head to head · open source
Signal vs ejbca-ce
Signal has 29,364 GitHub stars, 6,892 forks, 498 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ejbca-ce has 952 stars, 160 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Signal leads on adoption by 2,984% (29,364 vs 952 stars). Signal is written in Kotlin under AGPL-3.0; ejbca-ce is written in Java under LGPL-2.1. Signal has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, ejbca-ce 17%. Signal was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Signal | ejbca-ce | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 952 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | Kotlin | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 160 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Signal if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ejbca-ce if
- You want the ejbca-ce feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and ejbca-ce fits your workflow better
About Signal
Signal Android is a secure messaging application for Android devices that delivers private communication via end to end encryption. Developed by Signal Messenger, LLC, it operates within the broader Signal ecosystem, which includes official iOS and desktop clients. The app uses mobile data or Wi Fi to send and receive encrypted messages, voice calls, and video calls without relying on traditional SMS or telephony infrastructure.
read the full Signal overview →
About ejbca-ce
EJBCA Community Edition is an LGPL licensed, Java based public key infrastructure and certificate authority package for anyone who wants to learn, test, or prototype certificate and PKI workflows without committing to a commercial PKI product.
read the full ejbca-ce overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Signal or ejbca-ce more popular?
Signal has 29,364 GitHub stars and ejbca-ce has 952. Signal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Signal and ejbca-ce free?
Both are open source. Signal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ejbca-ce under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Signal and ejbca-ce?
Signal is written in Kotlin and ejbca-ce in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Signal or ejbca-ce?
Choose Signal if you want the larger community (29,364 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ejbca-ce if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.