head to head · open source
Huly vs chat
Huly has 27,724 GitHub stars, 2,159 forks, 849 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. chat has 13,512 stars, 2,079 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Huly leads on adoption by 105% (27,724 vs 13,512 stars). Huly is written in TypeScript under EPL-2.0; chat is written in Go under GPL-3.0. Huly has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, chat 15%. Huly was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (chat-application), 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
| Huly | chat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 14K |
| License | EPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Huly if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the EPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chat if
- You want the chat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and chat fits your workflow better
About Huly
Huly is an open source, EPL 2.0 licensed, TypeScript built all in one work platform that folds project management, issue tracking, chat, CRM, HRM and applicant tracking into one system teams can run on their own servers, aimed at organisations that want the ground Jira, Linear, ClickUp, Slack and Notion cover without renting it from five separate vendors.
About chat
Tinode is an open source, full stack instant messaging server that pairs a Go backend with native iOS, Android, web, and command line clients, built for developers and operators who want to run or federate their own messaging platform rather than rent one.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Huly or chat more popular?
Huly has 27,724 GitHub stars and chat has 13,512. Huly has the larger community by that measure.
Are Huly and chat free?
Both are open source. Huly is licensed under EPL-2.0 and chat under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Huly and chat?
Huly is written in TypeScript and chat in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Huly or chat?
Choose Huly if you want the larger community (27,724 stars) or its EPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose chat if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.