration (RTC) server licensed under the Open Source Apache License. It uses the only widely adopted open protocol for instant messaging, XMPP (also called Jabber). Openfire is incredibly easy to set up and administer, but offers rock solid security and performance. [Openfire] is an XMPP server licensed under the Open Source Apache License. [Openfire] an [Ignite Realtime] community project. Bug Reporting Only a few users have access for filling bugs in the tracker. New users should: 1. Create a Discourse account 2. Login to a Discourse account 3. Click on…
read the full Openfire overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Buzz or Openfire more popular?
Buzz has 36,686 GitHub stars and Openfire has 3,074. Buzz has the larger community by that measure.
Are Buzz and Openfire free?
Both are open source. Buzz is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Openfire under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Buzz and Openfire?
Buzz is written in Rust and Openfire in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Buzz or Openfire?
Choose Buzz if you want the larger community (36,686 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Openfire if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.