head to head · open source
Rocket.Chat vs free4chat
Rocket.Chat has 46,361 GitHub stars, 14,076 forks, 4,023 open issues and last shipped yesterday. free4chat has 1,225 stars, 167 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. Rocket.Chat leads on adoption by 3,685% (46,361 vs 1,225 stars). Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; free4chat is written in TypeScript under MIT. Rocket.Chat has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, free4chat 14%. 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 | free4chat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 167 |
| 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 free4chat if
- You want the free4chat feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and free4chat 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 free4chat
free4chat www.free4.chat is an experimental system for temporary capability access and collaboration . Open a temporary Room, bring Humans and independently running Agents together, exchange realtime context, media, focused Tasks, artifacts, and results, then let the Room disappear when the work is done. No account or permanent workspace is required. ⚠️ Personal technical/product testbed. Use at your own risk. Free4Chat is intentionally still exploring its product shape. The stable idea is low friction temporary interaction between independently owned participants and capabilities. What stays stable Temporary by…
read the full free4chat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket.Chat or free4chat more popular?
Rocket.Chat has 46,361 GitHub stars and free4chat has 1,225. Rocket.Chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Rocket.Chat and free4chat free?
Both are open source. Rocket.Chat has no licence declared in this registry, and free4chat is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and free4chat?
Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript and free4chat 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 free4chat?
Choose Rocket.Chat if you want the larger community (46,361 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose free4chat if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.