head to head · open source
Jitsi vs chat
Jitsi has 29,931 GitHub stars, 8,026 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chat has 13,508 stars, 2,078 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Jitsi leads on adoption by 122% (29,931 vs 13,508 stars). Jitsi is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; chat is written in Go under GPL-3.0. Jitsi has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, chat 15%. Jitsi 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
| Jitsi | chat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.0K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Jitsi if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-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 Jitsi
Jitsi Meet is an open source video conferencing platform built on WebRTC standards, designed for privacy focused, account free video calls. It operates as a standalone web application or embeddable component, supporting both browser based and native mobile usage without requiring user accounts to join meetings. The project lives in the video communication ecosystem, competing directly with proprietary services like Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack’s built in calling.
read the full Jitsi overview →
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 Jitsi or chat more popular?
Jitsi has 29,931 GitHub stars and chat has 13,508. Jitsi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jitsi and chat free?
Both are open source. Jitsi is licensed under Apache-2.0 and chat under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jitsi and chat?
Jitsi 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, Jitsi or chat?
Choose Jitsi if you want the larger community (29,931 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose chat if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.