head to head · open source
Rocket.Chat vs Piik
Rocket.Chat has 46,160 GitHub stars, 13,918 forks, 4,023 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Piik has 533 stars, 42 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Rocket.Chat leads on adoption by 8,560% (46,160 vs 533 stars). Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Piik is written in TypeScript under MIT. Rocket.Chat has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, Piik 8%. 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 (webrtc), 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 | Piik | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 533 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-09-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 14K | ⑂ 42 |
| 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 Piik if
- You want the Piik feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Piik 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 Piik
Piik is a free, MIT licensed screen sharing tool for games, movie nights, drawings and photos, built so that one host can share with up to 20 friends who watch in a desktop or mobile browser without installing anything.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Rocket.Chat or Piik more popular?
Rocket.Chat has 46,160 GitHub stars and Piik has 533. Rocket.Chat has the larger community by that measure.
Are Rocket.Chat and Piik free?
Both are open source. Rocket.Chat has no licence declared in this registry, and Piik is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Rocket.Chat and Piik?
Rocket.Chat is written in TypeScript and Piik 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 Piik?
Choose Rocket.Chat if you want the larger community (46,160 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Piik if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.