head to head · open source
maigret vs deltachat-desktop
maigret has 37,735 GitHub stars, 2,959 forks, 62 open issues and last shipped yesterday. deltachat-desktop has 1,614 stars, 246 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped yesterday. maigret leads on adoption by 2,238% (37,735 vs 1,614 stars). maigret is written in Python under MIT; deltachat-desktop is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. maigret has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, deltachat-desktop 15%. deltachat-desktop 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
| maigret | deltachat-desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 246 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick maigret if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick deltachat-desktop if
- You want the deltachat-desktop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and deltachat-desktop fits your workflow better
About maigret
Maigret is an open source Python OSINT tool that builds a dossier on a person from a username alone, checking for accounts across more than 3,000 sites without requiring API keys — it is aimed at OSINT analysts, pentesters, infosec teams, and investigators.
read the full maigret overview →
About deltachat-desktop
Delta Chat Desktop is the desktop application for delta.chat, an open source decentralized private messenger. The repository is written in TypeScript, licensed under GPL 3.0, and offers an Electron default, a browser edition, and a work in progress Tauri edition. Its public description presents it as a messenger with chat shared tools and games for desktop use.
read the full deltachat-desktop overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is maigret or deltachat-desktop more popular?
maigret has 37,735 GitHub stars and deltachat-desktop has 1,614. maigret has the larger community by that measure.
Are maigret and deltachat-desktop free?
Both are open source. maigret is licensed under MIT and deltachat-desktop under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between maigret and deltachat-desktop?
maigret is written in Python and deltachat-desktop 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, maigret or deltachat-desktop?
Choose maigret if you want the larger community (37,735 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose deltachat-desktop if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.