head to head · open source
nats-server vs Telephone
nats-server has 21,001 GitHub stars, 2,031 forks, 472 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Telephone has 1,178 stars, 241 forks, 132 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. nats-server leads on adoption by 1,683% (21,001 vs 1,178 stars). nats-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Telephone is written in Swift under GPL-3.0. nats-server has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Telephone 20%. nats-server 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
| nats-server | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 241 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nats-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Telephone if
- You want the Telephone feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Telephone fits your workflow better
About nats-server
NATS is a simple, secure and performant communications system for digital systems, services and devices. NATS is part of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). NATS has over 40 client language implementations, and its server can run on premise, in the cloud, at the edge, and even on a Raspberry Pi. NATS can secure and simplify design and operation of modern distributed systems. [![License][License Image]][License Url] [![Build][Build Status Image]][Build Status Url] [![Release][Release Image]][Release Url] [![Slack][Slack Image]][Slack Url] [![Coverage][Coverage Image]][Coverage Url] [![Docker…
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About Telephone
Telephone is a VoIP SIP softphone for Mac. It allows you to make phone calls over the Internet or your company network. If your phone line supports SIP protocol, you can use it on your Mac instead of a physical phone anywhere you have a decent network connection. Building Opus Opus codec is optional. Download: $ curl O $ tar xzvf opus 1.3.1.tar.gz $ cd opus 1.3.1 Build and install: $ ./configure prefix=/path/to/Telephone/ThirdParty/Opus disable shared CFLAGS=' arch arm64 arch x86 64 Os mmacosx version min=15.6' $ make $ make install LibreSSL Download: $ curl O $ curl O $ gpg verify libressl 3.1.5.tar.gz.asc $…
read the full Telephone overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nats-server or Telephone more popular?
nats-server has 21,001 GitHub stars and Telephone has 1,178. nats-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are nats-server and Telephone free?
Both are open source. nats-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Telephone under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nats-server and Telephone?
nats-server is written in Go and Telephone in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nats-server or Telephone?
Choose nats-server if you want the larger community (21,001 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Telephone if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.