head to head · open source
Ente vs Element
Ente has 29,841 GitHub stars, 1,893 forks, 229 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Element has 13,634 stars, 2,814 forks, 3,779 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ente leads on adoption by 119% (29,841 vs 13,634 stars). Ente is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Element is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Ente has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Element 21%. Element 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
| Ente | Element | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 14K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 2.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Ente if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Element if
- You want the Element 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 Element fits your workflow better
About Ente
Fully open source end to end encrypted photos, authenticators and more. Ente Ente is a service that provides a fully open source, end to end encrypted platform for you to store your data in the cloud without needing to trust the service provider. On top of this platform, we have built three apps so far: Ente Photos (an alternative to Apple and Google Photos), Ente Locker (a safe space for your most important documents and credentials), and Ente Auth (a 2FA alternative to the deprecated Authy). This monorepo contains all our source code the client apps (iOS / Android / F Droid / Web / Linux / macOS / Windows) for…
About Element
Element Element (formerly known as Vector and Riot) is a Matrix web & desktop client built using the Matrix JS SDK. Supported Environments Element has several tiers of support for different environments: Supported Definition: Issues actively triaged , regressions block the release Last 2 major versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Edge on desktop OSes Last 2 versions of Safari Latest release of official Element Desktop app on desktop OSes Desktop OSes means macOS, Windows, and Linux versions for desktop devices that are actively supported by the OS vendor and receive security updates Best effort Definition: Issues…
read the full Element overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ente or Element more popular?
Ente has 29,841 GitHub stars and Element has 13,634. Ente has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ente and Element free?
Both are open source. Ente is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Element under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ente and Element?
Ente is written in Dart and Element 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, Ente or Element?
Choose Ente if you want the larger community (29,841 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Element if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.