head to head · open source
Ente vs Signal
Ente has 29,841 GitHub stars, 1,893 forks, 229 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Signal has 29,568 stars, 6,933 forks, 498 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Ente leads on adoption by 1% (29,841 vs 29,568 stars). Ente is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Signal is written in Kotlin under AGPL-3.0. Ente has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Signal 23%. Ente 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 | Signal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 30K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Dart | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 6.9K |
| 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 Signal if
- You want the Signal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and Signal 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 Signal
Signal Android Signal is a simple, powerful, and secure messenger that uses your phone's data connection (WiFi/4G/5G) to communicate securely. Millions of people use Signal every day for free and instantaneous communication anywhere in the world. Send and receive high fidelity messages, participate in HD voice/video calls, and explore a growing set of new features that help you stay connected. Signal’s advanced privacy preserving technology is always enabled, so you can focus on sharing the moments that matter with the people who matter to you. Currently available on the Play Store and signal.org. Also available…
read the full Signal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ente or Signal more popular?
Ente has 29,841 GitHub stars and Signal has 29,568. Ente has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ente and Signal free?
Both are open source. Ente is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Signal under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ente and Signal?
Ente is written in Dart and Signal in Kotlin. 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 Signal?
Choose Ente if you want the larger community (29,841 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Signal if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.