head to head · open source
Rocket.Chat vs Colanode
Rocket.Chat has 46,361 GitHub stars, 14,076 forks, 4,023 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Colanode has 5,183 stars, 333 forks, 46 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. Rocket.Chat leads on adoption by 794% (46,361 vs 5,183 stars). Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Colanode is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Rocket.Chat has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, Colanode 6%. Rocket.Chat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (chat, slack), 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
| Rocket.Chat | Colanode | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-04-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 333 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Rocket.Chat if
- You weight community size — 46K 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 Colanode if
- You want the Colanode feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Colanode fits your workflow better
About Rocket.Chat
The ultimate secure open source solution for team communications Rocket.Chat is an open source, secure, fully customizable communications platform developed in TypeScript for organizations with high standards of data protection. We are the ultimate solution for team communications, enabling real time conversations between colleagues, with other companies, and with your customers or citizens, regardless of how they connect with you. The result is an increase in productivity and user satisfaction rates. Every day, tens of millions of users in over 150 countries and in organizations such as Deutsche Bahn, The US…
read the full Rocket.Chat overview →
About Colanode
Colanode Open source & local first collaboration workspace that you can self host Colanode is an all in one platform for easy collaboration, built to prioritize your data privacy and control. Designed with a local first approach, it helps teams communicate, organize, and manage projects—whether online or offline. With Colanode, you get the flexibility of modern collaboration tools, plus the peace of mind that comes from owning your data. What can you do with Colanode? Real Time Chat: Stay connected with instant messaging for teams and individuals. Rich Text Pages: Create documents, wikis, and notes using an…
read the full Colanode overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket.Chat or Colanode more popular?
Rocket.Chat has 46,361 GitHub stars and Colanode has 5,183. Rocket.Chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Rocket.Chat and Colanode free?
Both are open source. Rocket.Chat has no licence declared in this registry, and Colanode is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and Colanode?
Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript and Colanode 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, Rocket.Chat or Colanode?
Choose Rocket.Chat if you want the larger community (46,361 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Colanode if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.