head to head · open source
Puter vs SAMA
Puter has 43,557 GitHub stars, 4,062 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SAMA has 158 stars, 14 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Puter leads on adoption by 27,468% (43,557 vs 158 stars). Puter is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; SAMA is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Puter has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, SAMA 9%. Puter 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
| Puter | SAMA | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 158 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.1K | ⑂ 14 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Puter if
- You weight community size — 44K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 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 Puter
Puter is an open source, self hostable internet computer that delivers a full desktop environment running directly in a web browser. It functions as a cloud based operating system, integrating file storage, applications, and developer tooling into a single cohesive platform. The project lives in the browser based desktop and cloud infrastructure ecosystem, positioning itself as a free and open alternative to proprietary cloud desktop services.
read the full Puter overview →
About SAMA
SAMA is a self hostable, GPL 3.0 chat server written in JavaScript and powered by uWebSockets.js, aimed at developers and teams who want to run their own real time messaging backend instead of adopting XMPP.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Puter or SAMA more popular?
Puter has 43,557 GitHub stars and SAMA has 158. Puter has the larger community by that measure.
Are Puter and SAMA free?
Both are open source. Puter is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SAMA under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Puter and SAMA?
Puter 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, Puter or SAMA?
Choose Puter if you want the larger community (43,557 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose SAMA if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.