head to head · open source
chat vs octo-server
chat has 13,547 GitHub stars, 2,092 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. octo-server has 1,105 stars, 175 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chat leads on adoption by 1,126% (13,547 vs 1,105 stars). chat is written in Go under GPL-3.0; octo-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0. chat has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, octo-server 16%. octo-server was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (chat, collaboration, go, golang), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| chat | octo-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 14K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-25 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 175 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick chat if
- You weight community size — 14K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick octo-server if
- You want the octo-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and octo-server fits your workflow better
About chat
Tinode Instant Messaging Server Instant messaging full stack. Backend in pure Go (license GPL 3.0), clients for Android (Java), iOS (Swift), and web (ReactJS), as well as gRPC client support for C++, C , Go, Java, Node, PHP, Python, Ruby, Objective C, etc (all clients licensed under Apache 2.0). Wire transport is JSON over websocket (long polling is also available) or protobuf with gRPC. This is beta quality software: feature complete and stable but probably with a few bugs or missing features. Follow instructions to install and run or use one of the cloud services below. Read API documentation. Tinode is not…
About octo-server
OCTO — the open workplace built for humans × AI agents. Let Lobsters (OpenClaw powered digital doubles) do the thinking and doing . You focus on taste . 🏠 OCTO Home · 🚀 Quickstart · 📦 Ecosystem · 🤝 Contributing 🌐 Read in : English · 简体中文 OCTO Server The Go backend at the centre of OCTO — REST + WebSocket APIs, Lobster agent orchestration, and the control plane for WuKongIM. octo server is the heart of the OCTO platform. It exposes REST + WebSocket APIs consumed by octo web and octo admin , orchestrates business logic and Lobster (AI agent) scheduling, and drives the WuKongIM IM core for real time messaging…
read the full octo-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is chat or octo-server more popular?
chat has 13,547 GitHub stars and octo-server has 1,105. chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are chat and octo-server free?
Both are open source. chat is licensed under GPL-3.0 and octo-server under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between chat and octo-server?
chat is written in Go and octo-server 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, chat or octo-server?
Choose chat if you want the larger community (13,547 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose octo-server if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.