head to head · open source
Rocket.Chat vs hedgedoc
Rocket.Chat has 46,133 GitHub stars, 13,891 forks, 4,023 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hedgedoc has 7,426 stars, 596 forks, 275 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Rocket.Chat leads on adoption by 521% (46,133 vs 7,426 stars). Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; hedgedoc is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Rocket.Chat has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, hedgedoc 8%. Rocket.Chat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (collaboration, hacktoberfest, real-time), 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 | hedgedoc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 596 |
| 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 hedgedoc if
- You want the hedgedoc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and hedgedoc 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 hedgedoc
HedgeDoc is an open source, self hostable collaborative markdown notes application, written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0, for teams and individuals who need several people editing the same document in a browser at the same time.
read the full hedgedoc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket.Chat or hedgedoc more popular?
Rocket.Chat has 46,133 GitHub stars and hedgedoc has 7,426. Rocket.Chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Rocket.Chat and hedgedoc free?
Both are open source. Rocket.Chat has no licence declared in this registry, and hedgedoc is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and hedgedoc?
Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript and hedgedoc 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 hedgedoc?
Choose Rocket.Chat if you want the larger community (46,133 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose hedgedoc if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.