head to head · open source
Rocket.Chat vs FluidFramework
Rocket.Chat has 46,133 GitHub stars, 13,891 forks, 4,023 open issues and last shipped yesterday. FluidFramework has 4,946 stars, 586 forks, 207 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Rocket.Chat leads on adoption by 833% (46,133 vs 4,946 stars). Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; FluidFramework is written in TypeScript under MIT. Rocket.Chat has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, FluidFramework 12%. Rocket.Chat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (collaboration), 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 | FluidFramework | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 4.9K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 586 |
| 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 FluidFramework if
- You want the FluidFramework feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and FluidFramework fits your workflow better
About Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is an open source, self hostable team communications platform written in TypeScript that gives organisations full ownership of their messaging, voice, and federation infrastructure instead of renting it from a closed SaaS vendor.
read the full Rocket.Chat overview →
About FluidFramework
FluidFramework is an MIT licensed TypeScript library from Microsoft for building distributed, real time collaborative web applications in JavaScript or TypeScript, aimed at developers who need shared, synchronized state across many clients without assembling that synchronization layer themselves.
read the full FluidFramework overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket.Chat or FluidFramework more popular?
Rocket.Chat has 46,133 GitHub stars and FluidFramework has 4,946. Rocket.Chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Rocket.Chat and FluidFramework free?
Both are open source. Rocket.Chat has no licence declared in this registry, and FluidFramework is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and FluidFramework?
Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript and FluidFramework 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 FluidFramework?
Choose Rocket.Chat if you want the larger community (46,133 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose FluidFramework if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.