head to head · open source
chitchatter vs SubEthaEdit
chitchatter has 2,332 GitHub stars, 434 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. SubEthaEdit has 1,431 stars, 115 forks, 93 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. chitchatter leads on adoption by 63% (2,332 vs 1,431 stars). chitchatter is written in TypeScript under GPL-2.0; SubEthaEdit is written in Objective-C under MIT. chitchatter has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, SubEthaEdit 8%. chitchatter 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
| chitchatter | SubEthaEdit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.3K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Objective-C |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2025-11-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 434 | ⑂ 115 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick chitchatter if
- You weight community size — 2.3K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SubEthaEdit if
- You want the SubEthaEdit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Objective-C
- You evaluated both and SubEthaEdit fits your workflow better
About chitchatter
Chitchatter is a TypeScript web chat application released under GPL 2.0 that provides secure peer to peer communication without a required central API server. It lives in the decentralized web mesh ecosystem, using React, WebRTC, Trystero, WebTorrent, and TURN relays to connect browsers directly. The project is a free, open source collaboration tool for private conversations, video and audio chats, screen sharing, and file transfer.
read the full chitchatter overview →
About SubEthaEdit
SubEthaEdit is a general purpose plain text editor for macOS, widely known for its live collaboration feature, and it is built for writers, developers and teams who need several people editing the same document at the same time.
read the full SubEthaEdit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chitchatter or SubEthaEdit more popular?
chitchatter has 2,332 GitHub stars and SubEthaEdit has 1,431. chitchatter has the larger community by that measure.
Are chitchatter and SubEthaEdit free?
Both are open source. chitchatter is licensed under GPL-2.0 and SubEthaEdit under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chitchatter and SubEthaEdit?
chitchatter is written in TypeScript and SubEthaEdit in Objective-C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, chitchatter or SubEthaEdit?
Choose chitchatter if you want the larger community (2,332 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose SubEthaEdit if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.