head to head · open source
Mattermost vs SAMA
Mattermost has 39,510 GitHub stars, 9,087 forks, 1,012 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SAMA has 161 stars, 16 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 29 days ago. Mattermost leads on adoption by 24,440% (39,510 vs 161 stars). Mattermost is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; SAMA is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Mattermost has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, SAMA 10%. Mattermost 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
| Mattermost | SAMA | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 161 |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.1K | ⑂ 16 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mattermost if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SAMA if
- You want the SAMA feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and SAMA fits your workflow better
About Mattermost
Mattermost is an open core, self hosted collaboration platform that offers chat, workflow automation, voice calling, screen sharing, and AI integration. This repo is the primary source for core development on the Mattermost platform; it's written in Go and React, runs as a single Linux binary, and relies on PostgreSQL. A new compiled version is released under an MIT license every month on the 16th. Deploy Mattermost on premises, or try it for free in the cloud. Learn more about the following use cases with Mattermost: DevSecOps Incident Resolution IT Service Desk Other useful resources: Download and Install…
read the full Mattermost overview →
About SAMA
SAMA Simple but Advanced Messaging Alternative Chat server Powered by uWebSockets.js Motivation The intention of our messaging protocol and chat server, which are different from others, is to provide an alternative solution to the wide spread XMPP messaging protocol (and to be honest — the only wide spread ‘standard’ these days). Read complete medium posts Introducing SAMA and What is SAMA about what is SAMA and what problems we are trying to solve with it: Clients: Frontend Web app Flutter app Development & Deployment Local Development / Compete Deployment & E2E Tests DEMO The whole SAMA stack can be tested…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mattermost or SAMA more popular?
Mattermost has 39,510 GitHub stars and SAMA has 161. Mattermost has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mattermost and SAMA free?
Both are open source. Mattermost has no licence declared in this registry, and SAMA is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Mattermost and SAMA?
Mattermost is written in TypeScript and SAMA in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Mattermost or SAMA?
Choose Mattermost if you want the larger community (39,510 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose SAMA if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.