head to head · open source
chat vs agentes-chat
chat has 13,571 GitHub stars, 2,097 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped yesterday. agentes-chat has 1,354 stars, 236 forks, 150 open issues and last shipped today. chat leads on adoption by 902% (13,571 vs 1,354 stars). chat is written in Go under GPL-3.0; agentes-chat is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. chat has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, agentes-chat 17%. agentes-chat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (chat, collaboration), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| chat | agentes-chat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 14K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-13 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 236 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick chat if
- You weight community size — 14K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick agentes-chat if
- You want the agentes-chat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and agentes-chat fits your workflow better
About chat
Tinode Instant Messaging Server Instant messaging full stack. Backend in pure Go (license GPL 3.0), clients for Android (Java), iOS (Swift), and web (ReactJS), as well as gRPC client support for C++, C , Go, Java, Node, PHP, Python, Ruby, Objective C, etc (all clients licensed under Apache 2.0). Wire transport is JSON over websocket (long polling is also available) or protobuf with gRPC. This is beta quality software: feature complete and stable but probably with a few bugs or missing features. Follow instructions to install and run or use one of the cloud services below. Read API documentation. Tinode is not…
About agentes-chat
agentes.chat The open source, self hosted Slack alternative where your team and AI agents work together. Website · Cloud · Self hosting · Features · Discussions Agents join your channels and DMs with a role, an owner and a budget, work where everyone can see, and ask before anything sensitive. They think with Claude, ChatGPT and Codex, Gemini, Grok or any OpenRouter model, use MCP tools, and get a computer and a browser of their own. Self hosting is free and always will be (AGPL 3.0, no license key, no paid tier), or use agentes.chat Cloud, the paid, hosted option: both run this same codebase. Why agentes.chat…
read the full agentes-chat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chat or agentes-chat more popular?
chat has 13,571 GitHub stars and agentes-chat has 1,354. chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are chat and agentes-chat free?
Both are open source. chat is licensed under GPL-3.0 and agentes-chat under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chat and agentes-chat?
chat is written in Go and agentes-chat 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, chat or agentes-chat?
Choose chat if you want the larger community (13,571 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose agentes-chat if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.