head to head · open source
Signal vs SAMA
Signal has 29,352 GitHub stars, 6,888 forks, 498 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SAMA has 158 stars, 14 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Signal leads on adoption by 18,477% (29,352 vs 158 stars). Signal is written in Kotlin under AGPL-3.0; SAMA is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Signal has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, SAMA 9%. 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 | SAMA | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 158 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Kotlin | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 14 |
| 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 SAMA if
- You want the SAMA feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and SAMA 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 SAMA
SAMA is a self hostable, GPL 3.0 chat server written in JavaScript and powered by uWebSockets.js, aimed at developers and teams who want to run their own real time messaging backend instead of adopting XMPP.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Signal or SAMA more popular?
Signal has 29,352 GitHub stars and SAMA has 158. Signal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Signal and SAMA free?
Both are open source. Signal is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SAMA under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Signal and SAMA?
Signal is written in Kotlin and SAMA in JavaScript. 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 SAMA?
Choose Signal if you want the larger community (29,352 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose SAMA if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.